AD 101, 07-14: Introduction to Visual Culture Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale Course Information
Fall 2008 Tuesday and Thursday, 1:00 – 1:50 p.m., plus discussion section Lawson Hall 151 (lecture) and Allyn 112 or 003 (discussion section)
Professor S. Sloboda
618-453-4987 [email protected] Allyn 006d
Course Description
Life in the modern world has made us adept at reading an array of visual imagery. These images inform our individual and collective identities since we are partially determined by the visual representations we produce and consume. It is therefore imperative that we not only look, but also reflect on the images with which we are confronted every day. This introductory course will focus on reckoning with the complex visual world we live in using a range of examples from fine art to advertising, from architecture to film. Students will be encouraged to think broadly about what makes up their visual world and its cultural implications through careful looking, reading, and writing.
Course Objectives
This is a Core Curriculum course that is organized as a combination of lectures and discussion sections. Regular participation in both lecture and discussion sections will allow students to: 1. Learn some of the functions and techniques of art, design, and visual culture 2. View and think about visual culture analytically and critically 3. Develop vocabulary necessary to present this analysis and criticism 4. Regard contemporary visual culture from a historical and cross-cultural perspective 5. Develop written and oral presentation skills
Textbooks/ Electronic Reserves
The required readings for this course are:
Office Hours:
Tuesdays and Thursdays 9:00-10:30 a.m. and 2:30-4:00 p.m.
Arthur Asa Berger, Seeing is Believing: An Introduction to Visual Communication, 3rd edition (New York: McGraw Hill, 2007). ISBN# 978-0-07-353425-1 Terry Barrett, Interpreting Art: Reflecting, Wondering, and Responding (New York: McGraw Hill, 2003). ISBN# 978-0-7674-1648-1 Selected readings on the Blackboard website for this course. See information on Blackboard on page 7 of this syllabus for instructions on how to access these required readings.
Grading Criteria
You can accrue up to 1000 points in this class in the following way: Participation: 200 points Exams: 600 points Writing Assignments: 200 points Each of these categories and their requirements are described in detail below. Please read these descriptions and requirements carefully. Final Grades will be assessed on the following scale: A: B: C: D: F:
900 – 1000 points 800 – 899 points 700 – 799 points 600 – 699 points 0 – 599 points 1
Participation (20% of final grade)
Participation grades are based on attendance as well as oral and written participation in lecture and discussion section. Lecture: Twice weekly lectures for this course include digital slides, film, television and audio clips, youtube.com videos, and other visual media designed to introduce the major concepts and contexts for the topics of this course. These lectures are the primary source of information in this course, and the exams will closely follow the content presented in lecture. For that reason, you must take detailed notes during lecture, and are encouraged to ask questions to me at any point during or after the lecture period. While lectures are usually associated with passive learning, this course will attempt to engage students in more active forms of discussion and feedback during the lecture period. During each lecture, there will be a short question or series of questions that you must respond to and hand in to your TA in order to receive credit for attending lecture that day. These short responses will be graded and returned to you at discussion section. Your responses will provide you with an opportunity to reflect upon and solidify the concept discussed in class each day. You should use these responses in conjunction with your notes and the images from lecture posted on Blackboard to study for each exam. Discussion Section: The second major component of the course are discussion sections, led by teaching assistants (“TAs”) in the College of Liberal Arts, which provide you with the opportunity to practice specific techniques of visual analysis and develop your critical thinking skills, primarily through discussion and activities. Comprised of small groups of students, discussion sections offer a forum for individual response and in-depth discussion of the ideas presented in lecture and readings. Discussion section is not intended to act as a review of lecture material, but as a venue for applying and analyzing the ideas and skills introduced in lecture and the readings. You will receive partial credit for simply attending your weekly discussion section and full credit for actively participating in discussion section. Assessment: Participation will be assessed on a weekly point system. You should accrue points during the semester, as follows: Written responses to lecture: 3 points (25 lectures = 75 points total) Attendance at discussion section: 3 points (14 discussion sections = 42 points total) Active participation at discussion section: 3 points (14 discussion sections = 42 points total) Cultural Event Essays: You will earn the remaining 41 points of your participation grade by attending designated cultural events or venues during the semester and writing a 1-2 page response about your experience (20 and 21 points each). Professor Sloboda and your TA will notify you of upcoming events or places you may attend to receive credit. You may turn in these responses to your TA at any point during the semester, but must turn in the first one by Thursday, October 9th and the second one by Thursday, December 4th (last day of class). You may not turn in both on the last day of class.
