Visual and Environmental Studies

Faculty of the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies

Other Faculty Offering Instruction in the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies

Primarily for Undergraduates

*Visual and Environmental Studies 10x. Drawing Mind and Matter: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 6006 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Drew Beattie
Half course (fall term). W., 1–6.
An introduction to fundamental principles in drawing through manual making. A range of subjects, materials and methods will be explored through a mixture of observation, direction and invention. A sequence of individually adapted assignments will conclude with a book project transforming a verbal entity into a visual one. The inseparability of form and content in visual art will be looked at in the drawings produced, and in the contemporary and historical drawings shown in class.
Note: No previous studio experience necessary.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 15ar. Silkscreen: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 2262 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Annette Lemieux
Half course (fall term). M., W., 9–12.
For the student who is interested in the manipulation of found and original imagery. Students will create monotypes on paper and other surfaces utilizing the silkscreen process. Through slide presentations, the class will be introduced to the work of artists such as Rauschenberg and Warhol, as well as others who use the silkscreen process.
Note: No previous studio experience necessary.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 20. Painting from Observation: Studio Course]
Catalog Number: 3732 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Drew Beattie
Half course (fall term). Tu., 1–6.
An introduction to painting using oil paint and observed still life / interior architecture as a way of digging in. Students learn how to prepare canvases, handle paint and mix color. The representation of volume, space, light and atmosphere in paint will be presented as a foundation for future use or subversion. Students paint during and outside of class, progressing toward increasingly individual projects. Critiques, readings and museum visits will be integral to the course.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. No previous studio experience necessary.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 20ar. Plane Image: Introductory Painting Studio Course
Catalog Number: 2621 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Nancy Mitchnick
Half course (fall term). M., 1–5 and 6–9 pm.
In this entry-level studio course, specific assignments will be used to demonstrate how the materials of painting work. Students will begin by using acrylic paint to work through problem sets having to do with space and light, and oil paint will be introduced later in the term. We will approach painting as a complex process with clear areas of practice and inquiry. Historical art and contemporary issues will inform individual investigations.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 20br. Plane Image II: Introductory Painting Studio Course
Catalog Number: 4193 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Nancy Mitchnick
Half course (spring term). M, 1–5 and 6–9 pm.
This entry-level studio course will feature demonstrations of how the materials of painting work. Slide talks, lectures, critique and student presentations will be the teaching structure. The primary medium will be oil paint and the emphasis will be the nature of color and how it works in painting space. In addition, historical uses of color will be part of our subject and the book Color and Culture will be the primary text.
Note: In addition to studio work, three short written assignments will be required.
Prerequisite: Portfolio presentation or permission of the instructor.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 23. Watercolor Painting: Studio Course]
Catalog Number: 7975 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
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Half course (spring term). M., 1–5, M., 6–8 p.m.
Through the medium of watercolor, we conduct an exploration of the principals of composition including color, with an emphasis on drawing what you see as well as content. Through studies in carefully constructed exercises students can expand visual vocabulary and conceptual understanding of the media. We will work from life, photographs and still-life.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 25. Non-observational Painting: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 1717 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Drew Beattie
Half course (fall term). Tu., 1–6.
A painting course in which paired concepts such as paintless and painted, singular and plural, observed and invented, expressive and removed generate visual investigations into differing unions of form and content in painting. Technical issues in preparing supports, handling paint and mixing color, using both oil and acrylic, will be covered. Emphasis will be on the transformation of ideas into visual embodiment in paint. Critiques, readings and museum visits are integral to the course.
Note: No previous studio experience necessary.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 30r. Studio Course: Between Form and Object
Catalog Number: 4896 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Taylor Davis (Massachusetts College of Art)
Half course (fall term). Tu., 9–1.
Three-dimensional form--representational or abstract--cannot escape the object’s triad of form, material, and function. Using the wood and metal shop facilities and technicians, this multi-media studio course will assist students in recognizing and generating specific form.
Note: Freshmen encouraged to apply.
Prerequisite: No previous studio experience necessary.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 32. Reconstruction: Studio Course]
Catalog Number: 1790 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Helen Mirra
Half course (spring term). M., W., 1–4.
A studio course, for making things out of other things, attending to the realms of demolition, waste, surplus, and detritus.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. No previous studio experience necessary.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 33. Objects and Environments: Studio Course - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 1610 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Sanford Biggers (Virginia Commonwealth University)
Half course (spring term). T. 9–12 and additional hours to be arranged.
Minimalism, Pop, Identity, Collage, Post-Black, Post-White? What does it all mean? This workshop will familiarize beginning sculptors with important movements past and present, while introducing basic woodworking, mold making and metal welding techniques. Special emphasis will be placed on developing technical proficiency, critical thinking and communication, and individual expression.
Note: No previous studio experience necessary.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 37. Lay of the Land: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 3090 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Stephen Prina
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 1–4.
The pursuit of and response to the horizontal in art will be the focus of this studio class. To cite a few examples, abstract expressionist painting, cartography, earthworks, landscape photography, 19th century German Romantic landscape painting, and Rayograms will provide models of the horizontal that will be points of departure for studio projects, the forms of which will be determined by what the investigation provides. Students will shift medium from project to project.
Note: No previous studio experience necessary.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 40a. Introduction to Still Photography: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 2010 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Chris Killip
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). M., W., 1–4.
Introduction to still photography through individual and group exercises, with an emphasis on the medium as a vehicle for expression, documentation, and personal vision. Covers necessary technical, historical, and aesthetic aspects of the medium.
