AMER 311 - American Photography, American Visual Culture

Institution:

Ramapo College of New Jersey

Subject:

Description:

Photography has become a central means to convey information and attempt to influence people since its invention in 1839. Photography is a subset of visual culture, the interdisciplinary study of images and objects, their formation and historical and theoretical contexts. Images have come to dominate our lives. Learning different approaches to their interpretation and examining their use in American culture will be our objective. This is an American Studies course, and thus interdisciplinary in nature. The course combines history, art history, literature, and culture studies to develop an in-depth understanding of how photographic and other visual images can be "read" and how they are used to a multiplicity of purposes. We will examine "the cultural work that images do" (Davidov) and how images create visual paradigms in American culture and, indeed, have "written" America's history and identity (but often as fiction). Issues of race, class and gender in visual culture will shape our readings, class discussions, and assignments, and we will range among popular, elite and academic culture. In addition to using slides and the images from our texts, we will visit virtual museums and other virtual resources to access images. 0.000 TO 4.000 Credit Hours 0.000 TO 4.000 Lecture hours Levels: Undergraduate Schedule Types: Lecture Amer and Int'l Studies College American Studies Department Course Attributes: MJ-AMER-Amer Artistic Express, GE-TOPICS ARTS AND HUMANITIES

Credits:

0.00 - 4.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.ramapo.edu

Phone Number:

(201) 684-7500 ext 7500

Regional Accreditation:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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