Com 2340: Theories of Visual Culture and Communication Instructor Dr. Kathleen F. Oswald Fall 2019 Class Room: Garey 101B Class Time Thursday, 6:10 pm - 8:50 pm E-mail: Kathleen.oswald@villanova.edu Office: TBA; hours by appointment Course Catalog Description Introduction The purpose of the course is to introduce you to a new way of seeing. The course deconstructs what we think we know about what we see to demonstrate that what we see is influenced by the culture in which we live and the meanings we give to our visual universe. Learning and employing the theoretical lenses of semiotics and visual cultural studies, visual rhetoric, and feminist psychoanalysis, we will examine images in media, brands, advertising, and our everyday lives to understand the visual language used, the “commonsensical” meanings given and understood, and what they reveal about our culture. It is hard work to engage theory and look reflexively in new ways, but the work is rewarding and revealing. My Teaching Philosophy and Expectations I see teaching as an instructor responsibility to facilitate learning, provide relevant resources and strategies, and empower students to apply what they have learned beyond the classroom. I believe learning is an active role that requires an investment on the part of the student. I expect students to come to class prepared, contribute to class discussion, have a positive attitude about the course, and act respectfully toward their classmates. Course Objectives By the end of this course students will be able to: • • • • • • • • Discuss the role of images in various media including print, television and digital media Interrogate the relationship between visual communication and culture Explain what seeing is (and is not) Appreciate the importance of visual culture as it relates to race, gender, class, and sexuality Understand the impact of particular media technology on the creation and distribution of images Engage in lively and informed discussions about visual communication and culture Further develop critical thinking, reading, writing, and speaking skills Demonstrate the ability to analyze images using a variety of theoretical approaches Course Materials will be provided electronically via Black Board. Graded Components Class Participation Prompts Infographic Final Project Final Project Presentation 10% 40% 10% 30% 10% Total: 100% Grades will be calculated according to the following grading scale: A+ A A- 99- 100% 94- 98% 90- 93% B+ B B- 87-89% C+ 83-86% C 80-82% C- 77- 79% 73- 76% 70- 72% D+ D D- 67-69% 63-66% 60-62% GRADED COMPONENTS Class Participation - 10 percent Thinking about communication in any context involves a number of abstract ideas that require considerable discussion and reflection to truly understand and appreciate. I have made a point to not assign more reading than is reasonable, so I expect you will have time to read it, think about it, and contribute to the quality of our mutual experience. Of course, you must attend to participate, so be here. Reflections - 40 percent The ability to summarize, evaluate, respond to, and incorporate what you read into your own thinking is important to your success in this course. These short (approx. 500 word) assignments are designed to provide you with a space to demonstrate what you are learning in this course. To that end, a reading response will be due for four of the perspectives we cover. There will be at least six opportunities to submit a response, so if one unit does not inspire you, skip that week. The following questions will be considered in evaluating this work: • • • Does the paper briefly and purposefully summarize significant aspects of the reading(s)? Does the paper offer some evidence of critical thinking, synthesis, application, questioning, or other ‘higher-level’ cognition? Has the reflection been carefully written, edited, and proofed? Responses are due on the same date as the readings to which they respond. You will be responsible for doing 4 of these. I encourage you to get the reading done early in the week so that you have sufficient time to reflect on the readings and compose an appropriate response. While there are deadlines for getting them done, there’s nothing to stop you from working ahead! Infographic – 10 percent Toward the end of the term you will be responsible for signing up for Piktochart and creating an infographic focused on one of your course readings. I will provide you with documents and resources that will help walk you through the process. This is a self-directed assignment which will result in a polished visual product and serve to prepare you for diving into the final project. Final Project – 30 percent For our final project in this course, you will construct a visual argument. Your project can take almost any form as long as it is primarily visual (a photograph or photo series, video, comic strip, collage, animation, etc.). You will make a claim and support it through the choices that you make (angle, typography, colors, subject) and tailor it to a specific audience. In addition to the visual component, there is a written component to the project – a 2-4 page paper in which you discuss the choices you made and reflect on the challenges of presenting arguments visually. More details will be provided after the middle of the term. Final Project Presentation – 10 percent In lieu of a written final examination, your final task in this course is to present your final project to the class. You will individually present your final project in a polished 5-6 minute presentation where you will share your visual argument, briefly discuss the choices you made and share the challenges you faced with the class. Bonus points will be awarded to the presentations that score highest by student vote. REQUIREMENTS FOR WRITTEN WORK • • • • • Graded assignments are due on Blackboard by 6:10 p.m. for the day they are listed. Your work should be typed in a legible font at a