Marius Kothor (Committee on Degrees in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality)
First-Year Seminar 66L 4 credits (Fall Term) Enrollment: Limited to 12
Wednesday, 3-5:15 CANVAS SITE
Our world is saturated with photographs. We are photographers, photographed people, and participants in the “event of photography.” But what are photographs exactly? What does it mean to look at a photograph? How does the camera articulate, reflect, and (re)produce social relations and relations of power? In this seminar, we will consider the history of photography in Africa as a practice with both liberatory and oppressive potential. By the end of the semester, students will gain a deeper understanding of the social worlds photographs produce and how photographs both illustrate and constitute particular historical moments. Students will walk away from this seminar with a greater sense of what it means to see and be part of a photographic scene. We will use some of our seminar time to visit museums and archives to examine photographs in local collections. The seminar will culminate in a final project in which students will work in groups to design and showcase a mini photographic exhibit on campus. The exhibit will be accompanied by a 10-page analytical essay.