A Chronological Survey of Photography

Catalog description

A survey of photography's place and influence in a social, cultural, and historical context. ART H 250 A Chronological Survey of Photography (3) This course explores the role played by photography over time in providing understanding and insight in a social, cultural, and historical context of the impact of the development of the photographic medium and its effect on social, political, cultural and technological events. Emphasis will be given to understanding the context that surrounds the scientific and aesthetic development of photography. This is a survey of the chronology of events in western culture that transpires from the inception of photography until the year 2000. It includes the influences and outcomes of photographers and those associated with the medium on our culture. Emphasis will be placed on the influence of photography on the world around it, and significant events and individuals in the development of the medium as a vital art form. The structure of the course will consist of research and discussion of events and individuals that characterized years selected for examination. Each week one or two decades of western culture will be highlighted. Although the thrust of research will relate to photographic subject matter, the events studied will span the culture. We will explore the development of art, literature, music, and photography, as well as, historic landmarks, and the events that have shaped present society. Each week a selection of visual material will be presented highlighting selected events, students will read literature from the period of discussion, significant pieces of music will be introduced, and accounts of periodic events will be surveyed.Each week, a group of students will be assigned to research at least one decade. Each student will gather information about a significant figure or event that occurred in the course of a given period. The student will be expected to prepare a short paper and give a five-minute oral presentation about his/her assigned year, historical figure or event. As each student presents, the chronology of events becomes clear and the multiple threads of history weaves a brilliant tapestry of our culture. For the final presentation the student will prepare a ten-page research paper about a historical figure or event.Students will be graded on the quality of the weekly oral presentations and the demonstrated level of commitment to research. Another significant part of their grade will be derided from the length of committed scholarship given to the ten-page term paper. Students must exhibit a level of originality, clarity, and insight. The student must demonstrate the capacity for the assimilation of facts and events relative to their subject and demonstrate how their subject relates to other events that occurred around the same time of their event. Toward this end students will be encouraged to work together to illustrate the interconection of the chronology.