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UTSC MDSB62H3: VISUAL CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION

FALL 2020 | TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

Stable internet connection

Laptop or computer

Working microphone

Working webcam (suggested)

INSTRUCTOR

Dr. Thy Phu email: Quercus messages

TA:

COURSE DESCRIPTION Though visual culture is so pervasive as to form a seemingly innocuous background to our daily lives, its function, meaning, and impact are more complex than we recognize. This asynchronous course explores the media contexts in which images are made and circulated, the meanings they acquire, and the cultural work that they do. How do images shape the ways that events, subjectivities, and communities are recognized and understood? How have images been commodified? In what ways have they been mobilized to express, confirm, or challenge ideologies about race, gender, and sexuality? How have images been deployed as part of state and corporate surveillance—and more broadly, as an assertion of power? How have they been enlisted to advance democracy, whether through individual self-expression or through resistance movements? These are just some of the questions we will explore through group discussions, presentations, and a creative final project. Through these varied activities, students will engage critically with diverse visual—and multi-modal—texts, drawn from photography, film, advertising, social media, and more. To develop analyses of these texts, we will examine and compare a wide range of theories and methods, focusing in particular on how they help illuminate key concepts such as visuality, surveillance, spectatorship, and counter-visuality. These theories and methods include close reading, semiotics, and discursive critique, to name just a few. By applying theories and methods to the critical interpretation of visual texts, students will acquire visual literacy, enabling them to assess the ways that seeing shapes how we understand ourselves and our communities in local and global contexts, and to make and use images in their own creative and critical media practices.

COURSE OVERVIEW AND IMPORTANT DATES

Mode Dates Time Frequency Virtual asynchronous It is important to stay on track. You are advised to allocate

time towards this course as follows: Mon. - complete assigned readings and watch mini-lectures Wed. - post discussion and respond to peer posts (the earlier you post the better!) Fri. - check-in and group office hour Sun. - deadline for completing Module quiz

2-3 hours of study time for every hour of lecture time.

weekly

Virtual synchronous check-in and office hours via Zoom (optional)

Friday

10:10am- 11am

weekly (except Reading Week)

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Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are the preferred browsers to use Quercus optimally; please update browsers frequently.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES AND OUTCOMES

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

• Acquire visual literacy. • Define and explain foundational theories, methods, and concepts in the study of visual culture. • Synthesize, differentiate, and evaluate the affordances and limitations of these methods and

concepts. • Demonstrate a facility in critical thinking and reasoning by applying these theories and concepts

to issues and problems posed by visual culture. • Employ research skills to assess and critically evaluate information that relates to visual studies

topics from scholarly and popular sources, including electronic (web) sources, video and audio sources, and print sources.

• Demonstrate awareness of the role of visual culture in influencing perceptions of race, gender, and sexuality, and its potential for reframing these perceptions.

• Contribute to debates on the making and use of images by creating work that draws on text, images, and sound to illuminate the significance of issues in visual culture.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Below is the evaluation breakdown for the course. All assignments are due at 11:55 pm EST unless otherwise specified

Rubrics will be used to evaluate assessments and will be posted with the instructions After an assessment is returned, students should wait 24 hours to digest feedback before contacting their evaluator; to ensure a timely response, reach out within 7 days

ASSESSMENT DETAILS DEADLINES WEIGHT Quizzes 5 @ 1%

You need only complete 5 quizzes but may attempt them all if you wish. Only the highest mark will be recorded.

There will be quizzes posted every week. They will only be accessible for a week after the module has ended.

5%

Online participation and discussion

Respond asynchronously to prompts.

Weekly 15%

Group Presentation Recorded presentations (10 minutes) Format: voice-over narration on Prezi, PowerPoint, or Pages.

Sept. 30 5%

Peer evaluation of group work Oct. 2 3% Annotated Bibliography Oct. 9 5%

Visual Essay Proposal Oct. 9 5%

Storyboard Nov. 6 5%

Peer Review Workshop Nov. 13 2%

Visual Essay (format: 3-5 minutes) + introductory blurb (500 words)

Nov. 30 20%

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Final Exam Cumulative Scheduled by the registrar’s office

35%

A detailed and comprehensive set of policies and regulations concerning examinations and grading can be found here: https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/registrar/u-t-grading-scheme. The table below outlines the University-wide grade descriptors. Detailed rubrics for requirements are available on Quercus.