reasonable size. 1” margins, double spaced. Include your name, the course title, the date and the assignment # at the top of the page. Edit and proofread everything before you turn it in. Clear writing = clear ideas. All sources quoted or referenced should be cited in text using a consistent style (APA is standard for communication) and should be accompanied by a list of works cited at the end of the paper. COURSE POLICIES Attendance I expect that you will attend all class meetings, as we have a great deal of material to cover. If you are not present when I call roll, you will be marked as absent. If you arrive late, inform me at the end of class and I will change your absence to a late. Two lates = one absence. If you must miss class for any reason, it is your responsibility to find out what you missed and/or make arrangements to complete any missed work. Unexcused Absences You are granted one unexcused absence without penalty. Additional unexcused absences result in a half letter grade deduction in your final grade each. Excused Absences Anticipated absences must be cleared with the instructor before the absence. Emergency absences (medical emergency, family death or illness) must be documented appropriately and reported to the instructor as soon as possible. Make-up work and Late work In-class assignments can not be made up in the case of unexcused absences. Late papers and projects will be accepted, but a penalty of 10% of the total project will be assessed every day that the work is late. Papers turned in early because of anticipated absences will be gladly accepted. Presentations can not be made up in the case of unexcused absences. Distractions Distractions include texting/chatting on your cellphone, browsing the web or playing games on your laptop or phone, having a side conversation while a classmate or I am speaking, and anything else that manners dictate is rude. I do not think that this will be a problem, but if it is, it will count as a deduction from your participation score (as being a distraction is a negative kind of participation). Blackboard Blackboard will be an integral part of our course; therefore, I expect you to familiarize yourself with the platform and log on several times a week. I will post readings, assignments, and other course documents there as well as announcements and revisions to the course schedule, and you will submit your papers through Blackboard. It is your responsibility to know how to access and interact with the Blackboard site. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) It is the policy of Villanova to make reasonable academic accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are a person with a disability please contact me after class or during office hours and make arrangements to register with the Learning Support Office by contacting 610-519-5636 or at nancy.mott@villanova.edu as soon as possible. Registration is needed in order to receive accommodations. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY I expect that all work in this class is your work. I take plagiarism very seriously. If you have a question about how to properly credit a source, please ask in class or contact me. If a student is charged with academic dishonesty and found to be in violation, disciplinary action will be taken according to the Academic Integrity Policy. Students are responsible for knowing the rules governing the use of another's work or materials and for acknowledging and documenting the source appropriately. This policy can be found in the Villanova University Student Handbook. COURSE SCHEDULE Course schedule is subject to change. If changes are made, I will notify you as soon as possible. Week One INTRO TO THE COURSE August 29 Reading Assignments: • Carey, J. (1989). A Cultural Approach to Communication. In In J. Carey, Communication as Culture pp.13-36. Boston: Unwin Hyman. • Eagleman, D. (2011). The Testimony of the Senses: What is Experience Really Like? In D. Eagleman Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain pp. 20 – 54. New York: Pantheon Books. Be prepared to introduce yourself and share your specific interests in the course. Week Two SEEING September 5 Reading Assignments: • Elkins, J. (1996). The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing. New York: Simon & Schuster. Chapters 1 and 2, pp. 17-85. Assignment: Writing Prompt Available. Week Three SEEING CULTURE: ETHNOGRAPHY September 12 Reading Assignments: • • • • Geertz, C. (1973). Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture (Ch.1). In C. Geertz, Interpretation of Cultures. pp.3-30. NY: Basic Books. Larson, S. (April 11, 2016). Emoji can lead to huge misunderstandings, research finds. The Daily Dot. Available at https://www.dailydot.com/debug/emoji-miscommunicate/ Foer, F. (2018, May). Reality’s End. The Atlantic Monthly 321(4) 15-18. Knight, W. (2019, August 16). The world’s top deepfake artist is wrestling with the monster he created. MIT Technology Review. Available at: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614083/the-worlds-top-deepfake-artist-iswrestling-with-the-monster-he-created/ Assignment: Writing Prompt Available. Week Four STATIC IMAGES September 19 Reading Assignments: • • • Sontag, S. (1977). In Plato’s Cave. In S. Sontag On Photography pp. 2-24. New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux Zelizer, B. (2006). What's Untransportable About the Transport of Photographic Images? Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture,4(1), 3-20 van Dijck, J. (2008). Digital photography: communication, identity, memory. Visual Communication, 7(1) 57-76. Assignment: Writing Prompt Available. Week Five MAPS AND MAPPING September 26 Reading Assignments: • • • Harley, J.B. (1989). Deconstructing the map. Cartographica 26(2) 1-20 Padrón, R. (2007). Mapping Imaginary Worlds. In J. R. Akerman & R. W. Karrow Jr. Eds Maps: Finding our Place in the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 255-87. Villi, M. & Stocchetti, M. (2011). Visual mobile communication, mediated presence and the politics of space, Visual Studies, 26:2, 102-112. Read the following non-academic articles available on the web: • Grabar, H. (July 27, 2016). All Maps Are Biased. Google Maps’ New Redesign Doesn’t Hide It. Future Tense (blog). Available here • Take this quiz: How Y’all, Youse and You Guys Talk • And read this article: 22 Maps That Show How Americans Speak English Totally Differently From One Another • Visit: http://thetruesize.com Assignment: Writing Prompt Available. Week Six COLOR AND CULTURE October 3 Reading Assignments: • • Eco, U. (1985). How Culture Conditions the Colours We See. 148-170 Roth, L. (2010). ‘Flesh in Wax: Demystifying the Skin Colors of the Common Crayon,’ in Jonathan Finn (Ed.). Images in Action: Readings in Visual Communication and Culture, 73-84. Oxford University Press. Read the following non-academic articles available on the web: • The history of “color revolution”: Mauveine and Indigo (May 10, 2013). CHROMATIC NOTES: Understanding Science and Technology of Color (link). • Drop Dead Gorgeous: A TL;DR Tale of Arsenic in Victorian Life (June 11, 2014). The Pragmatic Costumer: Historical Costuming for the Rest of Us (link). • Rosenberg , G. (July 16, 2016). A Chemist Accidentally Creates A New Blue. Then What? NPR Science (link). Assignment: Writing Prompt Available. Week Seven ADVERTISING AND ARGUMENTATION October 10 Reading Assignments: • • • Toulman, S. E. (1958/2003). The Layout of Arguments. In S. E. Toulman The Uses of Argument, pp. 87- 134. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Kjeldsen, J. E. (2012). Pictorial Argumentation in Advertising: Visual Tropes and Figures as a Way of Creating Visual Argumentation. In F.H. van Eemeren and B. Garssen (eds.), Topical Themes in Argumentation Theory: Twenty Exploratory Studies (pp. 239-255). Williams, R. (1999). Advertising: The Magic System. In S. During (Ed.), The Cultural Studies Reader (pp. 411 – 423). London: Routledge. Assignment: Writing Prompt Available Week Eight FALL BREAK October 17 Mid Semester Recess – No Class Week Nine VISUAL TELLING October 24 Reading Assignments: • • • Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Narrative Representations: Designing Social Action. In G. Kress and T. van Leeuwen Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design 2nd ed. pp. 45-78. New York : Routledge , 2006. (Kress and van Leeuwen) Sousanis, N. (2012). The Shape of Our Thoughts: A Meditation On & In Comics. Visual Arts Research 38(1), 1-10. University of Illinois Press. Ndalianis, A. (2009). The Frenzy of the Visible in Comic Book Worlds. Animation: an Interdisciplinary Journal, 4(3). 237-248 Assignment: Writing Prompt Available. Week Ten DIGITAL IMAGES (asynchronous class) October 31 “Hey guys! I hear you like theories of visual communication so use theories of visual communication to make a visual about a theory of visual communication!” This week, you will create an infographic for a favorite class reading applying theories we have learned in class to this point. You will present your infographic when you return to share your final project proposal. More information will be provided after fall break. Week Eleven DIGITAL IMAGES November 7 Reading Assignments: • • • Benjamin, W. (1936). Art in the age of Mechanical Reproduction. McCloud, S. (1993). “Show and Tell” pp. 138-161 in Understanding Comics, New York: William Morrow Press. Bolter, J. & Grusin, R. (2000) Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Intro and Chapter 1. p. 2 – 50 Assignment: Writing Prompt Available FINAL PROJECT PROPOSAL DUE. Provide the class with a 2-3 minute presentation of your intentions for the final paper. Rough drafts are due in two weeks! Week Twelve NO CLASS – NCA November 14 There will be no class this week due to the National Communication Association conference. This week presents a great opportunity for developing your final project in more detail and working on rough drafts, due at our next class meeting. I will be presenting with other visual communication educators on ways to make visual communication theory more accessible to students in the classroom – if you have any general thoughts on how activities have made visual communication theory make sense and be useful to you, please share them and I will pass them on! Week Thirteen PEER REVIEW and LOGISTICAL MEDIA November 21 Reading Assignments: Peters, J. D. (2013) Calendar, Clock, Tower. In J. Stolow (Ed.) Deus in Machina: Religion and Technology in Historical Perspective (pp. 25-42) New York: Fordham University Press, 2013. Young, L. C. (2013). Un–Black Boxing the List: Knowledge, Materiality, and Form. Canadian Journal of Communication, 38, 497–516. ROUGH DRAFTS DUE: This class meeting will be used to conference with me to discuss any remaining questions you might have and the status of final projects. Today, please bring a rough draft of your final project -- your visual argument itself as well as your explanation paper -- for peer review. Bring TWO PRINTED COPIES. During the second half of the class, we will discuss logistical media. Week Fourteen THANKSGIVING RECESS November 28 Thanksgiving Recess – no class Week Fifteen CLASS CHOICE and FINAL PROJECT DUE December 5 Reading Assignments: We will decide on the topic of the last lecture mid-semester based on student interest and research areas. This is something I do every semester, and it is often my favorite class of the semester. I look forward to getting to know you! FINAL DRAFTS DUE. These must be submitted to the Blackboard site by the beginning of class. If your visual is not digital, please include an image of it at the end of your paper. Remember, if Blackboard is not operating properly, you can always email me or submit your paper/project in printed form/on a disk. PROJECT PRESENTATIONS December 12 Last Day of Classes Final project presentations