This seminar will focus on three methodological problems
at the core of the emerging field of Visual Studies, as
well as its tributary disciplines, art history, film studies,
and cultural studies. First, the question of "text
and context" will be addressed from a variety of points
of view ranging from the anthropological to the visual.
Second, we will consider the problem of "history and
form," by analyzing and redressing the tendency
toward presentism in cultural studies. Finally, the
issue of spectatorship will be raised through an analysis
of its different modalities in the visual arts and film
studies. The seminar is held in conjunction with a
major symposium to occur at UCI on March 3-4, 2000.
Core readings will be drawn from participants in this event,
who include: Ann Bermingham, Norman Bryson, Carol
Duncan, Anne Friedberg, and Carlo Ginzburg, as well as others
such as Michael Taussig, Arjun Appadurai, and Thomas Crow.
