Distribution of Notional Learning Hours/ QF Credits Course Outlines... · Web viewIt will draw upon cultural texts, such as photography, cinema and television, digital media, internet

Hong Kong Shue Yan UniversityDepartment of English Language & Literature

2nd term, 2020-2021

Course Title : Visual Culture StudiesCourse Code : ENG 489Year of Study : 3rd or 4th Number of Academic Credits : 3Number of QF Credits : 12Duration in Weeks : 15Contact Hours Per Week : Lecture (2 Hours)

: Tutorial (1 Hour)Pre-requisite(s) : NILUpdated by : Dr. Benjamin FREUDENBERG

Course Aims

With advances in visual and media technologies, society has been increasingly predominated by visual signs and spectacle since the beginning of the 20th century. This course aims at equipping students with the tools for a more critical understanding of everyday visual experiences. It will draw upon cultural texts, such as photography, cinema and television, digital media, internet and web images, video and computer games, anime and manga, advertisements, fashion and architecture, as well as visual culture theories to discuss issues ranging from nationality, gender, class, and race, to postmodernism, consumerism, and post-colonialism.

Course Outcomes, Teaching Activities, Assessment and QF Credits

Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs)Upon completion of this course students should be able to:

CILO1 state the main visual culture theories.

CILO2 interpret visual cultural texts in relation to visual culture theories.

CILO3 identify major biases or ideology in visual images.

CILO4 synthesize critical concepts in readings of visual texts.

CILO5 criticize visual texts in everyday life.

Teaching and Learning Activities (TLAs)TLA1 Lecture: introduction of main visual culture theories; explanation of critical concepts;

interpretation of visual texts in relation to critical concepts; illustration of important issues and critical concepts and issues with daily examples and multimedia materials

TLA2 In-class and online discussions

TLA3 Tutorial: oral presentations on a specific topic by students

TLA4 Group project

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Assessment Tasks (ATs)Group Individual

AT1 Take-home tests (two 2-hour open-book tests to reinforce key terminology by critical application to relevant examples of visual culture, administered via Moodle during Weeks 6 & 12 respectively.)

30%

AT2 Oral Presentation (2-3 students will form a group to deliver a 25-min presentation around clarifying a key term based on readings and relevant illustration.)

10%

AT3 Group Project (a creative effort in groups of 5-6 where students use non-linguistic visual material to illustrate a key term—such as 'postcolonial', 'image world', 'aura', etc.—in a form/at of their choice; the resulting work will be viewed in-class during the final tutorial, followed by 15-20 minutes of Q&A per group to better motivate creative choices.)

10%

AT4 Term Paper (an in-depth 2,500 word analysis of an example of visual culture using relevant terms and academic sources; the term paper will be due end of term at the latest, but an initial topic idea and outline, including at least three relevant sources have to be submitted online for feedback Week 9.)

40%

AT5 Key Reading Reflection (a written response, including necessary extracts from primary and possibly secondary readings, unpacking and contextualising one of the key texts covered; the written response itself should be at least 500 words in length, not including quoted material, and students may choose Sontag, Benjamin, Mulvey, or Jameson readings from the outline—if they did not present on the connected topics; spanning more than half of the course, students may submit as early as Week 6 and up to Week 11.)

10%

TOTAL 100%

Alignment of Course Intended Learning Outcomes, Teaching and Learning Activities and Assessment Tasks

Course Intended Learning Outcomes

Teaching and Learning Activities

Assessment Tasks

CILO1 TLA1,2,3,4 AT1,2,3,4,5

CILO2 TLA1,2,3,4 AT1,2,3,4,5

CILO3 TLA1,2,3,4 AT1,2,3,4,5

CILO4 TLA1,2,3,4 AT1,2,3,4,5

CILO5 TLA1,2,3,4 AT1,2,3,4,5

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Distribution of Notional Learning Hours/ QF CreditsActivity Notional Learning Hours (NLHs)

Contact Hours (a)

Lecture 26

Tutorial 13

Consultation 1

TOTAL: 40

Self-Study Hours (b)

Reading 30

Preparation for Presentation 8

Work on Group Project 8

Term Paper 18

Key Reading Reflection Composition 8

Tests and Test Revision 8

TOTAL: 80

Total NLHs:(a)+(b)

120

QF Credits: (Total NLHs/10)

12

Course Outline

Week 1 Introduction: What is Visual Culture?Mirzoeff, Nicholas. (2009) “Introduction: What is Visual Culture?” An Introduction to Visual Culture. London & New York: Routledge. pp. 1-33.Sturken Marita & Cartwright, Lisa. (2018) “Practices of Looking: Images, Power and Politics.” Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 13-50.

