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FALL 2013 VISUAL STUDIES COURSES

VLST 102. 2 Dimensions: Forms and Meanings. (C) Wahl/Hyland 

This course will introduce students to the basic concepts of two dimensional studio practice and visual communication. Materials will range from traditional drawing materials such as charcoal and pencil to digital photography, and will explore the use of diverse visual languages. Emphasis will be on both formal and conceptual issues, such as developing meaning through imagery, narrative, metaphor, and visual modes in contemporary culture. Projects will be structured to deal with basic concepts and techniques, and prepare students to use the studio practice as a form of participation in contemporary culture. Assorted readings will accompany the studio projects each week, covering topics ranging from color theory to critical and theoretical issues in Visual Culture.  

 
VLST 305. What is an Image? Verstegen. 

The course will explore various concepts of images. It will consider natural images (as in optics), images as artifacts, virtual images, images as representations, and works of art as images.  Themes to include: the image controversy in cognitive science, which asks whether some cognitive representations are irreducibly imagistic; the question of whether some images resemble what they represent; the development of the concept of virtual image and three-dimensional images; the notions of pictorial representation and non-representational images in art.  Readings from C. S. Peirce, Nelson Goodman, Robert Hopkins, Dominic Lopes, W. J. T. Mitchell, and Mark Rollins, among others.

 

VLST 395. Senior Project. (E) Staff 

Prerequisite(s): Permission of Instructor Required. 

 

VLST 399. Independent Study. Staff

 

VLST 599. Independent Study. Staff.

 

SPRING 2013 VISUAL STUDIES CORE COURSES

VLST 102. 2 Dimensions: Forms and Meanings. (C) Wahl/Hyland 

This course will introduce students to the basic concepts of two dimensional studio practice and visual communication. Materials will range from traditional drawing materials such as charcoal and pencil to digital photography, and will explore the use of diverse visual languages. Emphasis will be on both formal and conceptual issues, such as developing meaning through imagery, narrative, metaphor, and visual modes in contemporary culture. Projects will be structured to deal with basic concepts and techniques, and prepare students to use the studio practice as a form of participation in contemporary culture. Assorted readings will accompany the studio projects each week, covering topics ranging from color theory to critical and theoretical issues in Visual Culture. 

 

VLST 303/VLST 503. The Rise of Image Culture.  Staff

Images are ubiquitous in the cultural life of the 21st century, yet only two centuries ago they were rare. When and how did pictures come to permeate daily life? How has ordinary experience--psychological, social, cultural, intellectual--changed as a result? This seminar addresses these questions through close reading of influential historical and theoretical writings about the rise of image culture and its effects, including Benjamin, Debord, McLahan, Mitchell. 

 

VLST 395. Senior Project. (E) Staff 

Prerequisite(s): Permission of Instructor Required. 

 

VLST 399. Independent Study. Staff

 

VLST 599. Independent Study. Staff.