Attendance Policy
You are responsible for attending every lecture and discussion section. There is no distinction between an “excused” and “unexcused” absence. If you miss lecture, you may watch the video of it posted in the “Lecture Videos” section of the course website on Blackboard (see page 7 for information on the Blackboard website). You must attend the section you are enrolled in on a weekly basis. However, if you miss (or know you are going to miss) a discussion section, you should plan to attend an alternate section listed below during the same week. To receive credit for attending an alternate section, write your name on a sheet of paper and the date on which you attended section. Obtain the signature of the TA leading that section and their assessment of your performance between 3 and 6 points on the sheet and return it to your regular TA at your next discussion or lecture section.
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The schedule of discussion sections is: # 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Time: Thursday 9:00 Monday 2:00 Tuesday 10:00 Wednesday 11:00 Wednesday 2:00 Thursday 2:00 Monday 1:00 Friday 10:00
TA: Summer Hills-Bonczyk Franz Lauer Nathan Marshall Nathan Marshall Franz Lauer Franz Lauer Franz Lauer Summer Hills-Bonczyk
e-mail: [email protected][email protected][email protected][email protected][email protected][email protected][email protected][email protected]
location: Allyn 03 Allyn 112 Allyn 03 Allyn 112 Allyn 03 Allyn 112 Allyn 112 Allyn 112
You may not receive credit for attending lecture, discussion, or exams for sections 1-6 of this course. Those sections are led by another professor, and while the themes addressed in both classes are the same, the specific material covered is different. Exams (60% of final grade)
There are five equally weighted, non-cumulative exams offered during the semester, worth 150 points each. Exams will consist of a series of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions derived from the material presented in lecture, discussion sections, and the readings. As mentioned above, you should use your graded lecture responses in conjunction with your lecture notes to study for each exam. Exam Etiquette: On the day of the exam, you should arrive on time with two pens with which to write. You are responsible for making sure that you give no impression that you are attempting to cheat or distract others. Your notes, flashcards, readings, and all electronic devices must be turned off and entirely put away during the exam. You may not speak to anyone other than the instructor or TA during the exam period. If you fail to follow these guidelines, you will be assumed to be cheating and will receive a zero on your exam. You may not return if you leave during the exam period. Grade Calculation and Make-Up Policy: Your lowest exam grade will be dropped from the final grade calculation. This means that one exam on which you may have performed poorly or even missed will not count towards your final grade. Because you are allowed to drop your lowest grade, there are absolutely no make up exams offered for this class, even in the case of legitimate medical or personal emergency. Therefore, if you miss an exam early in the semester, you must be doubly certain not miss another exam, as you will not be allowed to make it up. Please consult the Course Schedule on pages 9-13 of this syllabus for the dates of the exams.
