This seminar will examine the visual culture of Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and Stalinist Russia with a view toward how totalitarian regimes do (and do not) shape visual culture. Before beginning embarking on our three case studies, we will review working models of what constitutes avant-garde and modern practice in order to consider these regimes’ influence on the art, architecture, and film produced within the greater context of European modernism. Throughout the course, we will analyze both the aestheticization of politics and the politicization of aesthetics. Lastly, the course will include a brief consideration of American visual culture contemporary to the three totalitarian regimes under investigation.