The Course of Empire is inspired by the eponymous series of paintings created by Thomas Cole from 1833 to 1836. A 'text film,' constructed from iPhone images of writings by James Baldwin, Donna J. Haraway, and Arthur Rimbaud, it also features excerpts from Alexander von Humboldt’s slave-trade opus Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of the New Continent during the Years 1799–1804.