Writing Assignment (20% of final grade)
Taking the premise that all aspects of the visual world are not self-evident, but must be interrogated, this assignment asks you to conduct a careful visual analysis and critical interpretation of an image or object from your daily life. Choose any object or image that is interesting to you, which you would like to understand better. The subject you choose may be anything – an advertisement, a building on campus, a scene from a movie, a piece of clothing – as long as you are able to analyze it visually and critically. If you choose to discuss a film or television show, you should provide a careful visual analysis of either one representative image or one scene, and a detailed discussion of the formal qualities of that scene, rather than attempting to analyze the entire film or show. The writing assignment has 3 parts: Writing Assignment Part I: Description. Due September 16th (50 points). In a 2-3 page typed, double-spaced paper, write a full description of the image or object you have chosen. This description should carefully consider the composition, shape, size, colors, individual parts, words, textures, etc. of your subject. You may provide your initial thoughts on what you think the meaning behind your object is, but you should 3
primarily focus on giving as full a description as possible. You will find it helpful to consult Sylvan Barnet’s guide to asking questions about art objects, which is listed in this syllabus as your reading for discussion section in Week 4 (p. 10). You must attach a color copy of your image or object. Do not attach any 3-D objects to your project, provide a photograph instead. If you are writing about a time-based image, such as a TV commercial or a scene from a film, you must record a VHS or digital copy on tape or disk, or provide a link to a website such as youtube.com where it can be viewed, and hand it in with your paper. For all three writing assignments, papers missing a legible or playable image will be considered late until it is submitted. Like all typed worked handed in for this class, your paper must use a formal, academic style of writing. When describing your object, use multiple vivid adjectives. For instance, rather than simply saying that the motorcycle is “red,” a more compelling description might be “a hot, shiny magenta with deep blue undertones.” When describing an object, use active verbs wherever possible. For example, rather than “The scene of the movie is about love.” [passive], try “The director depicts a love story in this scene.” [active]. Writing Assignment Part II: Formal Analysis. Due October 14th (50 points). This second assignment asks you to write a 4-5 page formal analysis, which is a description that supports a thesis statement about your chosen subject. Using the description you wrote for the first assignment, and incorporating the comments returned to you on that description, provide a concrete thesis statement about your image or object. Your thesis statement is your opinion of the meaning behind that image or object. As this is your opinion, your thesis may be anything you decide to argue. You will be assessed on the extent to which you clearly articulate and develop an interesting thesis statement and how well your description fully and persuasively supports that thesis. Developing a thesis statement: Your thesis statement is what you want your writer to believe by reading your paper. Your description is the evidence you use to persuade your audience that your thesis is correct. In making your argument, consider all aspects of your evidence – could someone else see the subject differently or take it to mean something else entirely? Are there aspects of your subject that contradict your interpretation? The presence of either of these things does not necessarily make you wrong, but you must account for them in order for you thesis to be fully plausible. Again, you will find it helpful to consult Sylvan Barnet’s guide on to formal analysis, listed as the reading for discussion section during the week 7 on page 12 of this syllabus. As in the first assignment, formal, academic writing is essential. You must attach your graded first assignment to your second assignment, so that your TA may assess your progress. Writing Assignment Part III: Final Paper. Due December 2nd (100 points). This final assignment asks you to revise your second paper, further developing your thesis, strengthening your evidence, and refining your writing style based on the comments you received on your second paper. If indicated by your TA on the second paper, you must make an appointment with the Writing Center to receive further advice and guidance on your paper and provide written documentation that you went to the Writing Center. For guidelines on revising your written work, consult the assigned reading for the discussion section 13 on page 13 of this syllabus. Important Guidelines for all Three Writing Assignments
Formatting: All papers must be typed in a standard 10-12 point font such as Times New Roman, Helvetica or Arial. If you use Courier, Palatino 12, or some other very large font, be sure to do a Word Count – you should have 500-750 words for a 2-3 page paper and 1000-1250 words for a 4-5 page paper. Papers should be double-spaced with a 1” margin on all sides. You must hand in a clean, legible, copy of your paper printed in 4
