Office: Hellems 352

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1 HIST 7415: Graduate Seminar in Modern U.S. History Topic: Visual Culture Spring 2016 Hellems 104 Tue 3:30-6p Phoebe S.K. Young Office Hrs: Tue 2-3:30p Office: Hellems 352 Course Description This seminar has two main purposes: first, to provide a structure for you to produce a substantial research-based essay; and second, to explore the historical analysis of visual culture. For this latter, topical emphasis, we will explore a range of examples, theories, and methodologies for analyzing visual sources in historical context. The examples we will consider will be drawn largely from the context of U.S. history, but the modes and tools of analysis are meant to be applicable to scholars in multiple fields; methodologies will draw upon cross-disciplinary perspectives. Learning goals include: To become familiar with and develop facility with the range of methodological approaches and tools of visual analysis applicable to a variety of media, such as painting, graphic art, photography, advertising, film /tv, and digital visualization. To understand theoretical bases and critical perspectives from which scholars have understood the production, distribution, interpretation, and consumption of visual material and what questions they raise for the practice of history. To gain fluency in recognizing visual documents as subject, evidence, and method for studying and representing the past and in the ways the study of visual culture illuminates and alters major themes in U.S. social, political, and cultural history. To develop, through practice, a critical apparatus for analyzing images and visual culture related to your field. Your major work in this course will be to produce an article- or chapter-length work of original scholarship rooted in primary research based on a topic within your own field. It is not required that your research paper be related to or focused on visual culture. Instead, as you develop your topic, you should consult with your advisor or other faculty with expertise in the literature you are engaging. This course will provide you a schedule and framework to produce (the draft of) an article of publishable quality. To that end, assigned readings are concentrated in the first half of the semester. Discussions will often focus on the research and writing process, sometimes in conjunction with visual culture topics. The course will guide you through several intermediate products proposal, bibliography, literature review as well as the peer-review process and a presentation. Learning goals include: Develop a robust set of historical questions and design an effective proposal and a workable plan to pursue them. Gain additional experience with research in primary sources of multiple types. Complete a focused literature review or historiographical analysis that contextualizes the significance of your work and its possible challenges, advances, and audiences. Hone your skills at historical analysis, argumentation, narrative construction, writing, and presentation. Provide constructive and meaningful critiques of others work and respond productively. 1

2 Course Requirements Research Paper The bulk of your grade will be based upon your research essay, which should be modeled as a draft of a journal article, volume chapter or other professional essay: substantial length (30-40 pp.), thoroughly researched and documented, well supported theoretically and historiographically, clearly and effectively organized, and well written. There will be several stages for you to develop and workshop this project among colleagues proposal, bibliography, literature review, rough draft, and final presentation. You will also meet individually with me to consult about your project conception and progress. These intermediate steps are extremely important and not completing them will affect your grade negatively. o The research paper project is worth 65% of your total grade. Visual Analysis Portfolio During the first half of the semester, there will be several informal activities designed to hone your abilities to approach, analyze and teach with visual materials. For the final one these, on either Feb 23 or Mar 1, you will lead a short (10-15 min) presentation and discussion around the analysis of a single visual source which can be framed for research teaching purposes or for a public audience. (More details to come.) You do not need to turn any of these in on the day they are assigned but you will turn in a portfolio that includes some of these items and reflects on these activities at the end of the topical portion of the term (due Mar 11). Details to come, but this is intended to be a low-stakes, low-pressure forum to explore your own approach to the visual (and it will be graded as such i.e. I m not expecting a whole separate essay, coherent whole, or original argument, but rather a collection of thoughts-in-progress over the course of the semester. o The weekly activities, presentation, and portfolio together are worth 15% of your total grade. Reading For each week, plan to read the items listed for that day, typically a mix of the texts listed above, book chapters, articles, and websites. For many of our common readings, we will use an online collaborative reading tool called NB (nb.mit.edu). You will read and respond: post comments, ask questions, respond to others thoughts, highlight important or confusing areas, and seed discussion ideas. Note: NB should be completed and comments posted not later than 12noon on the day assigned (i.e. three hours before class). Best practice: make a few initial comments or ask questions as you read, and then check back before class for responses from your classmates or me. If you have any questions about strategies for reading (i.e. how to gut a book: lose the guilt and get the most out of it ), please do feel free to consult with me. Learn not to treat these dilemmas as unethical, but as practicing necessary professional survival skills. Discussion You will be expected to participate actively in weekly discussions. Your close reading, thoughtful preparation, active listening, and ready participation are essential, both for your own experience and that of your colleagues. The quality of the feedback you offer in peer-critique is also crucial. With our reduced number of class meetings, attendance at each seminar is expected, barring the occasionally unavoidable emergencies of life. o Participation, including class discussion, NB comments, and peer-critique, is worth 20% of your total grade. 2

