Syllabus: Visual Communication and Culture

Visual Communication and Culture

COMS 369, Winter 2017
Department of Communication Studies, Concordia University

Instructor: Luciano Frizzera, Ph.D. Student in Communication Studies
Email: lucaju@gmail.com
Website: coms369.fluxo.art.br
Time: Wednesday from 1:15 pm - 4:oo pm
Location: CJ 4.240
Office hours: Wednesdays 11:00 am-12:00 pm (Office CJ 4.260) or by appointment

Orginal site: coms369.fluxo.art.br

Description

Why is there an emphasis on ‘visual’ communication and not the other senses? How has certain media framed how we literally see and experience the world? What kind of cultural practices of seeing have been naturalized for certain communities and why? What is the role of technology in visual communication? What are the visual strategies to communicate an idea? How can we interrupt/intervene on and with such visual practices? These are some of the questions we are exploring in this course.

This course introduces the basic principles of visual forms of communication, and considers the relationship of visual and verbal components within media messages. It also presents various modes of visual communication, considers their place within cultural understandings of representation, and examines the place of the visual within contemporary culture.

The visual is often questionably perceived as one of the most important out of the five senses. As participants, witnesses, consumers, and producers of/to visual mediated experiences, there is an overlaying assumption that the “visual” merely includes things we can see before us. Rarely are we introduced to the diverse ways of seeing, some that include the visible, less visible, and invisible, and how such practices can shift and/or radicalize how to engage with different media. This course will invite students to inquire and reflect on their own practices of seeing, and how such processes have affected their own movement through the world.

We, as citizens, students, researchers, and communication enthusiasts, will explore the ethics and complexities of ‘visuality,’ particularly on issues of cognition, audience reception, personal identity, human relationally, and culture. Over the duration of this course, students will be introduced to theoretical perspectives grounded in Communication and Cultural studies, as well as in Software Studies, Film, New Media, Critical Geography, Semiotics, Games Studies, and Visual Cognition Sciences. Through a series of class-led group discussions, close readings, and media workshops alongside weekly lectures, this course will lend critical ‘lens’ to what we call ‘visual communication’ and its effects on ourselves and the society as a whole.

Course Objectives

• To understand a range of concept and theories applicable and useful in visual communication.
• To explore and analyze a variety of theories on image reception and meaning making.
• To engage in critical ways of “seeing” and evaluate the complexities of what it means “to see’.
• To consider major debates in visual communication and mobilize an ethical response in relation to issues involving visual communication.

Course Readings

All course readings will be available on the online course reserves under the course code COMS 369 or in the e-journal database. There is no course pack.

Assignments

10% Course participation
25% Group-led class intervention
15% Reading Reports
20% Critical visual reflection
30% Final original paper/project

Grading

Participation

Students full participation is essential. This includes completion of assigned readings, attendance, and contribution to class discussions and activities. You should arrive having read and thought the assigned readings, bringing questions, examples, and comments to share with the class. We will begin each class with close readings of different passages, both suggested by you and picked by me, and discuss what we find compelling and/or problematic about these passages. Please note, if you are uncomfortable speaking in front of your peers due to your own personal reasons, please speak with me at the beginning of the term and we will make alternative arrangements. Students participation mark will also be affected by how supportive they are to fellow classmates: collegiality is very important inside and outside the classroom.

Group-led Intervention

20-30 minutes
1-page reflection

Students will be asked to place themselves in groups of 4 (no more or less). The groups will sign up for one week to organize a class-led intervention motivated by the course reading of that week. The intention behind this process is to energize critical thought on the course reading and offer a meaningful approach to a certain visual communication issue. Interventions may include an artistic activity, a debate, a storytelling, social media interaction, etc. Please note that your classmates are not required to participate if they do not feel comfortable. The group intervention must run between 20-30 minutes. After the intervention, we will have a quick class dialogue about the outcomes from the activities. It is required that one week prior to the presentation the group member stay 15 minutes after class to speak to me about what they are planning and to receive preliminary feedback. THe group presentation is worth 20% of the total grade.

In addition to the intervention, each group member is required to submit a 1-page reflection on the activity, its application of the course reading, the general response of the classmates, and situate what you would have changed. This reflection is worth 5% of the total grade.