black ink. Your GA may refuse to accept your paper if these guidelines are not followed, and your paper will be considered late until you hand in an acceptable copy. All writing assignments should include a title page with the following information: • the title of your paper (see below for guidelines) • your name • the assignment title (i.e. Writing Assignment #1) • the title of the course • your GA’s name • the date you turned in the paper Choosing a Title: When thinking of a title for your paper, be creative and compelling. Your title should not only indicate what your paper is about, but briefly, what your take on your subject is and why it might be interesting. For instance, “Writing Assignment #2” is a dull title that does not tell the reader anything about your subject – avoid this. “A Maxim Magazine Cover,” is slightly more descriptive, but is neither interesting nor does it tell the reader what specifically they will be reading about – also avoid this. “Selling Sex: Gender Ideology in a Maxim Magazine Cover,” is catchy (the alliteration of the first two words produces a nice rhythm), sounds compelling, and indicates to the reader that you will be making an argument about the role of gender in a specific image – aim for a title like this. Style and Tone: As indicated above, your paper must use a formal, academic style of writing. This means that you should not use contractions or slang. You also should not address your reader as “you” (use “one” or “the viewer” instead), nor, generally should you refer to yourself as the writer. While first-person writing can be highly persuasive, for the purposes of these assignments, you should take a detached, analytical tone. For instance, rather than saying “My pink cellphone is cute and makes me feel like a girl,” instead, take an analytic tone, such as “The Motorola SLVR Pink cellphone uses color and shape to convey a sense of femininity.” Likewise, it is usually unnecessary to state “I think” “it seems,” or “perhaps” in your writing. These are equivocations that can almost always simply be omitted. Late Papers: Late papers will be graded down by one full letter grade each day (M-F) that they are late. Papers are accepted only as hard copies and as turnitin.com submissions, no e-mailed papers will be accepted. Papers missing a legible or playable image of their subject will be considered late until the image is received. Papers must be posted to turnitin.com by 5:00 p.m. on the day that they are due and turned in as a hard copy. Acceptable Use of the Internet: Because you are writing your papers on an object of your choice and developing your own argument, supported by your own visual analysis, you may or may not find it necessary to conduct any research on your topic. If you find (or your are told by your TA) that you need to learn more about your subject before you can make an appropriate argument, you MUST use reputable research sources. For the purposes of this class, this includes published books, edited collections of essays, scholarly encyclopedias, and journal articles or any other material accessed through Morris Library and its electronic databases. General websites, Wikipedia, Encarta, and others can be useful sources to orient oneself with one’s topic, but should not be used as authoritative sources. These sources – like any aspect of visual culture – should be treated critically and skeptically. When evaluating information gathered from a website, ask yourself the following questions:
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1. Who wrote this information? What is their claim to expertise or knowledge of this subject? Does their claim seem credible? Does this person have a vested interest in giving you a particular type of information? (i.e. are you getting your information about the Picasso painting you are analyzing from an art gallery who sells Picasso’s work?) If you cannot answer these questions based on the information presented in the website, be skeptical. It means essentially that the author could be anyone and you, therefore, have no way of knowing whether they are a credible source or not. 2. What is the reputation of the website? Do other websites or books frequently mention it as an authoritative site? Sites such as Wikipedia and imdb.com would fall into the “reputable” category by these standards, and often are useful sources of information. However, as both websites freely disclose, their information is supplied by the general public, and the sites themselves do not guarantee the accuracy of their contents. Any information found on websites such as Wikipedia must be independently verified, preferably from a scholarly source such as a book or journal. DO NOT cite Wikipedia or any other website as an authoritative source of correct information. 3. Think about the tone and quality of the text and graphics used on the website. Usually credible sources for research do not make excessive grammatical errors or use an overly familiar tone. They also generally are not neon yellow with electric blue text and multiple flashing pop-up windows. If you have any questions about the reliability of your source material, feel free to discuss it with me or your TA. Papers that uncritically accept information or opinions found on the internet without verifying that information through a reputable source will be graded down for sloppiness and use of unacceptable research sources. Instructor Assistance: As with all aspects of this class, please feel free to discuss any questions or problems you may encounter with me, or your TA. I am very willing to assist you with choosing topics and advising you on acceptable content and analysis, as well as reading drafts of papers. Turnitin.com