Note: No previous studio experience necessary.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 40b. Intermediate Photography: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 6256 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Chris Killip
Half course (fall term). M., W., 9–12.
Designed to extend the student’s understanding of the process through which meaning is produced in photography. Examines differing approaches to format, context, and presentation through a series of set projects.
Prerequisite: At least one half-course in photography or permission of the instructor.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 41a. Introduction to Still Photography: Studio Course]
Catalog Number: 0705 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Sharon C. Harper
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 9–12.
Introduction to still photography with an emphasis on the medium as a vehicle for expression and personal vision. Covers technical, historical, and aesthetic aspects of the medium. Class is organized around slide lectures, individual meetings, group critiques, and readings.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. No previous studio experience necessary.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 41b. Photographic Inquiry: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 9484 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Sharon C. Harper
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Tu., Th., 9–12.
Class emphasis will be on developing visual ideas for a self-directed photographic project. Class will be structured around regular critiques, individual meetings, readings, class discussions and museum visits. Students will create a group of photographs for a final project that are the result of a sustained, self-directed creative process.
Prerequisite: At least one half-course in photography or permission of the instructor.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 42a. Introduction to Still Photography: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 0622 Enrollment: Limited to 20.
Gregory Ross Halpern
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 9–12, or Tu., Th., 1–4. EXAM GROUP: 11, 12, 13
Introduction to still photography through individual and group exercises, with an emphasis on the medium as a vehicle for expression, documentation, and personal vision. Covers necessary technical, historical, and aesthetic aspects of the medium.
Note: No previous studio experience necessary.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 50. Fundamentals of Filmmaking: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 4907 Enrollment: Limited to 20.
Ross McElwee and Alfred F. Guzzetti
Full course. M., 1–5, W., 1–4; or Tu., 1–4, Th., 1–5.
Introductory exercises in live-action filmmaking culminating in the production of a nonfiction film as a group project in the spring term.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 51a. Fundamentals of Video: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 7526 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Alfred F. Guzzetti (fall term) and Robb Moss (spring term)
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). M., W., 1–4, and a 1-hour lab to be arranged.
A series of nonfiction projects, both individual and collaborative, designed to introduce and explore the range of expressive possibilities in digital video.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 51br. Nonfiction Video Projects: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 3838 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Robb Moss
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 1–4.
Working from a proposal approved in advance by the instructor, each student plans, shoots, and edits a documentary video of his or her design. Shooting should take place over the summer and editing during the fall term. Readings and screenings augment individual work.
Note: In exceptional cases, a student will be permitted to take the course without having filmed over the summer, but the student must have a specific proposal for a documentary that can be both shot and edited during the term. An interview with the instructor is required for admission.
Prerequisite: At least one VES half-course in live-action film or video.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 53a. Fundamentals of Animation: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 1360 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Ruth S. Lingford
Half course (fall term). Th., 1–5, and weekly film screenings F., 1–3; .
An introduction to the possibilities of animation. Using a mixture of traditional and 2D digital tools, students will complete practical exercises which will familiarize them with basic skills and techniques. The second half of the semester will be devoted to making a more substantial project. Screenings and discussions will help develop the specialized thinking needed to understand the discipline.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 56. From Gesture to Trace: An Introduction to Drawing Movement: Studio Course]
Catalog Number: 0020 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
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Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Students will investigate the recording of movement through the process of drawing. We will explore various strategies for translating gesture, action, and process into drawing, including Renaissance artists’ use of expressive and exaggerated anatomy, animation styles of Walt Disney’s animators, recording of psychic process in art therapy, and tracing of gesture in the non-representational drawing of abstract expressionism. Investigation, through practical studio sessions will develop an individual approach to drawing and animation.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. No previous studio experience necessary. Students are expected to attend weekly animation film screenings.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 57. Maya and Multi Media - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 4275 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
David Lobser
Half course (spring term). Th., 1–5, and film screenings F., 1–3.
This course will offer a basic introduction to 3D Computer animation, and explore hybrid forms of animation and the new thinking they enable.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 58r. Image, Sound, Culture: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 6680 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Lucien G. Castaing-Taylor
Half course (spring term). F., 9–12, F., 2–5.
Students use video, sound, and/or hypermedia to produce short works about embodied experience, culture, and nature, and are introduced to current issues in aesthetics and ethnography.
Note: No previous studio experience necessary.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 64. Live and Animated
Catalog Number: 2679 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Dean Moss
Half course (spring term). F., 10-2, and a 2-hour lab to be arranged. .
An introduction to multimedia performance art practice. Open to a mix of students with visual, video and/or theatrical backgrounds, the course will focus on practical techniques and strategies for the creation of installations blending video and performance. Students will work collaboratively using their own bodies and media production tools to construct multidisciplinary art projects. Discussion, screenings and visiting lecturers will provide conceptual and historical context for the course.
Note: Basic performance and/or audio/video production skills are useful but not required.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 65. Tactics—Art, Politics and Performance: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 0143 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Amie Siegel
Half course (spring term). W., 12–4. EXAM GROUP: 5, 6, 7, 8
What makes a work of art political? Through the creation of individual and collective works, this studio course enacts radical tactics of art and disturbance through workshops on performance, artist collectives, appropriation and cultural critique, from which may spring forth manifestoes, actions, insertions. Participants negotiate their own artistic approaches to the social sphere with a focus on video as inscription of occurrence, performance mirror, subjective essay, and mixing turntable for heterogeneous materials.
Note: One half-course in film, video or performance useful but not required.

