Undergraduate Program

Teaching assistantship in Visual and Cultural Studies

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

Graduate research assistantship in Visual and Cultural Studies.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

This course overviews Western painting, sculpture, architecture, film, performance and installation and its dialogues with the wider world. We will examine various practices in historical contexts, while paying particular attention to the narratives, sociabilities, and materials that bear upon them, such as the influence of the past, religion, gender, colonialism, race, ideology, technology, ecology, and politics. The course will attempt to familiarize students with the way some principal monuments of world art from about 400 BCE onward were made and understood, and to develop visual literacy, that is, the ability not only to identify, but also to discuss art works as central elements of culture. Museum, gallery, and archive field trips are key components of the course.

Location

(TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

The objective of this course is to provide the necessary tools to enable critical reflection on the respective values and mutual relationships of comics, art and film. The first weeks will be spent acquiring the technical and historical context that will enable us to begin to recognize the breadth and depth of word/image narrative practices. After developing a core vocabulary for thinking about comics as a medium we will then look at how artists and directors have drawn on that vocabulary in a range of different contexts. Retaining a sense of the specificity of both comics and film as artistic mediums, we will closely consider topics ranging from cross-cultural translation, ontologies of otherness, and modes of mediated history. Course requirements include class participation, an autobiographical comic, weekly wordless posts, a vocabulary quiz and a final paper/project.  

Location

(MW 6:15PM - 7:30PM)

As an introduction to the art of film, this course will present the concepts of film form, film aesthetics, and film style, while remaining attentive to the various ways in which cinema also involves an interaction with audiences and larger social structures.

Location

(TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

This course provides an introduction to modern architecture starting with its nineteenth-century roots and continuing to the present day. We will explore the impact of technological, economic, political, and social change on architecture, as well as study major figures of modern architecture such as Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Location

(TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

This course is a survey of courtly art and monumental architecture in South Asia from 2500 BCE to the present. It spends some time exploring where, when, why, and for whom these examples of art and architecture were made to understand what they mean in their historical and geographical contexts. This course is also designed to help improve students’ “visual literacy” by looking at the art and architecture of South Asia. Students will develop their analytical skills by comparing and contrasting formal, spatial, and material aspects of artifacts and structures in discussions during the lectures and assignments at home. They will also develop their critical thinking and research skills through weekly readings and semester research projects. By the end of the course, students will not only have a clear sense of South Asian art and architecture in Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic contexts but will also be able to “see” and perceive objects and buildings of their multicultural world in a different light.

Location

(TR 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

This course offers a comprehensive survey of Chinese art and culture from the Neolithic age to the present. Course sections are arranged chronologically. We will study works by major artists together with the unique materials, formats, genres, conventions, and ideas in artistic conception and production. Besides regular class meetings, the schedule also includes two debating games (about Shang bronzes and Song landscapes respectively), a hands-on section of calligraphy, a touch section of authentic ceramic sheds from the best-known kilns, and a storage visit at the Memorial Art Gallery. We will develop our sensitivities to unspoken visual subtleties as we outline an intellectual history of Chinese culture through artistic creation.

Location

(TR 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

This course is an introduction to art exhibition practices including research, curation, planning, art handling, installation, and hands-on experience in galleries. Students will install exhibitions in the teaching galleries and spaces on campus, including (but not limited to) Hartnett Gallery and Frontispace Gallery. Studio Art lab fee applied.

Location

(T 11:05AM - 1:45PM)

The first of a sequence of two, the course approaches 'The Divine Comedy' both as a poetic masterpiece and as an encyclopedia of medieval culture. Through a close textual analysis of 'Inferno,' and the first half of 'Purgatorio,' students learn how to approach Dantes poetry as a vehicle for thought, an instrument of self-discovery, and a way to understand and affect the historical reality. They also gain a perspective on the Biblical, Christian, and Classical traditions as they intersect with the multiple levels of Dantes concern, ranging from literature to history, from politics to government, from philosophy to theology. A visual component, including illustrations of the 'Comedy' and multiple artworks pertinent to the narrative, complements the course. Class format includes lectures, discussion, and a weekly recitation session. Intensive class participation is encouraged. Dante I can be taken independently from Dante II. No prerequisites. Freshmen are welcome. Part of the Dante Humanities Cluster.

Location

(MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

This course seeks to improve students' writing and analytical skills through analysis and experimentation with different styles of writing about contemporary and historical arts. Students analyze prose by artists, historians, cultural critics, poets, and others who have written on the visual arts, with an eye towards how writing on art can be a tool for improving expression in many areas. Slide lectures, discussions, and writing projects on objects of diverse media and historical eras will be augmented by visiting speakers and field trips to museums and galleries. This course fulfills one-half of the upper level writing requirement for both studio and art history majors. Permission of instructor required.