Turnitin.com is an electronic database that compares the content of your paper to the text of other papers submitted for this class, to published information on the internet and in print, and its own database of papers. It is used in this course to help ensure students’ responsibility for their own work. Each of your three writing assignments must be submitted in paper form to your graduate assistant at the lecture period in which it is due and in electronic form to www.turnitin.com by 5:00 p.m. on the day that it is due. If you fail to turn in either the paper or electronic version, your assignment will be considered late until you turn in both copies. To use turnitin.com, you must register as a user and add yourself to the section in which you are enrolled in this class. If you have not used turnitin.com in the past, you can get information and a tutorial on signing up at www.turnitin.com, click on “new users.” Your turnitin.com class ID and enrollment passwords are as follows:
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Section 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Time Thursday 9:00 Monday 2:00 Tuesday 10:00 Wednesday 11:00 Wednesday 2:00 Thursday 1:00 Monday 1:00 Friday 10:00
GA Summer Hills-Bonczyk Franz Lauer Nathan Marshall Nathan Marshall Franz Lauer Franz Lauer Franz Lauer Summer Hills-Bonczyk
ID # 2344738 2344741 2344743 2344745 2344750 2344755 2344757 2344760
Password: summer franz nathan nathan franz franz franz summer
Grades for all written work, as well as attendance and participation and exams will also be available in the “gradebook” tab on turnitin. Academic Integrity
Students are expected to act in accordance with SIUC’s Student Conduct Code (SCC), and should familiarize themselves with its standards for academic honesty and ethical conduct (the SCC is available online at www.siu.edu/~docedit/policies/conduct.html). Plagiarism is the unacknowledged and/or unauthorized use of another person’s intellectual property, and is a form of theft. Any time you quote, paraphrase, or even summarize the ideas of another person (as opposed to stating common knowledge) you must acknowledge your debt. This acknowledgement should take the form of a footnote or endnote, or may, for essays in this course, be as simple as a parenthetical insertion in your text, indicating a source: (lecture, 02/14/2008) or, (Berger, p. 23) accompanied by a bibliography. Websites, generally, should not be used as proper academic sources of information (see “Acceptable Use of the Internet, above). If you have any questions on how to cite a source properly, please ask me, your GA, or consult a guide such as the Little, Brown Compact Handbook or The Chicago Manual of Style. Please be aware that if you cheat on an exam or turn in any work that is not entirely your own, you will fail the course and may be referred to the university for disciplinary action.
Students with Special Instructional Needs
All efforts will be made to accommodate the needs of students who have disabilities that have been documented by staff at SIUC’s Disability Support Services or Achieve Program. Students who have need of special testing arrangements, notetakers, classroom configurations, etc. should provide me and their TA with documentation of their needs during the first week of class so that the necessary accommodations can be made promptly.
Blackboard
There is a Blackboard site for this course, accessible at www.mycourses.siu.edu. You must have an SIU network account to use this site. Your username and password are the same as your SIU e-mail account. The site works best with Mozilla Firefox or Safari rather than Internet Explorer or Netscape. You must enable pop-ups to access all content. On Blackboard, you will find: Course Information: Basic course information including office hours and contact information for Professor Sloboda and each of the TAs can be found here. Course Handouts: A copy of this syllabus and any other materials handed out in lecture or discussion will be available here. Learning Modules: Any assigned readings not in your two textbooks will be posted in the unit for which they are assigned. Lecture Videos: A Quicktime movie of each lecture will also be posted in the appropriate folder after the lecture period. This movie will contain a live recording of the lecture, along with the images and videos shown with it. I will provide these recordings to help you study for exams. They are not as a substitute for attending lecture. You may 7
not hand in Written Lecture Responses from the recordings, and I will stop posting them if lecture attendance declines. I will explore other features on the site and use them as seems useful or necessary. If you have suggestions as to how to make the site more helpful to you, please let me know. Emergency Procedures
The following is SIUC’s statement on emergency preparedness. Please familiarize yourself with the information on the websites listed. “Southern Illinois University Carbondale is committed to providing a safe and healthy environment for study and work. Because some health and safety circumstances are beyond our control, we ask that you become familiar with the SIUC Emergency Response Plan and Building Emergency Response Team (BERT) program. Emergency response information is available on posters in buildings on campus, available on BERT's website at www.bert.siu.edu, Department of Safety's website www.dps.siu.edu (disaster drop down) and in Emergency Response Guideline pamphlet. Know how to respond to each type of emergency. Instructors will provide guidance and direction to students in the classroom in the event of an emergency affecting your location. It is important that you follow these instructions and stay with your instructor during an evacuation or sheltering emergency. The Building Emergency Response Team will provide assistance to your instructor in evacuating the building or sheltering within the facility.”
