ARTH230W

Why do we respond to particular forms and colors in certain ways? How can an image express emotions and ideas? Why do we see figures in the clouds? This course asnwers those and many other questions by providing an introductory set of concepts, paradigms, and methods of interpretation that will allow students to undertake a critical analysis of images and their different processes of creation and reception. By examining the variable definitions of image over time, the course analyzes the power of visual phenomena from a historical perspective. Principles and procedures borrowed from various disciplines - in particular, Semiotics, Art History, Psychology, and Literary Analysis - will compose the frame of reference to investigate the multiple functions and roles played by images in different societies. Students will explore the autonomy of visuality in relation to textuality in order to verify the distinctiveness of image-based processes of communication and expression.

All Years

Spring Semester