Visual and Environmental Studies 71. Silent Cinema
Catalog Number: 1971
Lee Grieveson (University College London )
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 10–11, a weekly film screening T 1-3, and sections to be arranged. . EXAM GROUP: 12
This course will survey the development of the film medium and the film industry from the beginnings in the 1890s up to the conversion to sound in the late 1920s, covering key textual and institutional transformations and tying these together with the broader cultural and social context in which films were made, exhibited, and understood. We will discuss the main national schools and international trends of filmmaking.
Note: No background in film history or theory necessary. Required for all students concentrating in Film Studies. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Literature and Arts B.

Visual and Environmental Studies 72. Sound Cinema
Catalog Number: 6997
J. D. Connor
Half course (spring term). M., W., 10–11, and a weekly film screening Tu., 9-11, and weekly sections to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 3
How does sound change what we see? What new stories become possible? How does the space of cinema change between 1930 and 1960? What happens when we throw color and widescreen into the mix? We’ll seek answers to these questions while investigating the political and industrial contexts of international masters of the medium. Films and filmmakers include: The Blue Angel, Citizen Kane, Rashomon, The Red Shoes; Busby Berkeley, Hitchcock, Satyajit Ray, Ozu, and Antonioni.
Note: No background in film history or theory necessary. Required for all students concentrating in Film Studies. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Literature and Arts B.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 80. Loitering: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 9394 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Stephen Prina
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 1–4.
You will hang out in the vicinity of culture and make things in response to it. This class is not thematic or linked to any particular discipline.
Note: No previous studio experience necessary.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 96p. Directed Research in Painting and Drawing - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 1229 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Nancy Mitchnick
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
This is a critique class for concentrators considering a thesis.
Prerequisite: Open to VES concentrators only.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 96r. Directed Research: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 7299 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Stephen Prina
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). W., 6–9 pm, and additional hours to be arranged.
This course is intended for students who have developed the beginnings of a practice they are prepared to pursue. The motive is to assemble a group of disparate artists who come together to exchange thoughts across disciplines: painting next to photography next to writing next to filmmaking, and so on.
Note: Recommended for concentrators in Visual and Environmental Studies in their junior and senior year but also open to others with permission of the instructor.

Tutorials, Projects, and Research

Alternatively, students may wish to consider Visual and Environmental Studies 96r, Directed Research, which is intended for students who have developed the beginnings of a practice they are prepared to pursue. Please see course description above.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 91r. Special Projects
Catalog Number: 9183
J. D. Connor (fall term), Robb Moss (spring term) and Members of the Department
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Open to a limited number of students who wish to carry out a special project under supervision. Students wishing to enroll in VES 91r must find a member of the faculty to advise the project and submit an application to the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Note: Letter-graded only. Special Project tutorials are led by individual faculty members; however study cards should be signed by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 97r. Tutorial - Sophomore Year
Catalog Number: 0450
J. D. Connor (fall term), Robb Moss (spring term) and Members of the Department
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Individual instruction in subjects of special interest that cannot be studied in regular courses. Concentrators wishing to take a tutorial in their sophomore year must find a member of the faculty to advise the project and submit an application to the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Note: Optional for sophomore concentrators. Letter-graded only. Tutorials are led by individual faculty members; however study cards should be signed by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 98r. Tutorial - Junior Year
Catalog Number: 1411
J. D. Connor (fall term), Robb Moss (spring term) and Members of the Department
Half course (fall term; repeated spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Individual instruction in subjects of special interest that cannot be studied in regular courses. Concentrators wishing to take a tutorial in their junior year must find a member of the faculty to advise the project and submit an application to the Director of Undergraduate Studies.
Note: Optional for junior concentrators. Letter-graded only. Tutorials are led by individual faculty members; however study cards should be signed by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 99. Tutorial - Senior Year (Thesis/Senior Project)
Catalog Number: 5141
J. D. Connor (fall term), Robb Moss (spring term) and Members of the Department
Full course. Hours to be arranged.
All students wishing to undertake a VES 99 project must have permission of the project adviser before being considered. The Director of Undergraduate Studies must approve all VES 99 projects and all theses must be approved by the VES Honors Board in advance.
Note: Optional for senior concentrators. Letter-graded only. Students must be enrolled in VES 99 to do a thesis. Students should arrange regular tutorial meetings with their project adviser. Senior theses and projects are led by individual faculty members; however study cards should be signed by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

For Undergraduates and Graduates

Visual and Environmental Studies 102k. Word Play: Language as an Art Material
Catalog Number: 8666
Damon Krukowski
Half course (fall term). Tu., 2–5. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17, 18
Parallel formal experiments in 20^th-century visual art and poetry have entwined their techniques in contemporary practice. This class will employ a cross-disciplinary approach to the use of words in art; students will write through a set of poetic exercises designed to explore language as an art material. Readings examine Duchamp through Cage to contemporary aleatory, conceptual, and process art; and avant-garde movements engaged with both visual art and poetry including Dada, Surrealism, the OULIPO, and Fluxus.

Visual and Environmental Studies 103. A Short History of Q - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 7508 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Catherine B. Lord (University of California, Irvine)
Half course (fall term). W., 6–8 p.m.
We will focus on the articulation of queer visuality from 1885 to the present. Through a chronological narrative, we will pose certain questions throughout the course material. What are the political and cultural stakes in laying claim to the terms "queer" and "queer culture"? If the discourse around queer/gay/lesbian emphasizes questions of invisibility and surveillance, what relationship does this have to the role of artists in queer history and in the making visual culture?