Reading Reports

500-700 words

This assignment is designed to be low-stakes (not worth very much individually), but aim to help you gain a deeper understanding of the readings. You are responsible for submitting two reports, each worth $7.5 %$. This assignment is very straightforward: your job, in two pages, will be to write a short summary of the readings of the week you choose, including questions the reading raised, connections the readings have to prior readings, class discussions, or contemporary media, or critiques of the readings. You should explain the concepts to the best of your ability, making links where you can to other ideas/theories covered in the course. The goal of this assignment is to help you to develop close reading skills that are essential to both critical reading and thinking skills. Thus, it might my useful to focus on one or two passages, concepts or ideas discussed on the readings.

Minimally, you are required to submit two reports, so you must select at least two weeks for writing your assignment. Reading reports starts from week 3 and you should pick at least 1 before the reading week. Note that you are free to write 3 reports. If you do, your lowest mark will be dropped (if your 3 rd assignment happens to result in a lower grade than your previously lowest grade, you will not be penalized in any way).

Critical Visual Reflection

4-5 pages
Due: week 6

Choosing a Montreal-specific site (park, statue, building, mural, etc.) and applying two courses reading (other than ones used for your group intervention). You should reflect on what issues of visual communication are being energized by the chosen site. Some of the questions to consider: What are the ethical complexities of this site? What kind of seeing practices emerge? How is it being framed in the backdrop of Montreal? What are the cultural/social implications of its visual qualities? The student discussion must consistently apply and articulate the selected course readings. The reflection should also include 4-5 pictures that must be referred in the text of your paper. Take the opportunity to explore a part of Montreal that you encounter every day and issues that are relevant to your personality. The reflection must be approximately 4-5 pages long, in addition to the pictures and a bibliography.

Final original paper

10 pages
Due: week 14

Your final assignment essay will be an original paper on the topic of your choice. Consider writing on issues we have covered over the duration of this curse: gender and racial representation; visuality, perception, and sensation; ethics; technology; ideology; political economy; videogames, visualization, social media, etc. In a 10 pages paper, you should respond to your selected issues, and use a minimum of 3 course readings to articulate what is at stake. I encourage the use of non-academic articles to contextualize and familiarize with the topic. However, please remember the emphasis needs to be on the course reading and in their application on the selected topic.

Specifications

All written submission should include the following: the title of your text (give your work a meaningful title); name of the assignment (e.g., Critical Visual Reflection); your name and student number; the course title and number; the submission date.

Your Work should be: double-spaced, in 12-point Times font; 1.5 inch margins all around; page numbers on the lower right; and include a separate reference page with full source citations. You can choose the citation style of your preference, but please use it consistently throughout your text.

Send your work by email: lucaju@gmail.com
PDF and Word file are preferable.

Schedule

1 - Why Visual Communication

January 11

Syllabus and course review

• Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2008). Introduction. In Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture (Second Edition edition, pp. 1-9). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Lester, P. M. (2014). Visual Communication. In Visual Communication: Images with Messages (6 edition, pp. 2-12). Boston: Wadsworth Publishing.
• Mitchell, W. J. T. (2005). There Are No Visual Media. Journal of Visual Culture, 4(2), 257-266. Additional suggested reading: Mirzoeff, N. (2006). On Visuality. Journal of Visual Culture, 5(1), 53-79.

2 - Perception and Cognition

January 18

• Lester, P. M. (2014). Visual Cues. In Visual Communication: Images with Messages (6 edition, pp. 14-41). Boston: Wadsworth Publishing.

Additional suggested reading:

• Ware, C. (2000). The Environment, Optics, Resolutions, and the Display [Excerpt]. In Information visualization: Perception for design (pp. 31-63). San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, c2000 (Norwood, Mass.).
• Ware, C. (2000). Color [Excerpt]. In Information visualization: Perception for design (pp. 95-117). San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, c2000 (Norwood, Mass.).
• Ware, C. (2000). Visual Attention and Information that Pops Out [Excerpt]. In Information visualization: Perception for design (pp. 139-162). San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, c2000 (Norwood, Mass.).
• Ware, C. (2000). Static and Moving Patterns [Excerpt]. In Information visualization: Perception for design (pp. 179-191). San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, c2000 (Norwood, Mass.).

