121-211 Landscape and Visual Culture

Usually 25 points of first and/or second year Arts subjects or approval of the subject coordinator.

This subject is concerned with the relationship between geography and visual culture, as it is expressed through the concept of landscape. Geography has been, and continues to be, a quintessentially visual enterprise reliant on practices of envisioning people and place. This subject introduces students to the meaning, power and politics of those visual practices from nineteenth century photography of Africa and Australia to contemporary digital culture. Drawing on ideas from art history, anthropology and cultural studies, the subject will discuss the evolving landscape tradition in oil painting, photography and contemporary art. Students who complete this subject will be familiar with current work in cultural geography that presents 'landscape' as more than an image, but as a critical concept that reveals the relations between processes and things. Particular attention will be paid to the fundamental question of what it means to see, and the connection between sight and other senses. Students will be introduced to these themes through various geographical contexts and through constant reference to a range of visual media, particularly photography and film.

• have an ability to discuss the contested and provisional nature of knowledge;

• have an ability to read and write contemporary theory in cultural geography;

• have an ability to think critically about the relation between sight and knowledge.

Participation in tutorial discussions 5%, an essay of 2500 words 60% (due at the end of week 8) and a take-home examination of 1500 words 35% (due at the end of semester).