*Visual and Environmental Studies 104. Culture Jam: Art and Activism since 1989: Seminar
Catalog Number: 1066 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Carrie Lambert-Beatty
Half course (fall term). M., 2–4.
We are living through a period of remarkable creativity in political expression: from anti-consumerism TV ads to imposter websites; “billboard liberation” to faux corporations, digital hijacking to lifestyle performance. Sometimes labeled art, sometimes not, these activities have sources in both political and art history. In this history/theory seminar we will ask: Where is the line between art and activism today? And how are we to evaluate the efficacy, ethics, and aesthetics of the new hybrids?
Note: Primarily intended for junior and senior concentrators in Visual and Environmental Studies, but others admitted with permission of the instructor.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 107. Studies of the Built North American Environment since 1580
Catalog Number: 7883 Enrollment: Limited to 20.
John R. Stilgoe
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 10–11:30.
North America as an evolving visual environment is analyzed as a systems concatenation involving such constituent elements as farms, small towns, shopping malls, highways, suburbs, and as depicted in fiction, poetry, cartography, television, cinema, and advertising and cybernetic simulation.
Note: Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Design as 4105.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 111r. Drawing the Dark Side: Studio Course]
Catalog Number: 4836 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Nancy Mitchnick
Half course (spring term). W., 1–5, and 6–8 p.m.
A figure drawing class that uses sorrow, tragedy, angst, humor, and boredom for its content-laden themes. The figures will always be in a context. Styles will range from classical to contemporary. Sources for imagery will be from life as well as historical painting and popular culture.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Required final project will be either a graphic novel or a three panel altarpiece.
Prerequisite: At least one figure drawing class or portfolio presentation.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 112. Hybrid Drawing: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 6251 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Drew Beattie
Half course (spring term). W., 1–4, and 6–8 pm.
A course emphasizing drawings as hybrid fusions of diverse sources, materials, methods, and results. The inseparability of form and content will be continuously discussed in group and individual critiques. Students will pursue the development of their own drawings through assignments aimed at pushing the individual’s drawing boundaries out to the farthest, personally credible, visually realized edge. There will be demonstrations of conventional and unconventional materials, and exposure to a variety of contemporary and historical drawings.
Prerequisite: At least one VES studio half-course or permission of the instructor.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 119. Open Studio in Drawing and Painting - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 7545 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Nancy Mitchnick
Half course (spring term). W., 1–5 and 6–8.
This intermediate through advanced-level course is organized around individual projects. Students considering a thesis will find it useful as they develop a body of work. Because it replaces Drawing the Dark Side, there will be room for seven students to work on graphic novel projects with figure drawing. Slide talks, trips to museums, and critique will form the structural base for the course. Direction and assignments will be available if necessary.
Prerequisite: At least one VES half-course or portfolio presentation.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 121ar. Painting Investigations: Studio Course]
Catalog Number: 2939 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
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Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
The goal of this course is to study, research and develop a painting investigation which results in one large work, or a small body of work. Critique, slide talks, museum visits, individual assignments, discussion and readings will provide the structure.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. This course is recommended for Junior concentrators in VES considering a thesis in painting, however, all students with prior experience in painting welcome.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 123r. Post Brush: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 7463 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Annette Lemieux
Half course (spring term). M., W., 9–12.
Using the silkscreen printing process, students will create paintings and objects that incorporate images and text found in popular culture. Through slides, videos and informal discussions, students will be introduced to the Pop artists of the 20th century as well as other contemporary artists.
Prerequisite: At least one VES studio half-course or permission of the instructor.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 127. Painting Faces: Studio Course]
Catalog Number: 6767 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
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Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
This is a portrait painting course that will address the historical subject of decapitation as well as focus on identity issues and how people present themselves in surprising contexts. The sources of imagery will come from life situations as well as art, dreams, imagination, memory and texts. The materials will be acrylic paint on paper and oil paint on stretched canvas.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Prerequisite: At least one half-course in painting or permission of the instructor.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 129. Painting Post 2000: Studio Course - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 0311 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Drew Beattie
Half course (spring term). Tu., 1–5, Tu., 6–8 p.m.
A painting course, which looks at and teaches out of painting strategies current in the twenty-first century. Long-spent polarities opposing representation and abstraction, the optical and the conceptual, thingness and theory, are set aside in favor of a plurality of hybrids as the given from which contemporary painting continues. The emphasis will be on personal experimentation and individual syntheses of directions concurrently vital in painting today.
Prerequisite: Prior experience in painting or permission of the instructor.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 130br. Sculpture as Analog: Studio Course]
Catalog Number: 8528 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Helen Mirra
Half course (spring term). M., W., 6–8 p.m.
With a general focus on making sculpture, this course explores issues of visuality and textuality, content and form, analogy and abstraction, objectivity and subjectivity. Projects will build on intellectual work already begun by the student outside of VES.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. This course previously listed as "Building Paragraphs: Nonfiction.” Expected to be given in 2009-10.
Prerequisite: At least one VES half-course or permission of the instructor.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 130r. Shapeshifting: Directed Studio Course
Catalog Number: 7882 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Taylor Davis (Massachusetts College of Art)
Half course (fall term). W., 1–5.
What is always changing and always the same? This sculpture course is designed to help students identify physical and mental habits of making in order to strengthen and expand their studio practice. We will explore--with the support of the wood and metal shop facilities and technicians--how students’ form and content choices articulate subject.
Prerequisite: At least one VES half-course in studio required.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 131. Spatial Poetics: Studio Course - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 9549 Enrollment: Limited to 12. At least one VES half-course or permission of the instructor.
Sanford Biggers (Virginia Commonwealth University)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 1–4, and additional hours to be arranged.
How to portray concept, form, narrative, beauty or nothingness in three dimensions or other sensorial experiences? This course will focus on communication in the round (the translation of thought and idea into an experiential form), through environments/installations, objects, and anti-objects (i.e. sound, video, and performance). Fueled by each student’s previous creative themes, Spatial Poetics will increase their visual fluency. Students with a developing focused practice are encouraged.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 133. Sculpture—Making Space: Studio Course]
Catalog Number: 6259 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Helen Mirra
Half course (fall term). Tu., 6–9 pm, and additional hours to be arranged.
What would it mean to make artwork that makes space as opposed to taking up space? This class is a forum for thinking about what this could mean, and for exploring different possibilities for what might be a simultaneous making and unmaking.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Prerequisite: At least one VES half-course or permission of the instructor.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 143r. The Photographer as Auteur: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 2835 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Chris Killip
Half course (spring term). W., 9–12.
Explores the way in which some photographic practitioners have questioned accepted photographic conventions and are rejecting the historical orthodoxy in favor of a more subjective statement. Each student is expected to complete a major photographic project that reveals his or her own personal photographic style and preoccupations while still retaining a direct and discernible relationship to the subject.
Prerequisite: At least one half-course in photography or permission of the instructor.

