This course is an introduction to the key issues of the field of visual culture, looking at the social role of images and visuality (the structures and power relations of looking, being seen and unseen, and vision in society). It introduces students to some of the foundational aspects of visual culture theory and concepts, in contemporary culture, with particular attention to the US context in relation to the global. This course will introduce some of central themes of visual culture, looking at the history of modern forms of visuality and the history of visual technologies, concepts of spectacle and scale, museums and image collections, image icons, taboo images, and the relationship of images to memory. We will examine how images circulate through digital media, remakes, and viral networks, and the cross-fertilization of images between various social arenas, such as art, advertising, popular culture, comic books, news, science, entertainment media, video games, theme parks, architecture, and design.
