Course Schedule:
Thurs. Aug. 28 Introduction
Tues. Sept. 2 Visual culture, properties of vision, and our viewing habits
Practices of Looking, “Introduction,” 1-9.
Thur. Sept. 4 Pictoral Instructions
Ernst Gombrich “Pictoral Instructions,” in Images and Understanding, ed. Horace Barlow, Colin Blackemore, and Miranda Weston-Smith (Cambridge UP, 1990), 26-45.
Assignment 1
Choose an activity. Develop completely visual and completely verbal instructions for the same activity. Test it out on two friends, one using visual and the other verbal instructions. Bring a copy of your instructions and the results of your ‘experiment’ to class and be prepared to discuss them. Due Sept. 9
Tues. Sept. 9 Discussion of Assignment 1
Thurs. Sept. 11 Built Environment – university campus
Campus Architecture on Chronicle of Higher Education website: http://chronicle.com/blogs/architecture/
Tues. Sept. 16 walking tour of the UK campus with Emily Hikes
Assignment 2
Imagine you have been hired as a consultant for the UK campus. Approach the assignment from the perspective of an entering freshman who probably does not yet know the ‘lay of the land’. What are the best and the worst features of the campus, its layout, features, buildings, green spaces, signage, social, cultural, and sports facilities, etc. Offer concrete suggestions to the UK administration on how things could be improved. Address your report to Pres. Todd. Due Sept. 18. 2 pages min.
Thur. Sept. 18 Discuss Assignment 2
Tues. Sept. 23 Architecture of culture: new art museums
Sept. 25 no class – independent research on IKEA in preparation for the field trip
Sat. Sept. 27 Field Trip to Cincinnati
Center for Contemporary Art & IKEA
Assignment 3
Choose either IKEA or CAC and discuss your experience of those spaces as a viewer. In particular, consider how the space, architectural layout of the building, materials, logic of the displays affected your experience. What message(s) did the building convey about its ‘contents.’ 3 pages. due Sept. 30
Tues. Sept. 30 Discussion of Assignment 3
Thur. Oct. 2 Visual Culture of Politics – propaganda, identity and power
Practices of Looking, Chapter 5: the Mass Media and the Public Sphere 151-188
Tues. Oct. 7 Visual Culture of Politics – John McCain
Thur. Oct. 9 Visual Culture of Politics – Barack Obama
Assignment 4
Compare and contrast the visual strategies of the two campaigns considering both the ‘image’ each campaign wishes to convey about its candidate and how it wants to portray his opponent. How successful are they? How successful are they in controlling the image. Be as specific as possible in your discussion and use concrete examples whenever possible. 5 pages. Due Oct. 14
Tues. Oct. 14 Discussion of Assignment 4
Thur. Oct. 16 Cartoon culture
Tues. Oct. 21 Graphic novels & cartoons
Art Spiegelman, Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale (1972-1986)
Thr. Oct. 23 American comic heroes and anti-heroes
Practices of Looking, Chapter 7: Postmodernism and Popular Culture, 237-277
Tues. Oct. 28 Popular culture
Practices of Looking, Chapter 7: Postmodernism and Popular Culture, 237-277
Assignment 5
Select an iconic comic hero and a cartoon anti-hero comparing their image, attributes, and message. 3 pages. Oct. 30
Thur. Oct. 30 Discuss Assignment 5
Tues. Nov. 4 Presidential election - no class – go VOTE!
Thur. Nov. 6 Sex sells – advertising culture and gender politics
Practices of Looking, Chapter 6: Consumer Culture and Manufacturing of Desire, 189-235
Assignment 6
Select a brand or an advertising campaign that uses sex or gender specific messages to sell products. Discuss in detail its ‘gender politics.’ Be as specific as possible. Be prepared to discuss your example in class. Bring images of the brand and its advertising to class on the due date. Due Nov. 18
Tues. Nov. 11
Practices of Looking, Chapter 3: Spectatorship, Power and Knowledge, 72-100
Thur. Nov. 13 Race and ethnicity
Practices of Looking, Chapter 3: Spectatorship, Power and Knowledge, 100-107
Tues. Nov. 18 American Beauty - screening and discussion
review: Practices of Looking, Chapter 3: Spectatorship, Power and Knowledge, 72-100
Thur. Nov. 20 discussion of Assignment 6
Tues. Nov. 25 no class
Nov. 27 Thanksgiving Break - no class
Tues. Dec. 2
Discussion of DSP poster & presentation
Analogue and digital photography
Practices of Looking, sections on digital image 138-149
Tues. Dec. 2 6:00 - 7:30 pm
How-to Poster Session - Room 107 Breckinridge
Thur. Dec. 4 Assembling DSP Poster
Tues. Dec. 9 Preparation for DSP presentation
Wed. Dec. 10 11:30-1:30 DSP Presentations
Ballrooms
Thur. December 11 Course evaluation
meet at 213 King Lab (King Library)
Final Paper: YouTube
The YouTube came into existence just 3 years ago, in 2005. Since then, the website and the phenomenon of web-based video has profoundly changed our relationship to the media and to each other. Write a paper that examines the impact of YouTube on the American society (not just yourself!). Make sure to include in your paper:
1) a short history of YouTube (you may use wikipedia and Time Magazine article “The Gurus of YouTube” by John Cloud: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1570721-1,00.html).
2) discussion of the positive impact of YouTube
3) discussion of the negative impact of YouTube
4) conclusion - are we better of with YouTube? can you predict future trends?
minimum length: 5 pages
Due: by e-mail no later than Monday, December 15th, 4:00 pm