Visual and Environmental Studies 145. Archive Fever: Studio Course - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 2098 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Catherine B. Lord (University of California, Irvine) and Helen Molesworth
Half course (fall term). Th., 1–4.
Harvard has amassed vast collections of stuff over the centuries--bones, wigs, documents, films, photos, books, medical records, etc. If and when we gain access to this bounty, we will bring back records of our findings and attempt to produce an exhibition based on the objects and desires thus scavenged. The class aims to develop an understanding of research based practices in contemporary art, rather than to refine individual studio work.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 147r. The Constructed Image—Art Between Architecture, Landscape and Photography: Studio Course]
Catalog Number: 2011 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
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Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Using the Latin meaning of camera (chamber, or room) as a point of departure, students will explore the relationship between the literal construction of spaces for living and photography as a tool for constructing images of such human improvements. Through examining precedents from pre-photographic history to the work of contemporary practitioners, a heightened awareness of the interdependence between photographic apparatus and subject will instigate pictorial investigations in the form of studio projects.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Prerequisite: At least one half-course in photography or permission of the instructor.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 148r. Conceptual Strategies in Photography: Studio Course]
Catalog Number: 2429 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
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Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
There has been a shift from the traditional notion of art work to the idea of art project. The art project could be understood as a concept structured in a constellation of different but independent elements, in which the author is able to master not only the implicit creative aspects but also a certain social dimension. We deal with the sequential steps of a photography project: creative conception, documentation, practical realization, and critical evaluation.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Prerequisite: At least one half-course in photography or permission of the instructor.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 150ar. Intermediate Film Production: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 4692 Enrollment: limited
Lodge Kerrigan
Half course (fall term). M., 1–4, W., 1–5:30.
Class will focus on narrative fiction film. Students will explore the technical and artistic possibilities of narrative fiction film by writing, directing and editing several short exercises as well as developing a script for a spring term project. The work will be discussed extensively in class. Students will also learn the techniques of lighting, sound recording and editing.
Note: Interview with instructor required for admission.
Prerequisite: VES 50.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 150br. Intermediate Film Production: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 3934 Enrollment: Limited
Lodge Kerrigan
Half course (spring term). M., 1–4, W., 1–5:30.
Students will prepare, shoot and edit a short fiction film based on a script developed in the fall term. Students will be required to be involved in shooting, sound recording and editing on other student films. The work will be discussed extensively in class.
Note: Students seeking to enroll should come to the first class meeting with a fully developed short narrative fiction screenplay.
Prerequisite: VES 150ar.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 150x. Intermediate Film Production: Studio Course - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 9899 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Amie Siegel
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 1–4 and additional hours T., 6-8.
This course will center on narrative fiction film, with an emphasis on experimental and conceptual forms. Students will explore the artistic possibilities of narrative fiction film by writing, directing and editing several short exercises as well as developing a script for a spring term project. The work will be discussed extensively in class. Students will learn techniques of lighting, sound recording and editing.
Prerequisite: VES 50

*Visual and Environmental Studies 152r. Intermediate Video Workshop: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 8012 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Alfred F. Guzzetti
Half course (spring term). F., 1–5:30.
An extended nonfiction or experimental video project of the student’s design, supplemented by brief exercises aimed at exploring the capabilities of the medium.
Note: Students seeking to enroll should come to the first class meeting with a proposal for a video project to be completed in the course.
Prerequisite: One VES half-course in video production.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 153ar. Intermediate Animation--Making an Animated Film: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 5211 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Simon Pummell
Half course (fall term). W., 1–5, and weekly film screenings F., 1–3.
Each student will design and produce a single short animation project based on an original idea, or a literary, mythic, or folkloric source of their choice. We will explore the possibilities and problems matching form and content in animated films, and develop conceptual tools each student can employ in the creation of individual project work. This course will accept both introduction level and intermediate level students.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 153br. Intermediate Animation Workshop: Studio Course]
Catalog Number: 3477 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Ruth S. Lingford
Half course (spring term). Th., 1–5, and weekly film screenings F., 1–3.
This class offers a chance to extend and deepen skills and understanding of animation and to make a more substantial piece of work. In this course, students plan and produce a single animation project. Additional exercises encourage students to challenge themselves and explore a range of creative possibilities, as well as developing the skills necessary to structure and complete a narrative or non-narrative film.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Prerequisite: At least one VES half-course in animation or permission of the instructor.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 154br. Animation Workshop: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 1484 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Ruth S. Lingford
Half course (spring term). W., 1–4, and weekly film screenings F., 1–3.
This course allows each student to make a short animated film, taking it through all the stages from idea to post-production. Open to beginners and experienced animators.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 155p. Combining Animation and Live Action: An Exploration of the Many Ways to Make a Composite Film: Studio Course - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 3943 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Simon Pummell
Half course (fall term). Tu., 1–5, screenings F. 1–3.
This intermediate level animation class will explore creative potentials, and technical challenges , of combining live action and animation within a single film. Each student will create an individual short film project. At each stage, from early concepts to final grading, we will address the particular possibilities of such fabricated filmic worlds: developing aesthetic approaches, techniques, and a workflow tailored to such projects.
Prerequisite: At least one VES half-course in animation or permission of the instructor.

