AIC316 Introduction to Visual Culture (Spring)

Visual culture studies recognize the predominance of visual forms of media, communication, and information in the postmodern world. Visual culture is best understood as a tactic for studying the functions of a world addressed through pictures, images, and visualizations, rather than through texts and words. We negotiate the world through visual culture, and the world itself is negotiated politically through visuality and visual images. This class is an introduction to the key issues of visual culture. It will examine the politics of images, the role that images play in producing cultural meaning, visuality and power relations, and how images are forms of visual communication. We will examine how images circulate through digital media, remakes, and viral networks, and the cross-fertilization of images between various social arenas, such as art, advertising, popular culture, news science, entertainment media, video games, and design.

Key questions and points of consideration are:

Can we study visual culture as a system, but not as a pure state of visuality—that is, a system of visual meanings that are not purely imagistic—not formed only of images—but include texts and graphic design, design of functional objects, architecture, logos?
Are social institutions systems of order that perpetuate, preserve, and legitimize complex forms of collective identity?
What is the role of the visual arts in a mass-mediated visual world?
Can visual culture studies be defined as an interdisciplinary field?

This course may also be registered as CRS 316 or FMA 316.

WGS413 Identity and Difference (Spring)

Interdisciplinary approach to examine concepts of identity and difference, challenges notions of subjectivity, nation and gender. Philosophical, political, and gender-related dimensions explored.

The notions of “identity” and “difference” have emerged as key concepts in contemporary debate, where their importance has gone well beyond the limits of academic speculation. Using an interdisciplinary approach, this course begins with a consideration of the philosophical dimension of the problem. Both the idea of identity as constructed in confrontation with others, and the notion of multiple identities, including gender identity, will be explored. The second part of the course concentrates on the political dimension of “identity” and “difference,” the challenges of multi-cultural society, of a gendered model of citizenship, of globalization and of super-national integration have placed the issue of identity at the forefront of political debate. In Europe, the re-emergence of nationalistic and ethnocentric currents has made the definition of a truly shared European identity more urgent. The third part of this course focuses on the gender dimension and on the contribution by feminist philosophers to the debate on identity. Gender differences have emerged as an essential element in the construction of personal and social identity, where the body is perceived as the foundation of identity. Recent theories, however, have pointed out the importance of technology and science in defining the body, and have proposed the notion of a “nomadic” identity.

Cross-listed with PHI/PSC 413.

This course has an associated course fee. See the Course Fees webpage for more information.

ARC561 Survey of British Architecture (Fall, Spring)

London is arguably the center of global design. Many local design firms have offices in London and abroad, and it is this global design network intersecting with British design traditions that situates architectural inquiry in this course. The architectural survey course involves directly engaging works — archival objects, physical buildings and urban assemblages visited in the field — and producing analytic representations of those works in order to glean lessons. Site visits, office visits, readings and lectures introduce individual works of historic and contemporary architecture and the contexts in which they were created, considering the questions and methods that drive architectural practice.

Open only to students admitted to the London architecture program who are required to take this course.

Coreq: Architecture studio: ARC 407/408/608/609

ADV206 Advertising Practice in a Diverse Society (Spring)

This course introduces students to the practice of advertising, studying how this complex, symbiotic communications business works: the industry as a whole including regulation and ethical standards; advertising agencies and their internal structure; relating with clients and their customers’ needs in terms of conceptualisation and research; and advertising itself, comparing and contrasting examples from the US, UK and other countries. While the course will cover the basics of traditional media, it will also focus on non-traditional vehicles such as word of mouth, social media and shopper marketing. The course builds up to the creation of an integrated ad campaign for a major international brand. The project will be done in small groups competing with one another, from a real client brief, facilitated by industry professionals, and leading to a final presentation. For communications majors and non-majors.

Syracuse students may not receive credit for both ADV 201 and ADV 206.