Location

(TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

Studies the history of “aesthetic” thought—namely the philosophical reflection on the concepts of beauty, taste, and sublimity, on our affective response to art and nature, and on the role of art and the artist in society—from Plato to Nietzsche, with particular emphasis on how aesthetics relates to questions of epistemology, anthropology, ethics, ontology, and politics. The concepts of mimesis and the sublime will be given special attention. Authors studied include Plato, Aristotle, Horace, Longinus, Boileau, Batteux, Burke, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Nietzsche. Conducted in English.

Location

(TR 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

This course surveys the history of cinema from its emergence in the mid-1890s to the transition to sound in the late 1920s. We will examine the cinema as a set of aesthetic, social, technological, national, cultural and industrial practices as they were exercised and developed during this 30-year span. We will explore the diverse forms cinema took and functions it performed during this period by looking closely at a range of films and writings about films and film culture. We will also examine contexts within which these films were produced and experienced as well as theorizations of cinema that emerged concurrently with them. The course thus introduces students to the study of film history as well as a key national and international trends in making and thinking about cinema as it rose to prominence as a vital component of the art and culture of the twentieth century. Previous coursework in film is recommended, though not required; please contact the professor if this will be your first experience studying film in an academic setting.

Location

(MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

This course will explore developments in world cinema industrial, social, and political from 1959 to 1989. It will explore film aesthetics, technologies, and circulation questions, considering questions like the following: What’s new about the French New Wave? What do we mean by Third Cinema? How do different national cinemas influence each other? In what ways have various national cinemas responded critically to Hollywood’s commercial dominance and to its conventions? How do popular and art? cinemas speak to each other. How does cinema respond to the pressures and provocations of other media at the inception of the digital age? Weekly screenings and film journals required.

Location

(MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

What are the new perspectives, directions, and strategies of writing about photography and photographs, when Theory” seems to be a passing fad and the domain of the history of photography has been merged either into histories of modern art or of regional arts? What are the new interpretations of the recurring key concepts in photography, theories, and what are the new ones that have emerged? This course studies photography related theories from the 1990s to the present to invite you, as the new generation of scholars, to reflect on how you can contribute to, develop, and innovate within the field.

Location

(R 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

This course follows contemporary art—painting, sculpture, architecture, performance, video, and installation after 1990— in South Asia and across its diaspora that represents or addresses the human body. We will take a long view, moving with the works to their various historical references, which include temple and tomb architecture, the sculptural depictions of gods and queens, and the sensorium (light, scent, and sound) of ritual practices from prehistory to the present. We will ask what alternative paradigms such long histories offer artists, and us, of the body in love, kinship, and community.

Location

(TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This course equips students with essential tools and strategies for securing internship opportunities,
emphasizing professional growth for career and advanced degree readiness. While specifically
designed to help students apply for internships in New York City as part of the Art New York program,
the skills gained in this course such as resume building, cover letter writing, workplace
communication, portfolio development, and effective job searching are transferable to all
disciplinary paths. Through a combination of group and individual meetings, as well as independent
work, students will refine their application materials, learn how to research opportunities, and develop
the confidence to navigate the competitive internship landscape.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

Feminism has had a powerful impact on the developing field of film theory from the 1970s to the present. This course will examine the major feminist work on film, moving from the earlier text-based psychoanalytic theories of representation to theories of feminine spectatorship to studies of reception contexts and audience. We will also give attention to the very important role of feminist theory in television studies. Weekly screenings, keyed to the readings, will allow us to test the value of these positions for close critical analysis of the film or television text. Readings to include: Laura Mulvey, Kaja Silverman, Constance Penley, Judith Mayne, Linda Williams, Jacqueline Bobo, Valerie Smith, Lynn Spigel, Lynne Joyrich, Julie D'Acci.

Location

(T 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

This course provides undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue in-depth, independent exploration of a topic not regularly offered in the curriculum, under the supervision of a faculty member in the form of independent study, practicum, internship or research. The objectives and content are determined in consultation between students and full-time members of the teaching faculty. Responsibilities and expectations vary by course and department.  Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed through the Independent Study Registration form (https://secure1.rochester.edu/registrar/forms/independent-study-form.php)

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

Under the guidance of a faculty advisor, Seniors identify a topic, develop a project plan, conduct substantive work, and present their findings or creations in a final written report, portfolio, performance, or presentation. Responsibilities and expectations vary by course and department.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

This course provides undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue in-depth, independent exploration of a topic not regularly offered in the curriculum, under the supervision of a faculty member in the form of independent study, practicum, internship or research. The objectives and content are determined in consultation between students and full-time members of the teaching faculty. Responsibilities and expectations vary by course and department. Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed through the Internship Registration form ( https://secure1.rochester.edu/registrar/forms/internship-registration-form.php)

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

This course provides undergraduate students the opportunity to pursue in-depth, independent exploration of a topic not regularly offered in the curriculum, under the supervision of a faculty member in the form of independent study, practicum, internship or research. The objectives and content are determined in consultation between students and full-time members of the teaching faculty. Responsibilities and expectations vary by course and department.

Location

( 7:00PM - 7:00PM)

This seminar offers an in-depth exploration of selected topics in art history, with themes varying annually.

Location

(W 2:00PM - 4:40PM)