3 - Simulation and Politics *

January 25

• Baudrillard, J. (1983). Simulations [Excerpt]. (pp. 1-30). Semiotex(e).

Additional suggested reading:

• Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2008). Images, Power, and Politics. In Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture (Second Edition edition, pp. 10-44). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2008). The Mass Media and the Public Sphere. In Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture (Second Edition edition, pp. 151-188). New York: Oxford University Press.

4 - (in)Visibility and Surveillance *

February 1

• Foucault, M. (1995). The means of correct training. In Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison (REP edition, pp. 170-194). New York: Vintage
• Fuster, G. G., Bellanova, R., & Gellert, R. (2015). Nurturing Ob-Scene Politics: Surveillance Between In/ Visibility and Dis-Appearance. Surveillance & Society, 13(3/4), 512-527.

Additional suggested reading:

• Foucault, M. (1995). Panopticism. In Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison (REP edition, pp. 195228). New York: Vintage.
• Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2008). Spectatorship, Power, and Knowledge. In Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture (Second Edition edition, pp. 72-108). New York: Oxford University Press.

5 - Semiotic, Space, and Maps *

February 8

• De Certeau, M. (2002). Walking in the city. In The Practice of Everyday Life (2nd ed., pp. 91-110). Berkeley, CA, USA; Los Angeles, CA, USA; London, UK: University of California Press.
• Shields, R. (1989). Social spatialization and the built environment: the West Edmonton Mall. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 7(2), 147-164.

Additional suggested reading:

• Harpold, T. (1999). Dark continents: A critique of Internet metageographies. Postmodern Culture, 9(2).
• Afzal, S., Maciejewski, R., Jang, Y., Elmqvist, N., & Ebert, D. S. (2012). Spatial Text Visualization Using Automatic Typographic Maps. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 18(12), 25562564

6 - Images in Advertising *

February 15

• Barthes, R. (1977). The Rhetoric of the Image. Image-Music-Text, 15-27.
• Soar, M. (Ed.). (2003). The advertising photography of Richard Avedon and Sebastião Salgado. In Image ethics in the digital age (pp. 269-294). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Additional suggested reading:

• Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2008). Consumer and the Manufacturing of Desire. In Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture (Second Edition edition, pp. 189-236). New York: Oxford University Press.

7 - Reading Week

February 22

Reading Week

8 - Visual (re)Production *

March 1

• Benjamin, W. (2008). The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction. In M. W. Jennings, B. Doherty, & T. Y. Levin (Eds.), The Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility, and Other Writings on Media (1st ed., pp. 19-55). Cambridge, Mass.; London: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Additional suggested reading:

• Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2008). Reproduction and Visual Technologies. In Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture (Second Edition edition, pp. 109-150). New York: Oxford University Press.

9 - Gendered Gazes *

March 8

• Mulvey, L. (1989). Visual pleasure and narrative cinema. In Visual and other pleasures (pp. 14-26). Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan.
• Berger, J. (1972). Ways of seeing (pp. 45-64). New York: Penguin Books and British Broadcasting.

Additional suggested reading:

• Fron, J., Fullerton, T., Morie, J. F., & Pearce, C. (2007). The hegemony of play. In Situated Play: Proceedings of Digital Games Research Association 2007 Conference. Tokyo, Japan (pp. 1-10).

10 - Race and Representation *

March 15

• Roth, L. (2009). Looking at Shirley, the ultimate norm: Colour balance, image technologies, and cognitive equity. Canadian Journal of Communication, 34(1), 111-136.
• Dyer, R. (2005). On the manner of whiteness. In White privileges: Essential readings to the other site of racism (pp. 9-14). Paula Rauthenberg.

Additional suggested reading:

• Lester, P. M. (2014). Visual Stereotypes. In Visual Communication: Images with Messages (6 edition, pp. 98-127). Boston: Wadsworth Publishing.

11 - Digital Cultures *

March 21

• Manovich, L. (2016). Instagrammism and contemporary cultural identity. In Instagram and Contemporary Image (pp. 1-25).
• Tifentale, A. (2016). The Networked Camera at Work: Why Every Self-portrait Is Not a Selfie, but Every Selfie is a Photograph. In Riga Photography Biennial 2016 (pp. 74-83). Latvia: Riga Photography Biennial.

