Visual Studies: Time, Memory, and Ways of Seeing

Level: Undergraduate

Division: The New School for Public Engagement

School: School of Undergraduate Studies

Department: Humanities

Course Number: NARH 2100

Course Format: Seminar

Location: NYC campus

Permission Required: No

Topics:

• Art History, Theory & Criticism
• Philosophy
• Visual Culture

Description:
This course takes both a theoretical and practical approach to the interdisciplinary field of visual studies. We look at the various attempts of writers, artists, scientists, and philosophers to describe, question, and explain the nature of the image, human imagination, and visual experience. How is our perception of the world around us related to our thoughts and ideas about that world? Is seeing shaped by concepts and language, or is it independent of them? How do we understand and make use of the things we see? What tools do we have for interpreting and talking about visual objects and experience? How can our study of the arts and art theory contribute to the development of those tools? And how do the various forms of visuality--our practices of looking and seeing--limit or enhance our experience, agency, and visual pleasure? The basic theoretical concepts and principles in this course are drawn from critical art history and theory, media studies, cognitive science, and philosophy. Students develop the skills necessary to write effectively about the visual world and to think productively about the creation of images and the meanings that surround them. Note: Course formerly listed as NHUM3100.