COMM2203 · Communication

Image as Communication

Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences

This course may be used to satisfy one of four electives required within the Communication major.The goal of this course is to study how images are formed while exploring the ways in which they are being used to communicate. Following the critical tradition that treats images as a static representation all the way to recent studies that focus on writing with images in the era of interactive media, we will read critical texts while exploring concrete examples taken from books, political posters, films, and social media. What is the relation between text and image? What are the politics of image making? How do images change through different national and cultural settings? And how does the materiality of images define the way we make sense of them? From Walter Benjamin, John Berger, Malcolm Turvey to Noigandres and Laura Mulvey to Harun Farocki we will try to answer some of these questions while looking at concrete examples. We will watch and analyze multimedia productions, read texts, and discuss visual representations from a variety of visual and textual sources. Class and readings in English, audiovisual materials in English and/or with English subtitles.