ARHI 40550 - Seeing for Historians: Photography as Evidence and Interpretation

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

Art History

Description:

History, proverbially, is about story telling. Historians have concerned themselves primarily with language, narrative, evidence, and argument. In other words, historical practice is rooted in words not images, sound not sight. The advent of photography in the middle of the nineteenth century should have changed all that, at least according to some theorists, providing new sources of evidence, new means of interpretation, and most importantly a new relationship between past and present. However, the general consensus is that historians have failed to avail themselves of this new resource. This course explores how historians might learn to see better, what the pitfalls are as we approach still photographs, and how technical images change our relationship with the past. By engaging various theoretical works and witnessing these theories in action in various ways, the class will explore the nature of historical evidence and whether still images tell stories. During the first weeks of the class, we'll read debates over the nature of sight and the kind of evidence provided by photographic images; during the following weeks, we'll contemplate photography as a social and discursive practice; finally, we'll deal with it from psychological, anthropological, and quotidian perspectives.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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