[*Visual and Environmental Studies 156r. Animating to a Soundtrack]
Catalog Number: 3340 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Ruth S. Lingford
Half course (spring term). Th., 1–5, and weekly film screenings F., 1–3.
In this course, students start from a 1-3 minute soundtrack. Some students with an interest and ability in music or sound design may generate the track themselves, but students are encouraged to make links with the rich and diverse music scene in the Cambridge and Boston area, including the huge number of Harvard-based groups. Inspired by the soundtrack, students make films which may be abstract or figurative, narrative or free-form, using any animation technique or combination of techniques.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Prerequisite: At least one VES half-course in animation or a related subject (or with permission from the instructor).

*Visual and Environmental Studies 158r. Living Documentary: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 9385 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Lucien G. Castaing-Taylor
Half course (fall term). W., 9–12, W., 1–4.
Students produce a substantial work of ethnographically informed nonfiction using video or sound. Principal recording should take place prior to enrolling in the course.
Note: An ideal follow-up course to VES 58r, but students may enroll independently.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 159k. Screenwriting Workshop
Catalog Number: 7231 Enrollment: Limited to 8.
Lodge Kerrigan
Half course (fall term). W., 9–11:30. EXAM GROUP: 2, 3, 4
Workshop will focus on developing and completing an existing, work-in-progress, screenplay for a short narrative fiction film. Class will be centered on analysis and discussion of students’ scripts. Short visual exercises (still photography and/or video) and screenings will augment written work.
Note: Students seeking to enroll should come to the first class meeting with a work-in-progress screenplay, 15 pages maximum. Interview with instructor is required for admission. Preference given to VES concentrators who are working in fiction film.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 160. Modernization in the Visual United States Environment, 1890-2035
Catalog Number: 6668 Enrollment: Limited to 20.
John R. Stilgoe
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 10–11:30.
Modernization of the US visual environment as directed by a nobility creating new images and perceptions of such themes as wilderness, flight, privacy, clothing, photography, feminism, status symbolism, and futurist manipulation as illustrated in print-media and other advertising enterprise.
Note: Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Design as 4303.
Prerequisite: VES 107 or permission of the instructor.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 161r. Media Anthropology: Technology, Technique, Techné: Studio Course - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 5710 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Lucien G. Castaing-Taylor
Half course (fall term). M., 10–12;.
Students receive hands-on training, in the Lab and in the field, with digital video and audio production and post-production technology. Emphasis is on both mastering the technology and developing a technique consonant with one’s relationship to one’s subject.
Prerequisite: VES 58r or 158r.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 163. Soft and Hard: Studio Jean-Luc Godard: Studio Course - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 9696 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Amie Siegel
Half course (fall term). W., 10-12 and W., 1-4. EXAM GROUP: 3, 4, 6, 7, 8
Students explore Godard’s films while producing work as studio artists. We will look at genre, pictorial flatness vs. depth, text and image, camera movement, still images, color, asynchrony, and Brechtian tropes in Godard’s cinema of reversed time, perverse interviews, critical politics, and gender. Participants try out processes of inspiration, derivation, and notation in relation to Godard’s ouevre to enrich their cinematic vocabulary and investigate filmic practices within their own work (video, film, drawing, sculpture, installation, performance).
Prerequisite: At least one VES studio half-course or permission of the instructor.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 165. Moving Image—Installation, Production and Spectacle: Studio Course
Catalog Number: 8258 Enrollment: Limited to 10.
Amie Siegel
Half course (spring term). Tu., 1–5. EXAM GROUP: 15, 16, 17, 18
Where are the boundaries between art gallery and film set, theatrical stage or production studio (or apartment, carnival or disco)? All have been appropriated and/or re-staged in installations by contemporary artists. Through the creation of our own works, we will explore shifting strategies using cinema, performance and photography as material or metaphor in art. We will consider moving image formats as cultural signifiers (Super-8, 16mm, CinemaScope, surveillance), and gestures of genre and excess.
Prerequisite: At least one VES studio half-course, preferably in film, video or photography, or permission of the instructor.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 166. North American Seacoasts and Landscapes, Discovery to Present: Seminar
Catalog Number: 5873
John R. Stilgoe
Half course (fall term). Tu., 1–3.
Selected topics in the history of the North American coastal zone, including the seashore as wilderness, as industrial site, as area of recreation, and as artistic subject; the shape of coastal landscape for conflicting uses over time; and the perception of the seashore as marginal zone in literature, photography, film, television, and advertising.
Note: Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Design as 4304.
Prerequisite: VES 107 and VES 160, or permission of the instructor.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 167. Adventure and Fantasy Simulation, 1871-2036: Seminar
Catalog Number: 4902
John R. Stilgoe
Half course (spring term). Tu., 1–3.
Visual constituents of high adventure since the late Victorian era, emphasizing wandering woods, rogues, tomboys, women adventurers, faerie antecedents, halflings, crypto-cartography, Third-Path turning, martial arts, and post-1937 fantasy writing as integrated into contemporary photography, advertising, video, computer-generated simulation, and designed life forms.
Note: Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Design as 4305.
Prerequisite: VES 107, VES 160, and VES 166, or permission of the instructor.

[Visual and Environmental Studies 170 (formerly 174c). Film and Photography, Ontology and Art]
Catalog Number: 8352
D. N. Rodowick
Half course (spring term). Tu., 1–3.
A critical survey of the principal authors, concepts, and films in the classical period of film theory. We will study the aesthetic debates of the period in their historical context, whose central questions include: Is film an art? If so, what specific and autonomous means of expression define it as an aesthetic medium? What defines the social force and function of cinema as a mass art?
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Weekly readings and discussion will examine major film movements—for example, French Impressionism and Surrealism—as well as the work of key figures such as Hugo Münsterberg, Rudolf Arnheim, Jean Epstein, Germaine Dulac, Béla Balázs, Erwin Panofsky, Siegfried Kracauer, Walter Benjamin, André Bazin and Stanley Cavell.
Prerequisite: Literature and Arts B-11 or permission of the instructor.