Week 2 Politics and Gender Issues in Visual Culture

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Schirato, Tony & Webb, Jen. (2004) “Visual Art, Visual Culture.” Understanding the Visual. London: Sage. pp. 105-129.Don, Gen. (2000) “The Postcolonial and Visual Culture.” Black Visual Culture: Modernity and Postmodernity. London & New York: Tauris. pp. 204-241.Film Clips: Final Cut

Week 3 PaintingSturken Marita & Cartwright, Lisa. (2018) “Realism and Perspective: From Renaissance Painting to Digital Media.” Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. 2nd edition. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 139-178.

Week 4 PhotographyBenjamin, Walter. (1936) “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.”*Sontag, Susan. (1977) “The Image World.” On Photography. New York: Picador. pp. 153-182.*Film Clips: Blow Up

Week 5 TelevisionSturken Marita & Cartwright, Lisa. ( 2018) “Media in Everyday Life.” Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 219-256.Slade, Christina. (2002) “”News as Soap Opera: Truth and News.” The Real Thing: Doing Philosophy with Media. New York: Peter Lang. pp. 31-65.

Week 6 FilmHowells, Richard. (2008) “Film.” Visual Culture. Cambridge: Polity. pp. 171-196.Mulvey, Laura. (2000) “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Feminism and Film. Edited by E. Ann Kaplan. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 34-47.*

Week 7 Advertisement Sturken Marita & Cartwright, Lisa. (2009) “Consumer Culture and the Manufacturing of Desire.” Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 189-236.Berger, John. (1977) Ways of Seeing. London: British Broadcasting Corp.; London; New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books. pp. 129-155.*

Week 8 Reading Week

Week 9 Fashion Kellner, Douglas. (1994) “Madonna, Fashion, and Identity.” On Fashion. Edited by Shari Benstock and Suzanne Ferriss. New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press. pp. 159-182.Anderon, Fiona. (2007) “Fashion: Style, Identity and Meaning.” Exploring Visual Culture: Definitions, Concepts, Contexts. Edited by Matthew Rampley. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 67- 84.

Week 10 Pop Art Livingstone, Marco. (2007) “Pre-pop”. Pop Art: A Continuing History. New York: Thames & Hudson. pp. 9-15.Osterwold, Tilman. (1991) “The Signs of the Times – The Themes of Pop Art”. Pop Art. Koln: Benedikt Taschen. pp. 11-40

Week 11 Architecture Williams, Richard. (2005) “Architecture and Visual Culture.” Exploring Visual Culture: Definitions, Concepts, Contexts. Edited by Matthew Rampley. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 102 – 116.Jameson, Fredric. (1998) “The Westin Bonaventure Hotel.” The Postmodern Presence: Readings on Postmodernism in American Culture and Society. Edited by Arthur Asa Berger. London and New Delhi: Alta Mira Press. pp. 103-111.*

Week 12 Manga and AnimeWells, Paul. (1998) “Thinking about animated film.” Understanding Animation. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 10-34.

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Week 13 Group Projects (Viewing and Discussion)

Week 14 Recapitulation

Week 15 Reading Week

[items marked with a * are classics]

Academic Honesty

You are expected to do your own work. Dishonesty in fulfilling any assignment undermines the learning process and the integrity of your university degree. Engaging in dishonest or unethical behavior is forbidden and will result in disciplinary action, specifically a failing grade on the assignment with no opportunity for resubmission. A second infraction will result in an F for the course and a report to University officials. Examples of prohibited behavior include, but are not limited to:- Cheating – an act of deception by which a student misleadingly

demonstrates that s/he has mastered information on an academic exercise. Examples include, but not limited to:- Copying or allowing another to copy a test, quiz, paper, or project;- Submitting a paper or major portions of a paper that has been previously

submitted for another class without permission of the current instructor;- Turning in written assignments that are not your own work (including

homework);- Plagiarism – the act of representing the work of another as one’s own

without giving credit:- Failing to give credit for ideas and material taken from others;- Representing another’s artistic or scholarly work as one’s own;

- Fabrication – the intentional use of invented information or the falsification of research or other findings with the intent to deceive.