Student Support Services
There are numerous free and/or low-cost support services available to SIUC students, including—but not limited to—the following: Career Services (453-2391) The Counseling Center (453-5371) Disability Support Services (453-5738) The Writing Center (453-6863)
Record Keeping
Please keep backup copies of all work you submit for the course, and save all of the graded work that is returned to you over the course of the semester. In the case of a grade dispute, you may be expected to produce the graded assignment/s returned to you.
Office Hours
I warmly encourage each student to take advantage of my office hours to carry on further discussions of material covered in lecture or the readings, or to address any problems or questions relating to this course. My office hours are on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 – 10:30 and 2:30 – 4:00 in Allyn 006d. If this time does not fit your schedule, please contact me for a separate appointment. Your TA also holds office hours that he or she will notify you of, and will be posted on the Blackboard site for this course. While I encourage you to speak to me in person, I am also available by e-mail. Please e-mail for quick answers to informational questions or requests for an appointment. Please see me after class, during my office hours or another mutually agreed upon time for substantive answers to questions or discussions you wish to address
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Course Schedule:
Berger = Arthur Asa Berger, Seeing is Believing: An Introduction to Visual Communication Barrett = Terry Barrett, Interpreting Art: Reflecting, Wondering, and Responding [blackboard] = Reading posted on the Blackboard website for this course. See page 7 of this syllabus for instructions on using Blackboard.
Unit One: Introduction to Interpreting Visual Culture
Unit One introduces the main topics of the class and the class schedule. We will also learn some basic strategies of visual analysis that you will use throughout the rest of the course.
Tuesday, August 19 (lecture)
Introduction to the Course Read: Berger, Introduction, “Image and Imagination,” 1-18.
Thursday, August 21 (lecture)
Visual Analysis: Description and Interpretation Read: Berger, Chapter Three, “Elements of Visual Communication,” 73-95 Barrett, Chapter 8, “Principles for Interpreting Art,” 197-228
Discussion Section 1 August 18-22
Introduction Read: Sylvan Barnet, “The Functions of Critical Writing,” and “Some Words on Critical Thinking,” 11-13 [blackboard].
Tuesday, August 26 (lecture)
Visual Analysis: Semiotics Read: Berger, Chapter One, “Seeing is Believing,” and Chapter Two, “How We See,” 19-71. Barrett, “Denotations, Connotations, and a Rolling Stone Magazine Cover,” 192-195.
Thursday, August 28 (lecture)
Text as Image: Interpreting Graphic Design Read: Berger, Chapter Four, “Typography and Graphic Design: Tools of Visual Communication,” 97-119.
Discussion Section 2 August 25-29
Strategies of Visual Analysis and Interpretation
Unit Two: Everyday Things: Commodities and Material Culture
In this unit we will explore the meanings and visual qualities of everyday objects around us, with a particular emphasis on commodities and product design in the modern world.
Tuesday, September 2 (lecture)
History of Commodities in the Modern World Read: Barrett, “On the Table,” 189-192.
Thursday, September 4 (lecture)
Differentiation in Design: Creating Consumers Read: Adrian Forty, “Differentiation in Design,” from Objects of Desire: Design and Society Since 1750 (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1986), 62-73. [blackboard]
Discussion Section 3 September 1-5
Commodities in Everyday Life **Note: Discussion sections on Monday, September 1st are cancelled to celebrate Labor Day. Students enrolled in Monday discussion section are strongly encouraged to attend an alternate section that week, but are not required to do so. All other discussion sections will meet as regularly scheduled. 9
Tuesday, September 9 (exam)
** Exam #1** (Units One and Two)
Unit Three. The Popular Image: Print Advertising and Cartoons
This unit explores the visual “languages” of such popular media as advertising and cartoons in order to understand the ways in which images “speak” to large and diverse audiences in recognizable ways. We will further interrogate the social and political meanings of these types of images in order to understand their role in modern society.
Thursday, September 11 (lecture)
Languages of Advertising Read: John Berger, Chapter 7, from Ways of Seeing, 127-155. [blackboard] Barrett, “Girls, Girls, Girls: A McDonald’s TV Commercial,” 181-184.
