Liberal Arts Courses

Visual Culture and the Manufacture of Meaning

Course No. AC 305  Credits: 3.0

This course will introduce students to critical theories and methods of analysis for interpreting contemporary visual art and culture. Topics include: formalism and stylistic analysis; semiotics and structuralism; Marxist theory; biography; psychoanalytic theory; feminist analysis and gender studies; postcolonial theory; post structuralism and postmodernity; and media arts studies (electronic/digital technologies). Select interpretive frameworks employed in the “manufacture of meaning” will be situated historically and discussed fully and critically, using seminal writings. Prerequisites: AC 150 and AC 250 or Corequisite: AC 250. 3 credits.