McMicken College of Arts & SciencesUniversity of Cincinnati

Critical Visions Certificate

The undergraduate Critical Visions Certificate is a joint endeavor between faculty from the McMicken College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) and the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP). The cross-college curriculum will teach students how to effectively combine critical theory and social analysis with art, media, and design practice and has two primary goals: (1) Increase students' understanding of what is at stake in how we see, including the social and political ramifications of advertising, art, media, popular culture, and science, among other dominant and subversive visual forms and visualizing practices. (2) Develop new artistic, media, or design forms and practices that will intervene in dominant ways of seeing and explaining the world.

Through core classes and approved electives students will critically examine the relationships among power, image, and imagination; situate and theorize vision alongside other modes of perception; and historically and cross-culturally explore a range of forms of seeing. Through studio and production courses they will learn to reflexively produce and rethink the ontology and epistemology of vision. More than just promoting a sophisticated, academic visual literacy, the certificate will enable students to actively engage, critique, and reinterpret the visual objects and forms they encounter in their everyday lives.

In addition to core courses in Anthropology and Fine Art, students will enroll in at least one studio course at or above the 200/2000-level from DAAP and between nine and twelve units of electives from across the two colleges. After fulfilling these requirements students will enroll in Critical Visions where they will develop and execute independent projects organized around a critique of a dominant way of seeing. The goal of these projects, which will be sponsored by two core faculty members from opposite colleges, is to wed together the three core components of the certificate: critical theory, social analysis, and art, media, or design practice. Ultimately we envision having a student-edited art/media/design and theory journal, annual exhibition, or virtual venue to display and circulate student projects, stimulating discussion and broad university engagement with their work.

Student Learning Objectives

  1. Identify and describe the social and political ramifications of both dominant and subversive visual forms and visualizing practices such as advertising, art, media, popular culture, and science, highlighting the relationship among image, imagination, and power.
  2. Using methods and theories from critical theory and social analysis, situate and theorize vision alongside other modes of perception, recognizing its historical, social, and cultural contingency.
  3. Using art, media, or design practice, gain a deeper understanding of how visual forms are produced while also becoming more reflexive and thoughtful in producing them.
  4. Develop new artistic, media, or design forms that effectively combine critical theory, social analysis, and creative practice to intervene in dominant ways of seeing and explaining the world.
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Curriculum

  Course Number Description Credits
A. 15ANTH319/15ANTH3075 Forms of Seeing 3
B. 23FAA112/23FAA1080 Visual Culture 3
C. varies Studio at or above the 200/2000-level, see list below 4
D. varies Historical and Cultural Perspective Elective, see list below 3
E. varies General Electives, 3 quarter courses or 2 semester courses, no more than one course below the 200/2000-level, see list below 6-9
F. 15ANTH5075/23FAA5075 Critical Visions 4
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Core Faculty, 2011-2012

McMicken College of Arts & Sciences

College of Design, Architecture, Art & Planning

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Core Course Descriptions

Forms of Seeing
An ethnographic approach to a range of visualizing practices and forms, emphasizing seeing as a socially situated, culturally variable, and historically specific practice. Topics include image, imagination, and power; visual economies; expert visions; moral and social implications of forms of seeing; the intersection of visual, material, discursive and embodied practices.

Visual Culture
This class introduces students to evaluating art in the wider context of visual culture, here understood as the study of the production, use, and consumption of visual objects and media that proliferate in most contemporary societies. Situating the critical analysis of art in the context of images that permeate our daily lives will enable a complex understanding of how art functions in contemporary society. This will be a comparative study where art is considered as embedded within an array of images, visual and textual, issuing from television, cinema, magazines, literature, theory, the internet, music, and other media.

Studio
Students will take at least one studio and/or media production course at or above the 200/2000-level from the approved list below. While enrollment in the certificate program will provide access for A&S students to DAAP studios in Fine Arts, they will still need to seek instructor approval for logistical reasons. Intermediate and advanced courses, however, may still require prerequisites.

Electives
Students will enroll in a minimum of 12 credit hours of approved electives, choosing courses from across both colleges. Of these courses, one must fulfill the historical and cultural perspective elective, and only one below the 200/2000-level may be applied toward the general electives requirement.

Critical Visions
This course serves as the culminating experience for Critical Visions Certificate students. Students will identify a dominant way of seeing to critique and design an individual project that combines critical theory, social analysis, and art, media, or design practice. Course activities include research and discussion of project concepts, individual and group critiques of the developing project, and final execution and display of the project.

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Studio Courses

This is a provisional list of approved studio courses open to A&S certificate students that will fulfill the studio requirement. Students may petition the co-directors of the certificate to substitute alternative studios, pending space and instructor approval. DAAP students may use any studio at or above the 200/2000-level from across the college to fulfill this requirement. As CCM is not a formal partner in this certificate, its studios are subject to space and instructor approval for certificate students.