ROUNDING OF MARKS STATEMENT Across the University, we strive to maintain high standards that reflect the effort that both students and faculty put into the teaching and learning experience during this course. All students will be treated equally and evaluated based only on their actual achievement. Final grades on this course, irrespective of the number of decimal places used in marking individual assignments and tests, will be calculated to one decimal place and rounded to the nearest integer, e.g., 74.4 becomes 74, and 74.5 becomes 75. Marks WILL NOT be bumped to the next grade or GPA, e.g. an 84 WILL NOT be bumped up to an 85, etc. The mark attained is the mark you achieved, and the mark assigned; requests for mark “bumping” will be denied. Inquiries about the final exam and final marks are to be directed to the Registrar’s office.

TEXTS AND RESOURCES All resources will can be accessed as PDF files or links through the “Library Course Reserves” page of

our Quercus site. Video- and audio-editing software/apps (e.g. Audacity, iMovie) will enrich your experience of the course,

but are not necessary to successful fulfillment of course requirements.

SEMESTER SCHEDULE

Your instructor may modify this schedule to enhance learning experiences. Please check Quercus announcements regularly for updates. Because this is an asynchronous course, it is important to stay on top of the readings. You are strongly encouraged to complete the week’s assigned readings, view

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mini-lectures and respond to discussion prompts by Thursday so that, if there are questions, you can discuss them during the synchronous check-ins/group office hours on Friday.

MODULE DATE TOPIC READING ASSIGNMENT DUE

1 Sept. 8-11 Introduction Visual Methodologies, Chapter 1 Collaborate on course principles and core values.

Sept. 11

Walter Benjamin, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” in Illuminations, ed. Hannah Arendt, trans. Harry Zohn (New York: Schocken Books, 1969), pp. 1-26. Rebekah Frumkin, “How to Draw the Coronavirus,” Paris Review, May 18, 2020 https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2 020/05/18/how-to-draw-the- coronavirus/

2 Sept. 14-18 Looking closely

Visual Methodologies, Chapter 4 Georgina Kleege, “The Mind’s Eye,” in Sight Unseen (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999), pp. 93-121.

3 Sept. 21-25 Semiotics

Roland Barthes, “Myth Today,” http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~ikalm ar/illustex/barthesmyth1.html Meenakshi Gigi Durham, “Resignifying Alan Kurdi: News Photographs, Memes, and the Ethics of Embodied Vulnerability,” Critical Studies in Media Communication 35, issue 3 (2018): 240-258.

A visit by Paulina Rousseau UTSC collections librarian (Sept. 25 synchronous session). Session will introduce students to research methods in preparation for the annotated bibliography assignment.

4 Sept. 28-Oct. 2 Making and Using Images

David A. Smith, “From Nunavut to Micronesia: Feedback and Description, Visual Repatriation and Online Photographs of Indigenous Peoples,” Partnership: The Canadian Journal of Library and Information Practice and Research 3.1 (2008): 1- 19. Kate M. Miltner, "Internet Memes," SAGE Handbook of Social Media, ed. Jean Burgess et. al (London: Sage, 2018), pp. 412-428. Asaf Nissenbaum and Limor Shifman, "Memes as Contested Cultural Capital: The Case of 4chan's /b/ Board." New Media and Society 19.3 (2015): 483-501.

Group presentation

Sept. 30

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Peer evaluation of group work Oct. 2

5 Oct. 5-9 Discourse Analysis

Michel Foucault, “Panopticism,” in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (New York: Vintage, 1995), pp. 195-228,

Annotated bibliography and proposal

Oct. 9

Reading

Week Oct. 10-16 No class

6 Oct. 19-23 Spectatorship Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Screen 16.3 (1975): 6-18.

7 Oct. 26-30 Visual Economies

Marita Sturken, “Facebook photography and the demise of Kodak and Polaroid,” in Image, Ethics, Technology, ed. Sharrona Pearl (London: Routledge, 2015), pp. 94- 110). Krista Thompson, “Introduction: Of Shine, Bling, and Bixels,” in Shine: The Visual Economy of Light in African Diasporic Aesthetic Practice (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2015), pp. 1-41.

8 Nov. 2-6 Seeing Subjects

Lorna Roth, “Making Skin Visible through Liberatory Design,” in Captivating Technology: Race, Carceral Technoscience and the Liberatory Imagination in Everyday Life, ed. Ruha Benjamin (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2019), pp. 275-307. Michelle Raheja, “Visual Sovereignty,” in Native Studies Keywords, eds. Stephanie Nohelani Teves, Andrea Smith, and Michelle H. Raheja, (Tuscon, AZ: The University of Arizona Press, 2015), pp. 25-34.

