Courses I Teach
Introduction to Visual Culture (VISA 1Q98)
We live in a visual world, but are we visually literate? We are surrounded by images every day, but do we understand how they make meaning in our world?
The study of visual culture has implications for virtually every other field of study. Some of the many questions that scholars of visual culture focus on include: How is scientific knowledge conveyed? Why are some images collected by museums while others are not? How do graphic design firms create eye-catching advertisements? What can images made in a different time period tell us about history? How does technology shape the way an image looks? How do activists use imagery to fight for social justice and political change? How does social media change the ways in which we engage with imagery? What is our expectation of “truth” when it comes to images accompanying news stories and documentary films? How does technology shape the way an image looks and how it is understood? How is information conveyed through graphs, charts, and illustrations? How can picture books help children learn?
This course introduces students to some core theories and concepts relating to the study of visual culture. We will draw upon a wide range of examples to explore these concepts and think about the ways in which visual culture interacts with and informs social, cultural, political, and economic aspects of human society.
Through this course you will develop the tools and skills to think deeply about visual culture. We will interrogate images and think about how they work in the world. We will build up critical thinking and communication skills so that we can go beyond surface-level engagement with images.
In this course we will also be developing and practising critical skills for success in university-level courses and beyond.
19th Century Visual Culture (VISA 2P90)
This course focuses on the relationship between visual culture and modernity in the “long nineteenth century” (from the late-18th century to the early years of the 20th century), a historical period marked by widespread political, social, economic, and cultural change. Through a series of thematic explorations we will be looking at some of the ways in which art and visual culture produced during time period responded to ever-changing conditions of “modern life,” and how the production and consumption of imagery during this time period relates to broader socio-political contexts.
Canadian Art History (VISA 2P50)
This course focuses on cultural production in Canada from early First Nations art practices until the middle of the twentieth century. Through thematic explorations we will consider some of the histories of Canadian art during this time period. This course is intended to give students a foundation in applying social and contextual analysis to the study of early Canadian Art.
Contemporary Issues in Canadian Visual Culture (VISA 2P51)
This course focuses on art, visual culture, cultural production, and museums/exhibitions in Canada from the mid-20th century through to the present day. Through thematic explorations we will consider some of the issues and cultural histories influencing the production and exhibition of art and visual culture in Canada during this time period.
Picturing Animals (VISA 3P98)
In 1980 John Berger famously asked, “Why Look at Animals?” Berger’s question serves as a launching point for this special studies seminar. In this course we will consider representations of animals in various forms of visual culture. From Albrecht Dürer’s The Rhinoceros (1515) to Damien Hirst’s The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living (1992), nonhuman species have been a consistent component of Western art. Further, the animal body has been at the forefront of many technical innovations in visual culture. For example, Edweard Muybridge’s photographs for his 1887 publication Animal Locomotion have been celebrated as both expanding the boundaries of photography and an important foundation for cinematography. Likewise, Eduardo Kac’s creation of Alba the “GFP bunny” in 2000 raised numerous questions about the practice, ethics and materiality of making art. As this example demonstrates, the relationship between animals and visual culture goes beyond that of simple representation and has important implications for inter-species relationships. For instance, in recent years artists like Olly and Suzi have begun to “collaborate” with nonhuman animals in their art-making endeavours and organizations like the “Elephant Art Gallery” showcase works purportedly created by pachyderm painters.
Through directed readings, research assignments and seminar-style discussions, this course will engage with such questions as: Why do animals figure so prominently in the history of art? What are the ethical implications of picturing animals? What does it mean when artists collaborate with animals? Are animal images art or science? What can we learn from images of animals and what can these representations tell us about ourselves? VISA 3P98 Course Outline (Autumn 2023)_web version
Social Justice & The Arts (SJES 5P70)
This course is a special topics study focusing on relationships between “the arts” and issues of Social Justice. We will consider many different forms of creative and cultural expression in this course, including visual arts, film, literature, theatre and music. Our investigation of the relationships that exist (and have historically existed) between Social Justice and the arts will be explored through both theoretical considerations and detailed analysis of select case studies.
This course is divided into three sections. In the first section we will consider how activist and social justice movements have utilized the arts. In this section we will spend some time considering how to critically analyze paintings, poems, photographs, songs performances, and other forms of cultural expression. These ideas will be further explored through close readings of select case studies. For example, how was music used in the American Civil Rights movement, and why was it so significant in this context? In the second section of the course we will consider how the arts have represented activism and issues of social justice. The third section of the course will focus on student research (through presentations and workshops) as well as our class’s contribution to the Niagara Social Justice Forum.
Keri Cronin 