3 Required Available for purchase at the CU Bookstore or your favorite online booksellers and on reserve at the CU Libraries (with additional copies available through Prospector or ILL): Finis Dunaway, Seeing Green: The Use and Abuse of American Environmental Images (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2015) Alan Trachtenberg, Reading American Photographs: Images as History from Matthew Brady to Walker Evans (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1990) Elspeth Brown, The Corporate Eye: Photography and the Rationalization of American Commercial Culture, (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008) Gregg Mitman, Reel Nature: America's Romance with Wildlife on Film (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2009) CU Bookstore seems to have neglected to order this title. Laurie E. Gries, Still Life with Rhetoric: A New Materialist Approach for Visual Rhetorics (Logan: Utah State University Press, 2015) o also available as a free ebook through the University (you will need to use VPN to access it off-campus). Ari Kelman and Jonathan Fetter-Vorm, Battle Lines: A Graphic History of the Civil War (New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2015) In addition we ll be reading parts of these classic books (some out-of-print) which you may want to purchase for your personal library (required excerpts will be available in.pdf form): Angela Miller, Empire of the Eye: Landscape Representation and American Cultural Politics, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1996) Anne Farrar Hyde, An American Vision: Far Western Landscape and National Culture, (New York: New York University Press, 1990) Karen Halttunen, Confidence Men and Painted Women: A Study of Middle-Class Culture in America, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1986) ordered through CU Bookstore John F. Kasson, Rudeness and Civility: Manners in Nineteenth-Century Urban America (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1991) ordered through CU Bookstore Roland Marchand, Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985) Various articles and book chapters, all of which will be available on NB (nb.mit.edu). Make sure you have access to: Kate Turabian, et. al, A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Thesis, and Dissertations, 8 th ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013); or Chicago Manual of Style Online - 3

4 Class Schedule (subject to slight variation) Jan 12 Course Introduction Sally M. Promey, Situating Visual Culture, in A Companion to American Cultural History, ed. Karen Halttunen (Oxford: Blackwell, 2008) Michael L. Wilson, Visual Culture: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis?, in The Nineteenth-Century Visual Culture Reader, ed. Schwartz and Przyblyski (2004): W.J.T. Mitchell, Showing Seeing: A Critique of Visual Culture, Journal of Visual Culture, 1:2 (2002): The Fact of the Matter, Radiolab podcast, Sept. 24, 2012 Listen to first segment only: In the Valley of the Shadow of Doubt (16:42) o Note: The Fenton photographs under discussion are reproduced here: I recommend listening to the podcast first before examining the photographs, but if you d prefer to see the images first or look at them during, feel free. Assignment: Get signed up for NB Jan 19 Visual as historical source Text: Dunaway, Seeing Green NB: Thomas Milton Kemnitz. The Cartoon as a Historical Source, Journal of Interdisciplinary History 4:1 (Summer 1973): NB: Jules Prown, Mind in Matter: An Introduction to Material Culture, Theory and Method, Winterthur Portfolio (Spring 1982): Assignment: First, choose an image (either one you ve used before or a new one, something related to your research or entirely unrelated) and give it a quick once over. What do you see in it? What don t you see? What do you think it means? What (historical/cultural) context do you put it in? Next, visit the Getty Museum s webpage for an introduction to formal analysis and brief descriptions of the elements of art line, shape, form, space, color, texture: Browse through the examples, scan any handouts that seem helpful, continue on to the principles of design page balance, emphasis movement, if you want. Now go back to your image and try some formal analysis on it. Does focusing on the elements of art and design alter your initial take on the image? Does it deepen your understanding or curtail it? What does formal analysis gain you and what does it miss? Why do it? Bring a (digital or print) copy of the image (and your notes) to class. See D2L for a helpful (if slightly random) list of sites to find both historical and contemporary images (other than, of course, the Google). Let me know if you find great places I can add to this list. 4

