HART104 Ways of Seeing: Introduction to Visual Culture 3cr

Focusing on issues and modes of literacy and visual/textual analysis, this course helps students develop the tools necessary for reflective and engaged looking, reading, thinking, and writing about art, media, design, and text. Analysis of both visual images/objects and texts from a variety of historical periods, beginning in ancient antiquity, will be emphasized through shared case studies (from Asia, Latin America, the
Middle East, Africa, and Europe), keywords, and themes. Throughout, we will prioritize the development of critical thinking, writing skills, and class participation and engagement. Art from the past and present will be grounded in a broader context, with emphasis placed on processes of
perception and the cultural meaning of images and objects. The point is to interrogate how representation, both through its production and
reception, becomes politically activated, and to develop the critical and theoretical tools to begin to deconstruct and acknowledge this process.

Lecture