VISCR608 Reviews

This class introduces students to critical writing within the field of Visual Studies, specifically the "review." Students complete a series of writing assignments of progressively greater length and scope of research. We train our focus upon the book or catalogue; the artifact, art site, or monument; the moving image; and the exhibition in order to develop skills of observation and analysis. We take into account physical, historical, and historiographic context; strategies of representation and narration; and the politics of spectatorship and display as we hone our critical skills in a range of genres. Weekly readings, drawn from contemporary critical literature, provide models and counter-models for the reviews we generate. Students will critique these readings as well as each other's writings in class. Typically, direct observation of the object under critical review (e.g. exhibition, site, film, performance, environment) is required.