760-248 Visual Culture

Students who have completed 760-121 An Introduction to Visual Culture or 760-126 Screen and Photographic Theory 1B are ineligible to undertake this subject.

12.5 point first year visual media subjects or equivalent.

This subject provides an introduction to critical tools and methods employed in respect of interpreting such image-based cultural practices as photographs and films. Topics covered include narrative, genre, semiotics, psychoanalytic theory, feminist and Marxist models of interpretation, and broader forms of ideological critique relating to the representations of race and sexuality. Gallery visits, guest lectures, screenings and excursions are included in the program.

• apply analytic, cognitive and practical skills to the planning and successful completion of a set task within a given time;

• demonstrate a familiarity with a broad range of media-related materials and a knowledge of various theoretical approaches to the interpretation and analysis of visual material;

• demonstrate some critical understanding of the debates that divide the theoretical arena;

• understand and feel comfortable with the various analytic skills, theoretical vocabularies and conceptual apparatuses studied;

• demonstrate a sense of your own personal and cultural reflexivity as you observe and interpret the theories, concepts and texts analysed in the subject;

• write clear, grammatically and syntactically appropriate, independent essays on the various topics provided or chosen for assessment.

Work equivalent to 4000 words involving a series of assessment tasks staggered throughout the semester, a short class test in week 4 (10%); a long essay (50%); a second class test in week 12 (30%) & participation (10%).

A subject reader will be available from the Bookroom at the beginning of semester.