Discussion Section 4 September 8-12
Writing about Visual Culture Read: Barnet, “Analytical Thinking,” 47-58. [blackboard] In addition, think about what you would like to write about for your Writing Assignments for the semester (see p. 3-5 of this syllabus for guidelines) and read the section listed below in the same chapter which seems most relevant to the object you have chosen to write your paper on: • Drawing and Painting – while focused on fine art, this section has helpful information on questions to ask about any 2-dimensional image, including print advertisements, logos, cartoons, etc. • Sculpture – again, focused on fine art, but also helpful for starting to analyze any 3-dimensional object such as furniture, product design, automobiles or motorcycles, etc. • Photography • Video Art – this is a very short section, but of some use for students wishing to write about film or television
Tuesday, September 16 (lecture)
Comics and Cartoons Read: Berger, Chapter 8, “Comics, Cartoons, and Animation: The Development of an Art Form,” 191-212. Barrett, excerpt of David Carrier, “The Aesthetics of a Gary Larson Cartoon,” 179-180. Due: **Writing Assignment Part I**
Thursday, September 18 (lecture)
Resistance to the Popular Image Read: Adbuster’s website. Go to http://www.adbusters.org. Read the “About Us” and “The Magazine” sections and browse the Home Page and Culture Shop. Think about this website as a text and a series of images that can be analyzed and critiqued.
Discussion Section 5 September 15-19
The Power of Popular Images
Unit Four. Photography and the Virtual Image
Unit Four introduces students to a basic history of the origins of photography in the nineteenth century and explores some of the current digital uses of the medium. We shall reflect on the claims of “reality” that photography implies and the uses of those claims in recent digital technologies.
Tuesday, September 23 (lecture)
Photography and the Notion of the Real Read: Berger, Chapter 5, “Photography: The Captured Moment,” 121-145. Barrett, Chapter 6, “Interpretation and Medium: Photography,” 139-161.
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Thursday, September 25 (lecture)
Recent Practices in Visual Technology Read: Berger, Chapter 9, “Computers and Graphics: Wonders from the Image Maker,” 213-237.
Discussion Section 6 September 22-26
Manipulating Images
Tuesday, September 30 (exam)
** Exam #2** (Units Three and Four)
Unit Five. The Moving Image: Film and Television
This unit explores one of the most popular and beloved forms of modern visual cultural: movies and TV. While most of us profess something from a passing interest to a full-blown addiction with these media, we are conversely often less willing to analyze and critique these popular forms of entertainment. This unit focuses on some of the visual pleasures of not only looking at, but thinking about film and television.
Thursday, October 2 (lecture)
A History of Film and its Visual Language Read: Berger, Chapter 6, “Film: The Moving Image,” 147-151.
Discussion Section 7 September 29 – October 3
Rhetorical Strategies: Making an Argument in Text and Image Read: Sylvan Barnet, excerpt from “Formal Analysis and Style,” from A Short Guide to Writing About Art, 113-117. [blackboard]
Tuesday, October 7 (lecture)
Film Editing and Techniques of Interpretation Read: Berger, Chapter 6, “Film: The Moving Image,” 151-167.
Thursday, October 9 (lecture)
Television and Ideology Read: Berger, Chapter 7, “Television: The Ever-Changing Mosaic,” 169-190. Due: **Last day to turn in your first cultural event essay**
Discussion Section 8 October 6-10
Analyzing Film
Unit Six. The Built Environment
This unit discusses the social, political and cultural meanings of architecture and landscape from various cultural and historical perspectives. We will look at two particular cases: the architecture and landscape of Washington D.C. and the SIUC campus in order to question what meanings, values, and actions are encouraged and discouraged through the use of architectural space.
Tuesday, October 14 (lecture)
The Built Environment of SIUC Read: Frances Halsband, “Campuses in Place,” Places, vol. 17, no. 1 (2005): 4-11 [blackboard]. Due: **Writing Assignment Part II due in class**
Thursday, October 16 (lecture)
Reading Buildings: The Meanings of Architectural Style and Ornament Read: Explore various architectural styles and take the “Style Quiz” at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s website: http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/architecture/style_level1.php
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Discussion Section 9 October 13-17
The Architecture of Education
Tuesday, October 21 (lecture)
The Social Meaning of Civic Space: Washington D.C.