Visual and Environmental Studies 172a (formerly 186c). Film and Photography, Image and Narration
Catalog Number: 4152
D. N. Rodowick
Half course (spring term). M., 3–5.
A survey of debates on photography and film carried out in the contexts of semiotics, structuralism, and narratology from the end of World War II until the early 1980s. In what ways can the image be considered a sign and how do images come to have meaning? Readings will include work by Roland Barthes, Christian Metz, Jean Mitry, Noël Burch, Raymond Bellour, Umberto Eco, Pier Paolo Pasolini, David Bordwell, and Gilles Deleuze.
Prerequisite: Literature and Arts B-11 or permission of the instructor.

[Visual and Environmental Studies 172b (formerly 173t). Contemporary Film Theory]
Catalog Number: 9562
D. N. Rodowick
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
A critical and historical survey of the major questions, concepts, and trends in film theory since 1968. Weekly readings and discussion will examine how the study of film and spectatorship have been influenced by semiotics, psychoanalysis, Marxism, postmodernism, feminism, and gay and lesbian criticism, as well as multiculturalism.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.
Prerequisite: Literature and Arts B-11 or permission of the instructor.

[Visual and Environmental Studies 175a. Framing the I: Autobiography and Film]
Catalog Number: 3084
Dominique Bluher
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
Cinema offers many ways of telling one’s own story which range from fictional features to essay films and works that use found footage. This seminar examines film history’s various modes of autobiographical discourse in the context of philosophical and psychoanalytic considerations of the self as well as of experiments in literary and pictorial self-representation.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.

Visual and Environmental Studies 176n. Facing Reality: A History of Documentary Cinema
Catalog Number: 4394
Scott MacDonald (Hamilton College)
Half course (spring term). Tu., 4–6,Tu., 7–10.
The history of cinema as representation and interpretation of “reality,” focusing on masterworks of nonfiction film and video from a variety of periods and geographic locales. Emphasis on the ways in which nonfiction films can subvert viewers’ conventional expectations and their personal security. Forms to be discussed include the city symphony, ethnographic documentary, propaganda, the nature film, direct cinema, cinéma vérité, the compilation film and personal documentary.

Visual and Environmental Studies 177e. Critical Cinema: A History of Experimental and Avant-Garde Cinema
Catalog Number: 0898
Scott MacDonald (Hamilton College)
Half course (spring term). W., 4–6, and film screenings M.,7–10 pm.
A history of alternatives to commercial movies, focusing on surrealist and Dadaist film, visual music, psychodrama, direct cinema, the film society movement, personal cinema, the New American Cinema, structuralism, Queer cinema, feminist cinema, minor cinema, recycled cinema and devotional cinema. While conventional entertainment films use the novel, the short story and the stage drama as their primary instigations, experimental and avant-garde films are analogous to music, poetry, painting, sculpture and collage.

[Visual and Environmental Studies 180. Film, Modernity and Visual Culture]
Catalog Number: 2874
Giuliana Bruno
Half course (fall term). Hours to be arranged.
Cinema has changed the way we see and think. Modern visual culture develops with the art of film. Course considers this major 20^th century shift in visual perception. We look at “motion” pictures as a product of modernity, born of scientific motion studies, aesthetic and cultural mobility. We relate film to the moving experience of urban space. Key writings and films engage sites of modern movement: home(land) and city, voyage and transport, gender and body.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Design as 4131.

Visual and Environmental Studies 181. Frames of Mind: Film Theory
Catalog Number: 0648
Giuliana Bruno
Half course (spring term). Th., 10–11:30, and a weekly film screening W., 7–9 pm, and weekly sections to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 12, 13
Introduction to the language of film theory aimed at developing analytic skills to interpret films. Historical survey of classical and contemporary theory beginning with turn-of-the-century scientific motion studies to emotion studies of Hugo Münsterberg, to the virtual movements of our new millennium. Considers Eisenstein’s theory of montage, cultural history of the cinematic apparatus, and the body of physical existence from Kracauer to gender studies. Different theoretical positions open our understanding of films and guide us in reading them.
Note: Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Design as 4132.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 182. Film Architectures: Seminar
Catalog Number: 6864 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Giuliana Bruno
Half course (fall term). W., 2-4, and a weekly film screening Tu., 7-9pm.
What is our experience of architecture in cinema? Considering the relation of these two arts of space, we look at how film and architecture are linked in history on the “screen” of the modern age. Highlighting the interaction of modernity, urban culture and cinema, we explore the architecture of film in relation to the architectures of transit and the culture of travel. Emphasis on readings and case study analysis to pursue research projects and conduct presentations.
Note: Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Design as 4351.
Prerequisite: A course in film studies or the equivalent course in cultural studies.

