Reading Visual Culture

3 units

How do images "mean"? Why are some weightier than others, exerting unusual power or shaping influence over the cultural imagination? And how might meaning-making processes (past and present) inform our work as artists and designers? This theory-driven seminar considers how influential scholars/thinkers from a range of disciplines have answered these questions, attending to strategies for reading visual culture across a range of media and contexts. Students will engage creatively with readings and artifacts, writing a series of short responses, and conducting independent research that seeds future projects.