ARTH 230 - Materiality and Meaning

Institution:

Williams College

Subject:

Art History

Description:

In this course we will study the things people make and use, from works of art to clothing, buildings, and tools. We will use anthropological theory to explore the social and communicative roles that objects play in human society and to explain how people use objects to communicate, rebel, exert power, or make sense of the world around them. We will begin by reconsidering the category "art" and by exploring the idea that visual practices are culturally constructed. Through reading ethnographic case studies, we will investigate how meaning and value are produced in different cultural contexts. In particular, we will focus on semiotic theories of value and on theories of exchange, building on Marcel Mauss's seminal work The Gift. In the second half of the course, we will attend to the role of material culture in capitalist societies by exploring the processes whereby things become commodities; by investigating the relationship between style, aesthetics, and class; and by tracing the interrelationships between design, advertising, and consumer society. Readings will include the work of Pierre Bourdieu, Dick Hebdige, Bronislaw Malinowski, Karl Marx, Annette Weiner, and others.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Open to all students

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Seminar

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.williams.edu

Phone Number:

(413) 597-3131

Regional Accreditation:

New England Association of Schools and Colleges

Calendar System:

Four-one-four plan

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