To comply with the University’s policy, any written work has to be submitted to VeriGuide.

Resources

Principal Readings

Barnard, Malcolm (2001), ed. Approaches to Understanding Visual Culture. New York: Palgrave.

Gierstberg , Frits & Oosterbaan, Warna (2002), eds. The Image Society: Essays on Visual Culture. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers.

Heywood, Ian and Sandywell, Barry (1999). Interpreting Visual Culture: Explorations in the Hermeneutics of the Visual. London: Routledge.

Howells, Richard (2012). Visual Culture. 2nd edition. Cambridge: Polity.Mirzoeff, Nicholas (2009). An Introduction to Visual Culture. 2nd edition. London: Routledge.Mirzoeff, Nicholas (2012). The Visual Culture Reader. 2nd edition. London: Routledge.Morra, Joanne and Smith, Marquard (2006), eds. Visual Culture. London: Routledge.Rampley, Matthew. (2007), ed. Exploring Visual Culture: Definitions, Concepts, Contexts.

Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Sturken Marita & Cartwright, Lisa (2009). Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual

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Culture. 2nd edition. New York: Oxford University Press.Sturken Marita & Cartwright, Lisa (2018). Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual

Culture. 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press. The Block Reader in Visual Culture (1996). London and New York: Routledge.

Supplementary Readings

Adorno, Theodor W. (2005). The Culture Industry: Selected Essays on Mass Culture (edited and with an introduction by Jay M. Bernstein). London: Routledge.

Berman, Marshall (2010). All That Is Solid Melts Into Air: The Experience of Modernity. New York: Verso.

Carson, Fiona and Pajaczkowska , Claire Pajaczkowska (2000), eds. Feminist Visual Culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Finklestein, John (2007). The Art of Self-Invention: Image and Identity in Popular Visual Culture. London and New York: I.B. Tauris.

Helfand, Jessica (2001). Screen: Essays on Graphic Design, New Media and Visual Culture. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.

Jenks, Chris (1995). Visual Culture. London & New York: Routledge.Jones, Amelia (2010). The Feminism and the Visual Culture Reader. 2nd edition. London:

Routledge.Leslie, Esther (2002). Hollywood Flatlands: Animation, Critical Theory and the Avant-Garde.

New York: Verso.Lu, Sheldon H. (2007) Chinese Modernity and Global Biopolitics : Studies in Literature and

Visual Culture. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.MacWilliams , Mark W. (2008), ed. Japanese Visual Culture: Explorations in the World of

Manga and Anima. N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe.McCarthy, Anna (2001). Ambient Television: Visual Culture and Public Space. Durham: Duke

University Press.Nakamura, Lisa (2007). Digitizing Race: Visual Cultures of the Internet. New York: University

of Minnesota Press.Sherman, Cindy (1997). Cindy Sherman: Retrospective. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson

for Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and Museum of Contemporary Art.Wells, Paul (2021). Understanding Animation. 2nd edition. London and New York: Routledge.

Assessment Rubric for Oral Presentation

Criteria Exemplary Satisfactory Developing UnsatisfactoryCommunication Skills(20%)

Consistently speaks with appropriate volume, tone, and articulation.

Generally speaks with appropriate volume, tone, and articulation.

Has difficulty speaking with appropriate volume, tone, and articulation.

Does not speak with appropriate volume, tone, and articulation.

Consistently employs appropriate eye contact and posture.

Frequently employs appropriate eye contact and posture.

Employs infrequent eye contact and/or poor posture.

Makes no eye contact.

Consistently employs appropriate nonverbal communication techniques.

Adequately employs appropriate nonverbal communication techniques.

Employs limited nonverbal communication techniques.

Does not employ nonverbal communication techniques.

Consistently exhibits Generally exhibits Exhibits limited Lacks poise,

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poise, enthusiasm, and confidence.



enthusiasm, and confidence.

Adheres to prescribed time guidelines.

Adheres to prescribed time guidelines.

