VISUAL STUDIES (AS) {VLST}

We live in an increasingly visual culture. New technologies and philosophies of vision influence how we see ourselves and our world, and how we think about seeing itself. Students can engage these developments through a multidisciplinary course of study, connecting the theory, practice, and culture of seeing.

L/R 101. Eye, Mind, and Image. (C) May be counted toward the Hum/SocSci or NatSci/Math Sectors. Class of 2010. Holod, Brainard. Also fulfills General Education in Sectors IV (Humanities and Social Sciences) and VII (Natural Science and Mathematics) for Class of 2010 and beyond.

Visual Studies 101 provides an introduction to a variety of approaches to understanding the nature of seeing, with attention to its physiological, environmental and cultural bases. As part of this introduction, the course willattempt to compare and contrast to the way that artists, art historians, philosophers, and scientists consider the same broad set of issues. The course will typically be co-taught by two faculty whose expertise represents two of these different approaches, and whos lectures will attempt to make explicit connections between different styles of intellectual endeavor. In this sense, the course is a microcosm of the visual studies major.

The topics include - The eye, light and visual system, including both our modernunderstanding and a disucssion of how this understanding developed over time. - The eye and culture, with particular emphasis on artistic depictions and concepts of the role of vision in society. - How perceptual abilities are measured in the lab, and the relationship between seeing and measurement and science. Perception and depiction of scenes, including depth, color, and motion. - How culture endows visual attributes (e.g. color) with meaning. - Depicting the body; seeing the self. - Visual memory and visual cognition. -Philosophy of seeing and science. What does it mean to see? How do we know what we see? Is seeing believing?

102.2 Dimensions: Forms and Meanings. (C) Tilestone, Copeland. 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.

103.3 Dimensions: Time and Space. (C) Kaczynski, Copeland. This course will cover the basic concepts of three dimensional design and sculpture such as volume and mass, scale, materiality, form and meaning, context, organic vs. geometric, etc. Students will also be introduced to morecontemporary areas of artmaking such as conceptual art, installation, and video and other time based arts. Projects will use both traditional sculptural materials as well as some "non-art" materials.

SM 301. (ARTH301) What is Visual Studies?. (C) Staff. Visual Studies 301 is a seminar-format course that challenges students to develop independent ideas about how the eye, the mind and the image that is created therein, all work together to inform our conception of the world at large. Rather than present a unified viewpoint, the course asks the question, "What is visual studies?" by examining parallel and sometimes antagonistic approaches to the ways that human beings understand sight and the concept of visuality. Over the course of the semester, students will discuss and write about various approaches to vision, examining this contested field through the lenses of several disciplines -- including psychology, philosophy, and art history. By parsing and assimilating diverse ideas, students will decide for themselves what are the most pertinent and relevant approaches to the various avenues of research that present themselves in the emerging interdisciplinary field of Visual Studies.

SM 395. Senior Project. (E) Prerequisite(s): Permission of Instructor Required. See department for appropriate section numbers. See department for appropriate section numbers.

399. Independent Study. Staff. See department for appropriate section numbers.