5 Jan 26 Visual as symbol Text: Miller, Empire of the Eye, Introduction + ch. 1-2, & 4 (pdf on D2L) Text: Hyde, An American Vision, Introduction + ch. 1-2, 5, & Epilogue (pdf on D2L) NB: Joshua Brown, Towards a Meeting of the Minds: Historians and Art Historians and Patricia Hills, Brickbats in Tandem: An Art Historian s Response, American Art 17:2 (Summer 2003): pp NB: Roland Barthes, Rhetoric of the Image (1977), Assignment: Using either the same image from before or a new one, analyze it using Prownian method. Did you discover something new through this method? What does this method gain? What does it hide? How does it compare to Barthes rhetorical approach? Bring your image and some notes to class. Feb 2 Visual as sensory experience : Text: Halttunen, Confidence Men and Painted Women, Preface + ch. 1-3, 6 & Conclusion (pdf on D2L) Text: Kasson, Rudeness and Civility, Introduction + ch. 3-4, 6-7 (pdf on D2L) NB: James W. Cook, Seeing the Visual in U.S. History, Journal of American History 95:2 (September 2008): James Elkins, How to Use your Eyes (2000), excerpts (pdf on D2L) Assignment: Select and read some chapters in Elkins and then practice using your eyes on various objects and experiences. Can you describe the sense or experience of looking? Can you see the salt in the sea i.e. can you characterize the overall visual culture in which you live? Of various experiences? (i.e. a hike in nature? a shopping mall? a movie theater? ? a video game?) Can you compare this to visual cultures of other places or times? Feb 9 Visual as artifact Text: Trachtenberg, Reading American Photographs, Prologue + ch. 1-3, + Epilogue Text: Rebecca Solnit, River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West (2003), ch. 4 & 8 NB: John Herron, Stuffed: Nature and Science on Display, in Shaffer and S.K. Young, eds., Rendering Nature (2015), NB: Walter Benjamin, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1936) NB: Roland Barthes, Camera Lucida, 3-15, Assignment: Prepare a draft proposal of the research project that you will undertake over the course of the semester. Be sure to clearly explain the topic, your central research question(s), your methodology, and the primary sources that you will utilize. (See Elements of a Research Proposal handout for details). These are limited to 5 pages max, double-spaced! Due to D2L dropbox by 5 pm on Friday February 5 so that I can post them on NB where everyone can read them and comment on them before class. We will spend part of this class period discussing and critiquing the proposals in relation to the readings. 5

6 Feb 16 Visual as agent Text: Brown, The Corporate Eye Text: Trachtenberg, Reading American Photographs, ch. 4 NB: Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture (2009), ch. 3, Modernity: Spectatorship, Power and Knowledge, excerpts Alessandra Link, Cropped off the Landscape, Imprinted in the Imagination: Railroad Photography, Native Americans, and the American West, Assignment: As you read Alessandra s paper and consider questions to ask her about her process of doing image-centric work, consider what it might look like if you were to propose a research paper based largely around images as subject and evidence. What would it be about? What would the opportunities and challenges be of working with images as primary primary sources and basis for analysis and argument? Note: this is purely conjectural there is no requirement that this be an actual project you plan to pursue, much less for this semester. Treat it as an opportunity to brainstorm and play out a possibility without attachment to having to pull it off. Feb 23 Visual as proxy : Text: Mitman, Reel Nature NB: Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (1985), excerpt TBA. NB: Stuart Hall, Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, (1997) Introduction and excerpts from Ch. 1, The Work of Representation Assignment: Visual Analysis Presentations Mar 1 Visual as meme : Text: Gries, Still Life with Rhetoric Text: Marchand, Advertising the American Dream, excerpt (pdf on D2L) NB: Phoebe Young, Bring Tent : The Occupy Movement and the Politics of Public Nature, in Shaffer and Young, eds., Rendering Nature, NB: Sturken and Cartwright, Practices of Looking, excerpts from ch. 7, Advertising, Consumer Culture and Desire Assignment: Visual Analysis Presentations 6