Visual and Environmental Studies 184. Imagining the City: Literature, Film, and the Arts
Catalog Number: 5736
Giuliana Bruno and Svetlana Boym
Half course (fall term). Th., 11:30-1, and a weekly film screening W., 7-9 pm, and weekly sections to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13, 14
How do visual representation and narrative figuration contribute to construct urban identity? Explores the urban imagination in different artforms: architecture, cinema, literature, photography, and painting. Topics to be mapped out include: cities and modernity, metrophilia and metrophobia, the museum and cultural archaeology, the ruin and construction site, interior space and public sphere, technology and virtual cities. We will focus on the European city, as we travel through Paris, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Naples and Rome.
Note: Cannot be taken for credit if Literature 184 has been taken. Cannot be taken concurrently with Literature 184. Also offered jointly with the Graduate School of Design as 4353. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Literature and Arts B.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 185x. Visual Fabrics: Film, Fashion and Material Culture: Seminar
Catalog Number: 1575 Enrollment: Limited to 12.
Giuliana Bruno
Half course (spring term). W., 2–4, and a weekly film screening Tu., 7–9 pm.
Explores the common language of film and fashion, both powerful image makers and objects of material culture. Film and fashion share a role with architecture and contemporary art creating narratives and atmospheres, conveying identity and shaping visual expression. We explore their common language, particularly the current intersection with contemporary visual arts, treating these elements as part of our cultural “fabric” through a text(ur)al analysis of Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love.
Note: Offered jointly with the Graduate School of Design as 4354. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core requirement for Literature and Arts B.
Prerequisite: A course in film studies or the equivalent course in cultural studies.

[Visual and Environmental Studies 186g. Law, Order, Cinema]
Catalog Number: 9502
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Half course (spring term). Th., 3–5; M., 4–6.
Examines the myriad connections between cinema and “government”—understood broadly as activities aiming to shape, guide or affect the conduct of people—in the US in the first half of the 20^th century. Focuses on three principal avenues of analysis, examining cinema’s regulation and the shaping of its place in the public sphere, the filmic articulation of aspects of governance (in crime cycles, for example), and the ways cinema was used by governmental groups.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10.

Visual and Environmental Studies 187x. From Postwar to Postwall German Cinema
Catalog Number: 1196
Eric Rentschler
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 10, and , with weekly film screenings W., 4-6. EXAM GROUP: 12
West German filmmakers gained world-wide acclaim in the 1970s for interventions marked by subversive narrative strategies and unique formal approaches. We will examine representative features by Fassbinder, Herzog, Kluge, Schlöndorf, von Trotta, and Wenders, probing these films’ aesthetic shapes as well as their socio-political implications. We will also frame our discussion by looking at important films that both precede and come after the so-called New German Cinema.
Note: No knowledge of German required. Readings, films, and discussions in English. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core area requirement for Foreign Cultures or Literature and Arts B, but not both.

[Visual and Environmental Studies 189. Exploring Culture Through Film]
Catalog Number: 9619
Lucien G. Castaing-Taylor
Half course (spring term). Tu., 6:30–9:30 pm, and weekly film screenings Tu., 4–6 pm.
Introduction to the history and theory of documentary and ethnographic film. A wide variety of works from 1895 to today will be screened and discussed. Different cinematic styles which have been used to depict human existence and the relationships between individuals and the wider cultural and political contexts of their lives will be compared.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. First meeting for this course will take place at 4pm on Tuesday, Feb. 5. This course, when taken for a letter grade, meets the Core requirement for Literature and Arts B.

[Visual and Environmental Studies 190f. Contemporary French Cinema]
Catalog Number: 7722
Dominique Bluher
Half course (fall term). M., 2–4, and a weekly film screening to be arranged.
A new generation of French filmmakers has emerged in recent years, including Assayas, Breillat, Denis, and Dumont, among others. They have been instrumental in creating innovative approaches to cinematic narrative, form and style worldwide. Course readings will include interviews with filmmakers, analyses of their films as well as contributions by Deleuze, Foucault, Jameson and Williams which will provide theoretical frameworks for considerations of modernity and postmodernity, gender and sexuality, violence, and ethnicity.
Note: Expected to be given in 2009–10. No knowledge of French required; readings, films and discussions in English. No background in film studies necessary.

*Visual and Environmental Studies 190n. French New Wave Cinema - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 9358 Enrollment: Limited to 15.
Mya M. Mangawang
Half course (spring term). Th., 1–3.
This course is meant to help situate French New Wave cinema historically, both generally within the contexts of French social and political attitudes, and more specifically, within the realms of film history and theory. Structuring our analysis around the question, "What was so new about the French New Wave?" this course explores the ways in which the movement both broke from established filmic conventions, and importantly, participated within them.
Prerequisite: No knowledge of French required; readings, films and discussions in English.

Visual and Environmental Studies 191g. Crime Media - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 0886
Lee Grieveson (University College London )
Half course (fall term). Th., 1–3, and weekly film screenings to be arranged.
In Crime Media, we will trace the developments and parameters of crime fictions, focusing in particular on the interconnections of crime and the urban experience of concentrated populations and wealth, anonymity, and new technologies We will focus in particular on cinema, examining the cultural articulation of crime and punishment in various texts and historical moments from the late nineteenth to early twenty-first centuries.

Visual and Environmental Studies 194w. World Cinema Today
Catalog Number: 4865
Dominique Bluher
Half course (spring term). Tu., 2–4, amd weekly film screenings F., 1–3. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
An in-depth study of works by some of contemporary world cinema’s most significant filmmakers in pertinent artistic, historical, and theoretical contexts. Provides close consideration of representative features by Wong Kar-Wai, Hayao Miyazaki, Abbas Kiarostami, Agnès Varda, David Cronenberg, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Jim Jarmusch, and others.
Note: No background in film studies necessary.

Visual and Environmental Studies 196. Women’s Film and Video in France: Agnès Varda, Chantal Akerman and Claire Denis - (New Course)
Catalog Number: 9812
Dominique Bluher
Half course (fall term). Th., 2–4, and weekly film screenings F., 1–3.
Agnès Varda, Chantal Akerman and Claire Denis are undoubtedly three of the most significant contemporary film directors working in France today. Having started making films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, respectively, this class examines some of their landmark works in historical, cinematic and theoretical contexts.
Note: No knowledge of French required. Readings, films and discussions in English. Previous coursework in Film Studies or related fields helpful, but not required.

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