Additional suggested reading:

• Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2008). Post-modernism and Popular Culture. In Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture (Second Edition edition, pp. 237-278). New York: Oxford University Press.
• Manovich, L. (2001). The Interface [Excerpt]. In The Language of New Media (pp. 62-88). MIT Press.

12 - Virtual worlds and Avatars *

March 28

• Ducheneaut, N., Wen, M.-H., Yee, N., & Wadley, G. (2009). Body and mind: a study of avatar personalization in three virtual worlds. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1151-1160). ACM.
• Neustaedter, C., & Fedorovskaya, E. (2009). Presenting Identity in a Virtual World Through Avatar Appearances. In Proceedings of Graphics Interface 2009 (pp. 183-190). Toronto, Ont., Canada, Canada: Canadian Information Processing Society.
• Turkle, S. (1994). Constructions and reconstructions of self in virtual reality: Playing in the MUDs. Mind, Culture, and Activity, 1(3), 158-167.

Additional suggested reading:

• Manovich, L. (2001). The form [Excerpt]. In The Language of New Media (pp. 244-285). MIT Press.
• Dibbell, J. (1993, December). A Rape in Cyberspace. The Village Voice. 16p.

13 - Visualizations *

April 5

• Munzner, T. (2014). What’s vis, and why do it? In Visualization Analysis and Design (1 edition, pp. 1-19). Boca Raton: A K Peters/CRC Press.
• Tufte, E. R. (1990). Escaping Flatland. In Envisioning Information (1st edition, pp. 12-35). Graphics Press.

Additional suggested reading:

• Ware, C. (2000). Visual Objects and Data Objects. In Information visualization: Perception for design (pp. 293-324). San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, c2000 (Norwood, Mass.).

14 - TBA

April 12

University Resources

List of Student Services

1. Communication Studies Academic Advisor: Ms. Sheelah O’Neill Sheelah: ONeill@concordia.ca
2. Counselling and Psychological Services: http://concordia.ca/students/counselling-life-skills
3. Concordia Library Citation and Style Guides: http://library.concordia.ca/help/howto/citations
4. Student Success Centre: http://concordia.ca/students/success
5. Health Services: http://concordia.ca/students/health
6. Financial Aid and Awards: http://concordia.ca/offices/faao
7. HOJO (Off Campus Housing and Job Bank): http://csu.qc.ca/hojo
8. Academic Integrity: http://concordia.ca/students/academic-integrity
9. Access Centre for Students with Disabilities: http://concordia.ca/offices/acsd
10. CSU Advocacy Centre: http://csu.qc.ca/advocacy
11. Dean of Students Office: http://concordia.ca/offices/dean-students
12. International Students Office: http://concordia.ca/students/international
13. Student Hub: http://concordia.ca/students
14. Department of Communication Studies: http://www.concordia.ca/artsci/coms.html
15. BA Coms announcement list: To subscribe, send an email to majordomo@lists.concordia.ca with ‘subscribe bacoms’ (no quotes) as the only text in your message. Save the reply for future reference.
16. Postings for internships and paid work for students in the Department of Communication Studies only: https://comsopps.concordia.ca (BA students cannot take internships in their first year)

Rights and Responsibilities

Academic Integrity: “The Academic Code of Conduct sets out for students, instructors and administrators both the process and the expectations involved when a charge of academic misconduct occurs. The regulations are presented within the context of an academic community which seeks to support student learning at Concordia University.” (From Article 1 of the Academic Code of Conduct). Full text: http://www.concordia.ca/students/academic-integrity/offences.html

Plagiarism: The most common offense under the Academic Code of Conduct is plagiarism, which the Code defines as “the presentation of the work of another person as one’s own or without proper acknowledgement.” This includes material copied word for word from books, journals, Internet sites, professor’s course notes, etc. It refers to material that is paraphrased but closely resembles the original source. It also includes for example the work of a fellow student, an answer on a quiz, data for a lab report, a paper or assignment completed by another student. It might be a paper purchased from any source. Plagiarism does not refer to words alone -it can refer to copying images, graphs, tables and ideas. “Presentation” is not limited to written work. It includes oral presentations, computer assignment and artistic works. Finally, if you translate the work of another person into any other language and do not cite the source, this is also plagiarism. In Simple Words: Do not copy, paraphrase or translate anything from anywhere without saying where you obtained it! Source: Academic Integrity Website: http://concordia.ca/students/academicintegrity