Storyboard Nov. 6

9 Nov. 9-13 Surveillance

Winifred R. Poster, “Racialized Surveillance in the Digital Service Economy,” in Captivating Technology, pp. 133-169. Toby Beauchamp, “Suspicious Visibility,” in Going Stealth: Transgender Politics and U.S. Surveillance Practices (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2018), pp. 1- 23.

Peer Review Schedule a time with your partner to complete this requirement in the “Collaborate” function of Quercus. Your Instructor will assign partners

By Nov. 13

10 Nov. 16-20 Self-representation

Abidin, Crystal. “’Aren’t These Just Young, Rich Women Doing Vain Things Online?’: Influencer Selfies as Subversive Frivolity.” Special issue:

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“Selfies: Mediated Inter-faces.” Eds. Warfield et al. Social Media and Society (April-June 2016): 1-17. Minh-ha Pham, “I Click and Post and Breathe, Waiting for Others to See What I See’: On #FeministSelfies, Outfit Photos, and Networked Vanity.” Fashion Theory 19.2 (2015): 221-241.

11 Nov. 23-27 Counter-visualities

Anthony Ryan Hatch, “New Technologies of Resistance: Racial Power and Protest in the United States.” Radical History Review 2017.127 (2017): 125-132. Teju Cole, “The Superhero Photographs of the Black Lives Matter Movement.” New York Times July 26, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/ magazine/the-superhero- photographs-of-the-black-lives- matter-movement.html

A guest lecture by Dr. Danielle Wong on social media activism on Tiktok and Snapchat (Nov. 27)

12 Nov. 30-Dec. 7 Review Visual essay and introductory blurb. Nov. 30

Final Exam TBA

GENERAL POLICIES

PRIVACY AND COPYRIGHT

The Friday synchronous check-in sessions will be recorded on video to be made available for students in the course for remote viewing. Recordings will protect the privacy of students who attend these sessions.

Students who do not wish to be recorded can stay off camera and change their login name to ensure that they are not identifiable. Please contact the Instructor personally if you have any concerns.

For questions about recording and use of videos in which you appear please contact your Instructor. Course videos and materials belong to your instructor, the University, and/or other sources depending

on the specific facts of each situation, and are protected by copyright. Do not download, copy, or share any course or student materials or videos without the explicit permission of the instructor.

All recorded sessions will remain within the course site or unlisted if streamed. Information about late or missed evaluations:

Late assessments without illness self-reports will be subject to a late penalty of 2%/day going up to 10 days, including weekends. Assignments submitted after 10 days without illness self-reports will receive a 0. Late assessments with illness self-reports should be submitted within 24 hours of submission of the last illness self-report. https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/registrar/covid-19-absence-declaration-acorn If a make-up assessment is missed, the student will receive an INC and complete the task the next time the course is offered

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ACADEMIC ACCOMMODATION These are challenging times. If you are experience difficulties due to illness or injury, please don’t hesitate to reach out for assistance. Do use the illness verification form: https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/registrar/covid- 19-absence-declaration-acorn

ACCESSABILITY SERVICES Both your Instructor and the University of Toronto are committed to accessibility. Students requiring accommodations due to a disability, health-related issue, or unique learning style are welcome in this course. I want to help all students achieve their academic goals and am eager to work with AccessAbility Services. All enquiries will remain strictly confidential. If you require accommodations, or have any accessibility concerns about the course, the classroom, or course materials, please let me know as soon as possible and contact Accessibility Services in Room S302, or at: http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/~ability/ ACCOMMODATION FOR RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS

The policy on Accommodation for Religious Holidays can be viewed here: https://www.viceprovoststudents.utoronto.ca/policies-guidelines/accommodation- religious/