7 Mar 8 Visual as argument Text: Fetter-Vorm & Kelman, Battle Lines Web: John Thiebault, Visualizations and Historical Arguments, in Dougherty and Nawrotzki, eds., Writing History in a Digital Age (2013), NB: Edward R. Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (2001), Part I: Graphical Practice, excerpts NB: James Elkins, An Introduction to the Visual as Argument, in Elkins & McGuire, eds., Theorizing Visual Studies: Writing Through the Discipline (2013). Assignment: Submit a literature review/historiographical analysis of no more than 5 pages that frames and discusses your research paper in terms of pertinent secondary literature. Mar 15 - NO CLASS Apr 12 MEETINGS We will schedule individual appointments to discuss your research and writing progress. And, in the meantime, read the following essays about writing and use them as a space to share ideas and struggles. We ll discuss some of these when we reconvene on April 16. Read: NB: Lynn Hunt, How Writing Leads to Thinking, Perspectives (February 2010), NB: John McPhee, Draft No. 4, The New Yorker, April 29, 2013 (.pdf, NB). Full Draft of Essay due Thursday April 14 to D2L by 12noon Drafts will be posted to NB, and in groups of three you will review and post comments on them to each other by Monday, April 18 April 19 Workshop of Draft Essays (Class location TBA) Authors to have read all comments within group, come ready with questions/response. Authors will subsequently post responses to each NB comment, and include a plan for revision by Monday, April. April 26 Presentations Prepare a minute presentation about your project for the class, and respond to questions (time-permitting). Class to be held at Phoebe s house in South Boulder, followed by a celebratory dinner. Final Essays are due to D2L on Thursday, May 5 by 4pm. 7

8 And now for the fine print: CU Policies applicable to all courses, instructors, and students: Academic Misconduct. All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council ). Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non-academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). Additional information regarding the Honor Code policy can be found online and at the Honor Code Office. Note: I take this issue very seriously and expect that you will submit only your own work, completed for this course only. Accommodation Policies. If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to your professor a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner (for exam accommodations provide your letter at least one week prior to the exam) so that your needs may be addressed. Contact Disability Services at or by at dsinfo@colorado.edu. If you have a temporary medical condition or injury, see Temporary Injuries guidelines under the Quick Links at the Disability Services website and discuss your needs with your professor. Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to deal reasonably and fairly with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance. For this class, if you anticipate any class conflicts due to religious observance, please notify me at least one week in advance so that we can arrange necessary accommodations. See campus policy regarding religious observances for full details. Classroom Conduct. Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, color, culture, religion, creed politics, veteran s status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and gender expression, age, disability, and nationalities. These standards of conduct pertain to on-line interactions through or discussion boards as much as they would a physical classroom. If a student does not participate in online activities with respect and understanding for the instructor or fellow students, the instructor may remove posts and take further actions as necessary. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student s legal name. I will gladly honor requests for use of alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records. For more information, see the policies on classroom behavior and the student code. Discrimination and Harassment. The University of Colorado Boulder (CU-Boulder) is committed to maintaining a positive learning, working, and living environment. CU-Boulder will not tolerate acts of discrimination or harassment based on Protected Classes or related retaliation against or by any employee or student. For purposes of the CU-Boulder policy, Protected Classes refers to race, color, national origin, sex, pregnancy, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, political affiliation or political philosophy. Individuals who believe they have been discriminated against should contact the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC) at or the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution (OSC) at Information about the OIEC, the above referenced policies, and the campus resources available to assist individuals regarding discrimination or harassment can be found at the OIEC website. The full policy on discrimination and harassment contains additional information. 8