Violates prescribed time guidelines.

Violates prescribed time guidelines.

Employs creative use of visual aids that enrich or reinforce presentation.

Employs appropriate visual aids that relate to presentation.

Employs ineffective visual aids.

Uses no visual aids.

Content and Coherence(50%)

Effectively defines a main idea and clearly adheres to its purpose throughout presentation.

Adequately defines a main idea and adheres to its purpose throughout presentation.

Insufficiently defines a main idea and adheres to its purpose throughout presentation.

Does not define a main idea or adhere to its purpose.

Employs a logical and engaging sequence which the audience can follow.

Employs a logical sequence which the audience can follow.

Employs an ineffective sequence confusing to the audience.

Lacks an organizational sequence.

Demonstrates exceptional use of supporting details/ evidence.

Demonstrates sufficient use of supporting details/ evidence.

Demonstrates insufficient supporting details/ evidence.

Demonstrates no supporting details/evidence.

Responses to questions(30%)

Confidently, politely, and accurately responds to instructor’s or classmates’ questions and comments.

Politely and accurately responds to instructor’s or classmates’ questions and comments.

Ineffectively responds to instructor’s or classmates’ questions and comments.

Unacceptably responds/does not respond to instructor’s or classmates’ questions and comments.

Assessment Rubric for Tests

Exemplary Satisfactory Developing/ Emerging

Unsatisfactory

Focus(30%)

Answers questions in a direct and compact manner.

Touches on relevant aspects without much extraneous detail.

Answers provide minimal insight and focus.

Answers completely lack insight or focus.

Organization(20%)

Effectively and logically progresses straight to the answer.

Adequately develops relevant aspects with some logical structure.

Answers are poorly organized making it difficult to discern relevant points.

Relevant points and structure are missing.

Support/ Elaboration(40%)

Demonstrates exceptional grasp of concepts by thorough unpacking and application to visual examples.

Demonstrates sufficient grasp of concepts with good unpacking and application to visual examples.

Demonstrates insufficient grasp of concepts by lack of unpacking or application to visual examples.

Shows lack in grasp of concepts by inadequate unpacking and application to visual examples.

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Style(10%)

Exhibits skillful use of language, including effective word choice, clarity, and consistent voice.

Exhibits good use of language, including some mastery of word choice, clarity, and consistent voice.

Exhibits ineffective use of language, including weak word choice, limited clarity, and inconsistent voice.

Exhibits severely flawed use of language, including weak word choice, no clarity, and no voice.

Assessment Rubric for Term Paper


Unsatisfactory

Focus(20%)

Presents an insightful and focused thesis statement.

Presents a thesis statement with adequate insight and focus.

Presents a thesis statement with minimal insight and focus.

Presents a thesis statement with no insight or focus.

Draws strong and clear connections between the thesis and significant related ideas.

Draws adequate connections between thesis and related ideas.

Draws insufficient connections between thesis and related ideas.

Shows no understanding of connections between thesis and related ideas.

Organization(10%)

Effectively provides a logical progression of related ideas and supporting information in the body of the paper.

Adequately provides a progression of ideas and supporting information in the body of the paper.

Provides a poorly organized progression of ideas and supporting information in the body of the paper.

Does not provide a progression of ideas and supporting information in the body of the paper.

Effectively uses transitions to connect supporting information clearly.

Adequately uses transitions to connect supporting information.

Ineffectively uses transitions to connect supporting information.

Does not use transitions to connect supporting information.

Arrives at a well-documented, logical conclusion, involving critical thinking.

Arrives at an adequately-documented conclusion.

Arrives at an insufficiently documented conclusion.

Does not arrive at a documented conclusion.


Effectively synthesizes complex ideas from research sources.

Sufficiently synthesizes ideas from research sources.

Ineffectively synthesizes ideas from research sources.

No evidence of synthesizing ideas from research sources.

Demonstrates exceptional selection of supporting information clearly relevant to the thesis and its related ideas.

Demonstrates sufficient selection of supporting information clearly relevant to the thesis and its related ideas.

Demonstrates insufficient selection of supporting information clearly relevant to the thesis and its related ideas.

Lacks supporting information clearly relevant to thesis and its related ideas.

Provides a meaningful presentation of multiple perspectives.