Disabilities: The University’s commitment to providing equal educational opportunities to all students includes students with disabilities. To demonstrate full respect for the academic capacities and potential of students with disabilities, the University seeks to remove attitudinal and physical barriers that may hinder or prevent qualified students with disabilities from participating fully in University life. Please see the instructor during the first class if you feel you require assistance. For more information please visit http://concordia.ca/offices/acsd

Safe Space Classroom: Concordia classrooms are considered ‘safe space classrooms’. In order to create a climate for open and honest dialogue and to encourage the broadest range of viewpoints, it is important for class participants to treat each other with respect. Name-calling, accusations, verbal attacks, sarcasm, and other negative exchanges are counter-productive to successful teaching and learning. The purpose of class discussions is to generate greater understanding about different topics. The expression of the broadest range of ideas, including dissenting views, helps to accomplish this goal. However, in expressing viewpoints, students should try to raise questions and comments in ways that will promote learning, rather than defensiveness and feelings of conflict in other students. Thus, questions and comments should be asked or stated in such a way that will promote greater insight into the awareness of topics as opposed to anger and conflict. The purpose of dialogue and discussion is not to reach a consensus, nor to convince each other of different viewpoints. Rather, the purpose of dialogue in the classroom is to reach higher levels of learning by examining different viewpoints and opinions with respect and civility.

Department Policies

Participation: This grade is based on overall punctuality and attendance in the classes, labs and workshops. Student preparedness, initiative and level of class engagement is evaluated (this means participating in discussions and demonstration of familiarity with required readings). Participation also includes completing all required readings and all assignments on time. Students are expected to be collegial, respectful and tolerant of peers, teaching assistants, technical instructors and professors. The best classroom experience will occur with courteous and engaged participation and interaction with each other, the work, the discussions and debates.

Attendance: Regular attendance is a requirement. Students are expected to actively participate in all classes, workshops, critiques, discussions and labs associated with courses, and to complete all required course work according to deadlines and guidelines as assigned. Failure to comply can result in loss of marks.

Electronic Devices: No electronic devices may be used once the class starts. All mobile phones, iPods, PDAs, cell phones, laptops etc. must be turned off and put away. The only exceptions are if the Access Centre for Students with Disabilities has authorized such use or the instructor specifically grants permission for use.

Communication Studies Numerical Grade, Letter Grade and Official Grade Point Equivalence

Please note the individual instructors may elect to use numerical grades, letter grades or both for individual assignments, while all final marks for the course are given as letter grades at the university level.

A = Superior work in both content and presentation. This is a student who appears, even at an early stage, to be a potential honours student. The work answers all components of a question. It demonstrates clear and persuasive argument, a wellstructured text that features solid introductory and concluding arguments, and examples to illustrate the argument. Few, if any presentation errors appear.

B = Better than average in both content and presentation. This student has the potential for honours, though it is less evident than for the A student. Student’s work is clear and well structured. Minor components of an answer might be missing, and there may be fewer illustrations for the argument. Some minor but noticeable errors in presentation may have interfered with the general quality of the work.

C = Student demonstrates a satisfactory understanding of the material. Ideas are presented in a style that is at least somewhat coherent and orderly. Occasional examples are provided to support arguments. Presentation errors that affect the quality of the work are more apparent than in B work. Some components of a question may have been omitted in the response.

D = Student has only a basic grasp of the material. Sense of organization and development is often not demonstrated in the response. Few, if any, examples are provided to illustrate argument. Major components of a question might have been neglected; and major presentation errors hamper the work.

F = Shows an inadequate grasp of the material. Work has major errors of style; and provides no supporting illustration for argument. Ideas are not clear to the reader. Work lacks a sense of structure.

Additional criteria, parameters and guidelines will be handed out in class when each assignment is introduced and discussed.