Visual Culture and New Media

Visual Culture and New Media

Dr. Sharon Avital

Course Description: Social Media has often been called the contemporary panopticon where everyone can see and be seen; where the use of visual imagery, spectacle and performance has become increasingly important and changed the relationship between audiences and texts.

This class will focus on the important aspect of the visual and its implications for cultural and civic life.  We will explore the various ways through  which images circulate on different platform and to difference audiences, study issues of representation and personification in the public sphere; the growing importance of commodification; iconic photography and appropriation; semiotics and symbols; architecture, graffiti, online design, the importance of style and the uses and implications of virtual reality.

COURSE Objectives: By the end of this course, students will:

• Better understand how images and their viewers make and communicate meaning.

• Understand how to study and decipher images for their textual meanings by applying rhetorical methods of interpretation.

• Appreciate different modes of responding to visuality, or the practices of seeing or looking.

• Understand the different roles images play in popular culture and how those roles change as the images move, circulate, become appropriated, and cross cultures.

• Understand how cultural influences determine the type of visual messages used and how they are interpreted.

what you will need:

• No assigned textbook for this course. See Course Schedule for reading assignments uploaded to Moodle.

• Access to a digital camera (don't buy one just for class) or good camera on your cell phone

• Portable flash drive, computer, and Internet connection

Assignments

Unless otherwise noted, all assignments must be submitted via Moodle by the time and date listed on the Course Schedule. Professionalism is a significant dimension to each grade. Attendance, participation, preparation, and overall professionalism factor in to your assignment grades.

• Final Analysis paper, 50 pts,: Research and write a 5-7 page paper (1500-2100 words) that engages course concepts and theories in which the student critically analyzes a visual artifact or collection of artifacts. The paper must include a properly formatted Works Cited of at least five academic referenced sources (note: this does not include YouTube, Wikipedia, or other non-academic sources; these may be referenced additionally), and use either the MLA, APA, or Chicago Style format. The use and citation of authors applying specific visual analytic theories will be rewarded. You might select a film, an advertising campaign, a clothing style, a visual trend, a photographic collection, a political campaign, or cartoon series. These are only a few ideas; choose an artifact that you find intriguing.

• Participation- 50%

- Image Safaris: First, log on to Facebook and send a request to be added to the course closed group, Students will photograph or collect images to represent concepts we cover and upload the Image to the course Facebook group. Images will be used in class discussions, in addition to daily Reading Questions. If you are not signed up to Facebook or are unwilling to do so, you must print our your Image Safaris and bring them with you to class on the days they are due. Detailed instructions for each Safari are listed on the Image Safari Assignment Instructions sheet.

-Reading questions: Each set of reading questions is designed to focus your reading of texts and to help build foundational knowledge of visual culture concepts and theories. We will use the reading questions as a basis for class discussion. Limit your responses to one page or less. This is the only assignment that I ask you print out and bring to class. You may also write your Reading Questions legibly by hand instead of printing from an electronic document. Reading questions are due at the beginning of class on the listed due dates (see Course Schedule).

For each reading assignment set (e.g., for each class meeting), include your name, Reading Question day and #, and answer the following questions:

1. What do you think are the important points in the assigned readings or videos?

2. Which arguments or points do you agree with or find persuasive? Why?

3. Which arguments or points do you disagree with or find unpersuasive? Why?

4. What questions do you have about the readings? What would you like to discuss further in class?

There are no exams and quizzes in this class.

GRADING

How you will be graded: I do not grade on a curve. I grade you based on the accuracy in which you answer questions, as well as the level of comprehension and application of theory.

Return of Assignments to Students: All projects shall be graded and made available to the student no more than three weeks after the assignment is turned in.

Grade Disputes:  Any concerns/questions regarding points earned from an assignment should be brought to the instructor’s attention within one week of receiving the score. Grade disputes submitted later than one week after receiving your score will not be considered.

Final Grades: Your grades are earned and are not something to be negotiated. Grades will be posted to Moodle, so monitor your progress throughout the semester; please do not ask your instructor to tell you what your grade is at any point in the semester. Points will not be arbitrarily given to bump up final scores and there will be no rounding or curving of final grades.

visual Culture: Course Schedule

Reading and other assignments are listed on the day they are DUE. The instructor reserves the right to make changes to the schedule, with appropriate notice to the class, based upon class interest and need.

Kress, Gunther and Theo van Leeuwen. “Front Pages: (The Critical) Analysis of Newspaper Layout.”Approaches to Media Discourse. Eds. Alan Bell and Peter Garrett. Oxford/ Massachussetts: Blackwell, 1998: 186-219.

Delicath, John W. and Kevin Michael Deluca. “Image Events, The Public Sphere, and Argumentative Practice: The Case of Radical Environmental Groups.” Argumentation 17 (2003): 315-333.

Finnegan, Cara, 2001, "The Naturalistic Enthymeme and Visual Argument: Photographic Representation in the Skull Controversy", Argumentation and Advocacy, Winter 2001: 133-149.