Provides an adequate presentation of

Provides a limited presentation of multiple

Does not present multiple perspectives.

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multiple perspectives.

perspectives.

Effectively balances use of quotations and student paraphrasing.

Adequately balances use of quotations and student paraphrasing.

Insufficiently balances use of quotations and student paraphrasing.

Does not balance use of quotations and student paraphrasing.

Style(10%)





Demonstrates exceptional fluency through varied sentence structure, paragraphing, flow of ideas, and transitions.

Demonstrates sufficient fluency through sentence structure, paragraphing, flow of ideas, and transitions.

Demonstrates limited fluency through sentence structure, paragraphing, flow of ideas, and transitions.

Lacks fluency through sentence structure, paragraphing, flow of ideas, and transitions.

Conventions(10%)

Demonstrates a sophisticated use of the prescribed format (MLA or APA), including title page, pagination, and citations.

Demonstrates adequate use of the prescribed format (MLA or APA), including title page, pagination, and citations.

Demonstrates limited use of the prescribed format (MLA or APA), including title page, pagination, and citations.

Demonstrates no use of the prescribed format (MLA or APA), including title page, pagination, and citations.

Consistently uses standard writing conventions in grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and usage.

Generally uses standard writing conventions in grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and usage.

Minimally uses standard writing conventions in grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and usage.

Does not use standard writing conventions in grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and usage.

Information Literacy(10%)

Conscientiously and consistently demonstrates integrity in citing practices.

Generally demonstrates integrity in citing practices.

Inconsistently demonstrates integrity in citing practices.

Does not demonstrate integrity in citing practices.

Effectively employs an extensive variety of primary and secondary sources, including a significant amount of current information.

Adequately employs a sufficient variety of primary and secondary sources including a sufficient amount of current information.

Employs a limited variety of primary and secondary sources including an insufficient amount of current information.

Does not employ a variety of primary and secondary sources and/or does not include current information.

Demonstrates strong evaluation skills in determining resource credibility and reliability.

Demonstrates sufficient evaluation skills in determining resource credibility and reliability.

Demonstrates limited evaluation skills in determining resource credibility and reliability.

Demonstrates no evaluation skills to determine resource credibility and reliability.

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Assessment Rubric for Group Project


Unsatisfactory

Focus(30%)

Engages with course content in a creative and/or reflective way.

Touches on relevant aspects in a creative manner.

Project result provides minimal insight and focus.

Project completely lacks insight or focus.

Organization(10%)

Effectively comments on key course component in an original way.

Adequately develops relevant aspect with little redundancy.

Project is poorly organized making it difficult to discern relevant points.



Demonstrates exceptional grasp of key course component through visual re-/creating.

Demonstrates sufficient grasp of relevant conceptual aspects in visual manner.

Demonstrates insufficient grasp of relevant conceptual aspects in poorly visualized form.

Shows lack in grasp of relevant course content and/or lacks interesting visual representation.

Style(20%)

Exhibits skillful use of non-linguistic, visually engaging materials or forms.

Exhibits good use of non-linguistic, visual materials or forms.

Exhibits ineffective use of non-linguistic, visual materials or forms.

Exhibits severely flawed use of visuals or misses creative dimension of project.

Assessment Rubric for Key Reading Reflection


Unsatisfactory

Focus(30%)

Highlights key concepts and terms in a direct and compact manner.

Touches on key concepts and terms without much extraneous detail.

Summarizes only some of the key concepts and terms.

Misses the majority of key concepts and terms.

Organization(20%)

Coherently assembles relevant aspects in logical structure.

Adequately assembles most relevant aspects with some logical structure.

Summary is poorly organized making it difficult to discern relevant points.


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Demonstrates exceptional grasp of concepts by unpacking and reference to everyday visual experience.

Demonstrates sufficient grasp of concepts by adequate explanation and reference to some visual experience.

Demonstrates insufficient grasp of concepts, evident in lack of unpacking and/or reference to relevant visual elements.

Shows lack in grasp of material by failure to explain and/or index relevant visual experience.

Style(10%)





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Documents

Distribution of Notional Learning Hours/ QF Credits Course Outlines... · Web viewIt will draw upon cultural texts, such as photography, cinema and television, digital media, internet