Satisfies Shared Competencies:

Critical and Creative Thinking
Ethics, Integrity, and Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion

WGS409 A History of Witchcraft: Popular Culture, Folk Magic, and Religious Reform in Europe in the 14th–17th Centuries (Fall)

History of witchcraft from various perspectives: its intellectual roots, the causes and dynamics of the witch-hunt, and the beliefs and self-perceptions of those who were called “witches”.

Examines the foundations of magic and witchcraft in the West. Starting from the categorization of such beliefs in the Late Antiquity, the course moves on to the formation of the stereotypical image of the witch between the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance. After an exploration of the connections between the witch-hunt and the religious persecutions of the Reformation period, we take a “grassroots” look at the role of popular magic and witchcraft in the village context. Cross-listed with ANT/HST/REL 409.

SOC454 Family and Gender in Contemporary Italy (Fall, Spring)

Family structures and gender relations in Italy from the Unification to the present.

From the extended family of the 19th century to the nuclear family of today, the history of family and gender in Italy is characterized by reversals and often ambiguous attempts to resist change. Provides critical understanding of sources and methods used to unravel complex developments of this period. Cross-listed with HST 454 and WGS 454.

Counts as an IDEA course requirement for Syracuse students.

SOC418 The Italian Mafia (Fall, Spring)

Sociological and historical approach examining the social, political, and historical conditions for and consequences of the rise of the Italian Mafia. Analyzes the strategic relevance of the absence of a political monopoly over the use of state power and its impact on the Sicilian social fabric. A major focus is the identification of the root causes of the Mafia and its political connections. Topics include: the difficult relationship between Sicily and the Italian state; the strategy adopted by the Fascist regime to cope with the Mafia; the revival of the Mafia in post-war Italy; the “social antimafia”; the Pizza connection and the heroin distribution network; the challenges of anti-Mafia activists; the work of the judiciary; the eco-mafias; the Mafia business today. Students will be able to understand how the power vacuum created in any failed state can give rise to powerful criminal organizations, how these organizations consolidate and use power to maintain their hegemony, and how, in such conditions, political governance becomes increasingly problematic.

Meets with HST418.

REL421 Classical Mythology (Fall, Spring)

Myths and rituals of Greek mythology and religion. Ancient poets/playwrights and important mythological themes found in later Western religious/artistic traditions.

Learn to interpret the many examples of mythological themes that occur in Italian art and literature. From the twelve Olympian gods to the Trojan sagas and the Roman kings. Emphasis given to those themes that are especially relevant for the students’ experience in Italy, so one of the site visits will be at the Uffizi, to find the many connections between Renaissance art and ancient Mythology. Finally, the course aims to present the students with a reflection on the role of Mythology in our contemporary society: where can we find our Hercules or Perseus? Who can be the new Achilles?

Cross-listed with LIT/CLA 421.

This course has an associated course fee. See the Course Fees webpage for more information.

REL409 A History of Witchcraft: Popular Culture, Folk Magic, and Religious Reform in Europe in the 14th–17th Centuries (Fall)

History of witchcraft from various perspectives: its intellectual roots, the causes and dynamics of the witch-hunt, and the beliefs and self-perceptions of those who were called “witches”.

ARI261 Painting Studio I (Fall, Spring)

Limited enrollment, with preference given to students admitted to Studio Art Program. Figurative and nonfigurative painting in oils as the basis for study of color and form, materials, and approaches. Inspired by the rich European painting traditions and their influences today, this is a highly-structured course designed for students wishing to concentrate on a technical foundation in observational oil painting. You will be taken systematically through the fundamental principles and elements of painting including chiaroscuro, placement and composition, brushwork, color, and texture. There will be practical demonstrations of all the technical information, including canvas stretching, gesso grounds, painting mediums, and the use of brushes. The second half of the semester will involve a project involving complex issues in painting. Instruction will be supplemented with slides of old master, modern and contemporary works.

Repeatable 1 time(s), 6 credits maximum

This course has an associated course fee. See the Course Fees webpage for more information.