EXPECTATIONS FROM STUDENT ACADEMIC INTEGRITY Academic integrity is essential to the pursuit of learning and scholarship in a university and to ensuring that a degree from the University of Toronto is a strong signal of each student’s individual academic achievement. As a result, the University treats cases of cheating and plagiarism very seriously, as do your Instructor and TA’s. As such, we maintain a zero-tolerance policy in cases of plagiarism and academic dishonesty. All violations of the standards of academic integrity will be reported to the necessary university officials. More information on policies relating to student conduct can be found here: https://governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/secretariat/policies/code-behaviour-academic-matters-july-1-2019 Potential offences include, but are not limited to:

o In papers and assignments: Using someone else’s ideas or words (via direct quotes, paraphrases, and summarizations) without appropriate acknowledgement. Submitting your own work in more than one course without the permission of the Instructor. Making up sources or facts. Obtaining or providing unauthorized assistance on any assignment, including copying and/or modifying the work of your peers, and developing similar outputs based on shared notes.

o On tests and exams: Using or possessing unauthorized aids. Looking at someone else’s answers during an exam or test. Misrepresenting your identity.

o In academic work: Falsifying institutional documents or grades. Falsifying or altering any documentation required by the University, including (but not limited to) doctor’s notes.

o Advice on Academic Writing: http://ctl.utsc.utoronto.ca/twc/advice o Guide on “How Not to Plagiarize”: http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/using-

sources/how-not-to-plagiarize o Information Regarding Academic Integrity: http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/aacc/academic-

integrity o Students will be expected to take an academic integrity pledge before some assessments.

ENGAGEMENT AND PARTICIPATION

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DISCUSSION INSTRUCTIONS Discussion with your classmates is a vital part of learning. In this course, you will participate in at least one class discussion in each module with your tutorial group – everyone will be randomly assigned to one group where they will remain for the entire semester. These discussions are a required part of the course. You can find the prompts in the Modules pages. Contributions should advance discussion meaningfully and substantively. Avoid simply repeating the prompt or stating agreement or disagreement. A rubric for marking discussions can be found on the course Quercus site. Your teaching team will endeavor to respond to all posts by the end of the week. The course also has a Q&A discussion section, which is available for general concerns (that are not chapter or subject specific). Questions posted in the Q&A section by Thursday evening will be taken up in the Friday group office hour/check-in session. REPLYING TO OTHER STUDENTS’ POSTS You are also required to read and reply to other students. Your replies should offer new ideas or thoughtful questions or means of engaging and taking up the points raised by your peers. This course encourages collegial and courteous debate. Students are expected to follow online etiquette expectations. For details, see: https://learn.canvas.net/courses/1340/pages/netiquette-the-golden-rules- for-online-courses. Remember to express your contributions and responses in a respectful manner, and do your best to help build an inclusive, equitable, and positive space for collaborative learning. HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL IN THIS CLASS

Students enrolled in this class should understand the level of autonomy and self-discipline required to be successful.

1. Invest in a planner or app to keep track of your courses. Populate all your deadlines at the start of the term and schedule time at the start of each week to get organized and manage your time. Wherever possible, try to follow the timelines for weekly activities suggested by your Instructor.

2. Make it a daily habit to log onto Quercus to ensure you have seen everything posted to help you succeed in this class.

3. Follow weekly checklists created on Quercus or create your own to help you stay on track. 4. Take notes as you go through the lesson material. Treat this course as you would a face-

to-face course. Keeping handwritten notes or even notes on a regular Word document will help you learn more effectively than just reading or watching the videos.

5. Do not be afraid to ask questions. If you are struggling with a topic, check the online discussion boards or contact your instructor(s) and or teaching assistant(s).

6. Reward yourself for successes. It seems easier to motivate ourselves knowing that there is something waiting for us at the end of the task.

Students are encouraged to follow the suggested timeline for weekly readings, mini- lectures, discussions, and quiz on p.1 of this syllabus for meeting course requirements.

Students are expected to participate and engage with content as much as possible Students can interact with their tutorial groups by responding to discussion prompts in forums with their peers and instructors

Students can also participate during Friday synchronous sessions or post questions/comments in the forum Q&A café. However, your Instructor understands that, in a remote learning environment, synchronous participation may not always be possible. For this reason, the Friday meetings are optional. You will NOT be penalized if unable to attend. While I look forward to your contribution to synchronous discussion, wherever possible, marks for participation will be based on Quercus discussion board contributions. To ensure that everyone has access to materials and information shared at the synchronous check-ins/group office hours, a recording of these sessions—edited to protect student privacy--will be made available within of few days of each meeting.

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Preparing for Online Learning

Academic Advising and Career Centre

Appeal Procedures

Registrarial Services

International Student Services

Student Experience and Wellbeing

Health and Wellness

Writing Support

English Language Development Support