College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning

Fine Arts

  • 23FAA324/2031 Introduction to Animation Art
  • 23FAA325/2032 Introduction to Game Art
  • 23FAA326/2034 Introduction to Internet Art
  • 23FAA327/2036 Introduction to Programming for Artists
  • 23FAA329/2038 Introduction to Video for Artists
  • 23FAA331/2033 Introduction to Interactive Art
  • 23FAA334/2035 Introduction to New Media
  • 23FAA351/2054 Introductory Relief Printmaking
  • 23FAA361/2061 Introductory Sculpture
  • 23FAA371/2071 Introductory Photography
  • 23FAA384 Introduction to Media Art

College-Conservatory of Music

Electronic Media

  • 16EMED251/2001 Digital Sight, Sound & Motion / Digital Video
  • 16EMED354/3002 Postproduction I / Post Production
  • 16EMED380/2010 New Media Studio I
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Historical and Cultural Perspective Electives

This is a provisional list of approved historical and cultural perspective electives. Additional courses will be added as they become available and are approved by the certificate core faculty. Upper-division courses may still require prerequisites. Students may petition the certificate co-directors to substitute other courses.

McMicken College of Arts and Sciences

Africana Studies

  • 15AFST245/2064 African-American Drama / African American Literature in Drama
  • 15AFST246 African-American Drama
  • 15AFST247 Black Drama Studio
  • 15AFST564 African-American Art 1945 to present

Anthropology

  • 15ANTH325/3027 Identities and Material Culture
  • 15ANTH555/6028 Spatial Archaeology

Asian Studies

  • 15AIST311/2083 Introduction to East Asian Films

Classical Civilization

  • 15CLAS2011 Classics and Cinema
  • 15CLAS221/2021 Art & Archaeology of the Ancient World / Art and Archaeology of Ancient Egypt
  • 15CLAS222/2022 Art & Archaeology of the Ancient World / Art and Archaeology of Ancient Greece
  • 15CLAS223/2023 Art & Archaeology of the Ancient World / Art and Archaeology of Ancient Rome
  • 15CLAS350/3011 Palaces of the Bronze Age Aegean
  • 15CLAS357/3012 The Acropolis of Athens: An Ancient City's Sacred Heart
  • 15CLAS368/2021 Pompeii / Pompeii: The Life and Death of an Ancient City
  • 15CLAS375/3013 Tour of Rome: The Art and Archaeology of the Ancient City / Roman Cities

English-British Literature

  • 15ENGB256/3069 Modern Drama / Modern British Drama
  • 15ENGB348/3048 Renaissance Drama / Early Modern Drama I
  • 15ENGB349/3049 Renaissance Drama / Early Modern Drama II

French

  • 15FREN313/3031 French Culture in Films

German

  • 15GRMN185/1051 Introduction to Film Studies

History

  • 15HIST366 Mass Media and Presidential Politics
  • 15HIST398H Reading the Past: Reconstructing the Visual Culture of America
  • 15HIST485/3085 Film and History of World War II
  • 15HIST486 Hollywood and History
  • 15HIST527 History of Architecture in the Cincinnati Area
  • 15HIST546/3046 Museums and Collecting
  • 15HIST547/3074 Art, Race, and Nation: Citizenship & Identity in US
  • 15HIST563 Film and India: Empire and Nationalism
  • 15HIST571 Media and Middle East History
  • 15HIST572 Film and Middle East History
  • 15HIST628/4022 Style and Power in 19th Century America

Italian

  • 15ITAL314/3031 Italian Film

Judaic Studies

  • 15JUDC190/1090 Monuments to War and Tragedy: Engraving the Mind and Remembrance
  • 15JUDC371/2071 Jews in American Film
  • 15JUDC372/2072 Israeli Cinema
  • 15JUDC373/2073 Film and Holocaust
  • 15JUDC390/3090 Art and Judaism
  • 15JUDC512/6012 Special Topics in Judaic Studies: Literature, Art and Film

Romance Language and Literature

  • 15RLL341H Brazilian Culture Through Film

Spanish

  • 15SPAN184/1085 US Latino Culture Through Film
  • 15SPAN314/3031 Spanish Film
  • 15SPAN315/3032 Latin American Film
  • 15SPAN316 Latino Film in the U S

College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning

Art History

  • 23ARTH270/2070 Asian Art I: China
  • 23ARTH271/2071 Asian Art II: Japan
  • 23ARTH330/3030 West and Central African Art
  • 23ARTH355/3055 History of European Baroque Art / Baroque Art
  • 23ARTH356 History of European Baroque Art II
  • 23ARTH371/3071 Nineteenth Century Art to 1850
  • 23ARTH372/3072 Nineteenth Century Art: 1850-1900
  • 23ARTH397/3097 Public Art and Public Funding in the US
  • 23ARTH550/6050 History of Japanese Prints I
  • 23ARTH551 History of Japanese Prints II
  • 23ARTH561/6061 African American Art
  • 23ARTH562/6062 African American Art, 1945-present
  • 23ARTH564/6064 History of Photography to 1945
  • 23ARTH6065 Photography and Visual Culture Since 1945
  • 23ARTH567/6067 Video Art / Video Art History
  • 23ARTH581/6081 Spatial Politics
  • 23ARTH588 Contemporary Art and Theory