Unit 7. Art Production and Audiences
Fine arts such as painting and sculpture have historically been and remain today among the most complicated, thought-provoking, beautiful, and culturally significant forms of visual culture. This unit provides a basic introduction to the role of art in Western society and some of the controversies spurred by works of art in the modern era.
Thursday, October 23 (lecture)
The Uses and Abuses of Art in Society Read: Barrett, Chapter 5, “Interpreting Old and Foreign Art,” 111-138.
Discussion Section 10 October 20-24
The Use of Architectural Ornament and Style
Tuesday, October 28 (exam)
** Exam #3** (Units Five and Six)
Thursday, October 30 (lecture)
Audience and Meaning in Modern Art Read: Barrett, Chapter 2, “Multiple Interpretations of One Work of Art: Édouard Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergère,” 38-55.
Discussion Section 11 October 27-31
Interpreting Art
Tuesday, November 4 (lecture)
Locating Meaning in Abstract Art Read: Barrett, Chapter 4, “Interpretation and Appreciation: Abstract Art,” 87-110.
Thursday, November 6 (lecture)
Audience and Meaning in Contemporary Art Read: Barrett, Chapter 3, “Interpretation and Judgment: Controversial Art,” 56-86
Discussion Section 12 November 3-7
Contemporary Art
Tuesday, November 11
No class – Veteran’s Day Holiday
Thursday, November 13 (exam)
Exam #4 (Unit Seven Only)
Discussion Section November 10-14
No discussion sections this week – study for Exam #4
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Unit 8. Propaganda and Power
Propaganda is the systematic manipulation of public, political opinion. While it does not always take visual form, propaganda is a particularly compelling example of the power of images and the importance of understanding how they work. This unit will look at three cases: posters from World Wars I and II and Vietnam-era protest posters, the architectural, print, and film programs of Nazi Germany. We will look at these cases in order to understand the various visual strategies used to persuade audiences on an emotional, physical, and intellectual level.
Tuesday, November 18 (lecture)
Visual Strategies and Conventions of Propaganda: War Posters Read: Toby Clark, “Propaganda at War,” from Art and Propaganda in the Twentieth Century: The Political Image in the Age of Mass Culture (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1997), 103-123. [blackboard]
Thursday, November 20 (lecture)
Programs of Power. Case Study: The Third Reich
Discussion Section 13 November 17-21
Revising Your Written Work Read: W.C. Booth, G.G. Colomb, and J.M. Williams, “Revising Your Organization and Argument,” from The Craft of Research, 2nd edition (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003), 208-218. [blackboard]
Week of November 24-28
No class – Thanksgiving Holiday
Unit 9. Practices of Commemoration
This final unit on commemoration looks at the ways in which major events in the history of a community or nation are created, recreated, and remembered after the fact. We shall look at the example of the highly controversial, but ultimately extremely popular Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial by Maya Lin, and the on-going debates and designs for the Ground Zero Memorial in New York City.
Tuesday, December 2 (lecture)
Controversial Commemoration: The Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial Read: Kristin Ann Hass, “Making a Memory of War: Building the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial,” in Carried to the Wall: American Memory and the Vietnam Veteran’s Memorial (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998): 7-33. [blackboard] Due: **Writing Assignment Part III**
Thursday, December 4 (lecture)
Commemoration Contested: The Ground Zero Memorial Read: Marita Sturken, “The Aesthetics of Absence: Rebuilding Ground Zero,” in American Ethnologist vol. 31 no. 3 (August 2004): 311-325. [blackboard] Due: **Last day to hand in your second cultural event essay**
Discussion Section 14 December 1-5
Practices of Propaganda and Commemoration
Thursday December 11 8:00 – 10:00 p.m.
**Exam #5 (Units 8 and 9)** Note different time for this exam
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