ART 195 - Visual Thinking

We negotiate the world through visual culture, and the world itself is negotiated politically through visuality and visual images. This class is an introduction to key issues of visual culture and will address the role of the visual arts in society, as well as within our university as a whole. This course introduces some of the central themes and theoretical methodologies of visual culture, looking at the history of visuality and of visual technologies. We consider how images are generated, how they circulate through digital media, remakes, and viral networks, and the cross-fertilization of images between various social arenas, including art, design, science, entertainment, and civic space. We also examine the visual culture and arts landscapes of Chapman University in our discussion and assignments, in order to better “read” the visual images and visuality we live among and within. This is designed as a portal course for all Art Department majors and Studio Art minors. Letter grade. (Offered spring semester.) 3 credits