Design

  • 23DSGN270/23GRCD3080 History of Visual Communication

Fine Arts - Art

  • 23FAA291/2080 Visual Art Concepts 1
  • 23FAA391/3080 Visual Art Concepts 2

Fashion Design

  • 23FASH232/2080 History of Fashion I
  • 23FASH233/2081 History of Fashion II

Industrial Design

  • 23INDL251 History of Industrial Design

Interior Design

  • 23INTD327/3021 History of Interior Design 1 / Interior Design History Theory Criticism 1

Planning

  • 23PLAN528 Introduction to Historic Preservation
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General Electives

This is a provisional list of approved general electives. Additional courses will be added as they become available and are approved by the certificate core faculty. Upper-division courses may still require prerequisites. Students may petition the certificate co-directors to substitute other courses.

McMicken College of Arts and Sciences

Africana Studies

  • 15AFST404 Contemporary Black Film
  • 15AFST448/4048 Media and Identity
  • 15AFST506 Topics in Contemporary Black Film

Anthropology

  • 15ANTH236/2031 Anthropology of Media
  • 15ANTH458/4078 Beauty, Race & Gender in the Marketplace

Communication

  • 15COMM225/2025 Media Literacy
  • 15COMM228/2028 Communication and Popular Culture
  • 15COMM427/2026 Mediated Communication
  • 15COMM4044 Visual Rhetoric & Visual Culture
  • 15COMM429/4068 Communication and Technology / Communication of Technology and Science
  • 15COMM446/4047 Theories of Mediated Communication
  • 15COMM448/4048 Media and Identity

English-Comparative Literature

  • 15ENGC240/2040 Topics in Drama
  • 15ENGC266/2026 Topics in Cultural Studies
  • 15ENGC3092 Genres of Film
  • 15ENGC3094 Issues in Film Studies

English

  • 15ENGL117 Beauty: Dissecting & Debating an Enigma
  • 15ENGL122 Graphic Novels
  • 15ENGL1051 Introduction to Film Studies
  • 15ENGL234/2034 Contemporary World Lit: Drama
  • 15ENGL267/2067 Topics in Film
  • 15ENGL333 Contemporary American Drama
  • 15ENGL334/3038 Film Noir
  • 15ENGL335/3035 Films of John Huston
  • 15ENGL336/3036 Classic Film Comedies
  • 15ENGL337/3037 American Literature and Film
  • 15ENGL338/3038 Film And Neo Noir
  • 15ENGL339/3039 Western Films
  • 15ENGL3052 Advanced Topics in Film Studies
  • 15ENGL377/3077 Visual Rhetoric
  • 15ENGL378/3078 Films of Alfred Hitchcock

Freshman Seminar

  • 15FSEM103 Horror Films: Scholarship & Spectatorship
  • 15FSEM105 Introduction to Film Studies
  • 15FSEM108 Thinking Through Photography

Journalism

  • 15JOUR216/2030C Introduction to Photojournalism / Principles of Photojournalism
  • 15JOUR306/3070C Photojournalism
  • 15JOUR400 Digital Imaging

Philosophy

  • 15PHIL107 Introduction to Philosophy: Through Movies
  • 15PHIL250/2051 Aesthetics for Fine Arts Majors
  • 15PHIL277/2050 Philosophy and The Arts
  • 15PHIL299 Violence, Sex & Immorality: Video Games & Philosophy
  • 15PHIL390H Beauty
  • 15PHIL421/3050 Aesthetics
  • 15PHIL554 Perceptual Representation
  • 15PHIL561 Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Mind

Political Science

  • 15POL344 The Internet and Democratic Politics
  • 15POL517 Media and United States Politics

Sociology

  • 15SOC332/3032 Body and Society
  • 15SOC415/3015 The Media and Sociology

Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies

  • 15WGS151 Girls & Popular Culture
  • 15WGS276/2061Feminism and Popular Culture / Gender in Popular Culture
  • 15WGS342 Gender in Film
  • 15WGS376 Feminisms and Art
  • 15WGS3072 Gender and Artistic Expression

College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning

Architecture

  • 23ARCH101 Experiencing Architecture
  • 23ARCH347 Urban and Cultural Landscapes in America

Art Education

  • 23ARTE546/6050 Community-Based Environmental Art
  • 23ARTE548 Global Art

Fine Arts - Art

  • 23FAA111/1080 Introduction to Contemporary Art
  • 23FAA113/1085 Current Arts Forum

Planning

  • 23PLAN111/1011 Principles of Planning Design Graphic Comm I
  • 23PLAN151/1051 Introduction to Urban Planning
  • 23PLAN321 Urban Sustainability
  • 23PLAN322 Observing the City
  • 23PLAN323 Urban Issues and Policies
  • 23PLAN351/1061 Understanding the Urban Environment
  • 23PLAN579/6079 Social Justice and the City
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