Look! See what I mean? Stop staring. Try to see things from my point of view. Picture this.  Keep an eye out. Seeing is believing, but beware of your blind spots. Such declarations, admonitions, and metaphors hint at the ways in which seeing—how we see, what we see, what can be seen and what remains invisible—shape what counts as knowledge of the world and our place within it. This course examines visual perception and representation with the aim of developing a critical understanding of the complexities of vision and visuality. We will read, view, and discuss the works of historians, theorists, critics and artists who have engaged with such topics as the hierarchy of the senses; philosophies of embodied sense perception; histories of photography, film, and new media as ways of seeing and representing; scientific accounts of the physiology of visual perception; social and political interrogations of visibility; psychoanalytic accounts of the gaze; and how identities and differences condition and frame that which is perceived. Students will sharpen their research, verbal communication, and writing skills through weekly readings, presentations, discussions, and response papers, and the development of a research-based paper on a topic of their choice.Readings will be available online through an electronic course copy packet. There will also be a field trip to the San Francisco Exploratorium’s Tactile Dome.The program in Visual & Critical Studies at CCA train creative leaders in visual and critical fields. Seminars offered under the heading VCS Topics build skills in historical investigation, critical thinking, and visual analysis, while providing students with key theoretical tools as well as exposure to their academic, social, and artistic applications.

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