History of Art and Visual Culture

D-201 Porter College
(831) 459-4564
havc@ucsc.edu
http://havc.ucsc.edu

Program Description

The study of visual culture encompasses the production, use, form, and reception of images past and present. It incorporates the painting, sculpture, and architecture traditionally defined by art history, and extends throughout the fields of visual imagery beyond the conventional boundaries formerly drawn by the academy. The History of Art and Visual Culture Department offers courses covering a wide variety of representations from the cultures of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Pacific Islands, including areas as diverse as ritual, performative expression, bodily adornment, landscape painting, installation art, and video games.

Students of visual culture at UC Santa Cruz investigate complex questions concerning the social, political, economic, religious, and psychological impact of images from the perspective of their producers, users, and viewers. Images play a central role in the formation of values and beliefs, including the perception of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, race, and class. Through attentive historical study and close analysis, students are taught to recognize and assess these systems of value, and are introduced to theoretical and methodological frameworks for future research.

The history of art and visual culture curriculum guides students in acquiring skill in critical thinking about visual culture, leading to a baccalaureate of arts degree. Each student who chooses to major or minor in visual culture devises an individual study plan with a faculty adviser. Courses are organized in four levels, with each level providing a progressively sophisticated study of materials and problems. The lower-division courses, numbered 1–99, intended for general education students and prospective majors, provide an introduction to the field of visual culture according to geographic areas and visual traditions within those areas. Upper-division courses cover a broad range of issues in various aspects of world culture from earliest times to the present. Advanced courses focus on selected fields, topics, and methods. The most advanced courses, numbered 190 and 191, are taught in seminar format.

Declaring the Major

To declare the major, students must complete two of the required three lower-division 10-series introduction to visual culture courses:

• 10C Southeast Asia Visual Culture;
• 10D Visual Cultures of Asia;
• 10E Africa, Oceana, and the Americas;
• 10F The Nude in the Western Tradition; or
• 10G Europe
  

Students considering this major are encouraged to complete these courses early in their studies and consult with the history of art and visual culture undergraduate adviser to develop a plan of study. Transfer students should consult the Transfer Student/Transfer Credit section below.

Program of Study

The history of art and visual culture major requires five lower-division and 10 upper-division courses including the satisfactory completion of the senior comprehensive requirement. Students must take courses with at least four different faculty members and in at least two different historical eras and two different cultural settings to ensure methodological and disciplinary breadth.

Lower-Division Requirements

Five courses, as follows:

• Three introduction to visual culture courses 10C or 10D, 10E, and either 10F or 10G
• Two courses selected from the following:
• Additional 10-series courses
• 80 series courses
• Visual practice courses: Art 20-40, 70; Theater Arts 14, 17, 18; approved transfer courses (see Transfer Students/Transfer Credit below).

Upper-Division Requirements

Ten courses, as follows:

• course 100A recommended during sophomore or junior year
• courses 101-189: six courses required
• courses 190–191: two courses required, one of which must satisfy the senior comprehensive requirement (see Comprehensive Requirement below)
• In courses 100–191, a student must study with four different faculty members to ensure methodological and theoretical diversity as well as study visual cultures in two of historical eras and two cultural settings (refer to the course descriptions).
• 10th course: one upper-division course from another discipline. This course, taken outside of the History of Art and Visual Culture Department, should complement a student’s history of art and visual culture program focus. Courses from the following departments are especially relevant: American studies, anthropology, film and digital media, history, Latin American and Latino studies, literature, philosophy, sociology, theater arts, and feminist studies. Courses from other departments may be considered with faculty approval. (The department maintains a current list of recommended courses that satisfy this requirement.)

Senior Comprehensive Requirement

All students must identify o ne of the two required seminars, 190–191, as their “senior exit” course to satisfy the senior comprehensive requirement. Within the context of this advanced seminar, students will produce carefully supervised work culminating in the completion of a written project that meets the standards of the senior level of achievement in the major. Students whose performance is outstanding are eligible for Honors in the Senior Comprehensive.

Concentration in Religion and Visual Culture

This program is for students who wish to pursue the study of religion in conjunction with studies of visual culture. It consists of an individually planned sequence of courses, including a core set of lower-division courses to provide grounding in issues, methods, and a general history of visual culture; upper-division courses from within the department; and at least four upper-division courses from other departments that focus on the study of religion.

A student enters the concentration by proposing, in consultation with their faculty adviser, a sequence of upper-division courses to fulfill the Religion and Visual Culture requirements. The declaration of major requirements for the Religion and Visual Culture concentration are the same as listed in the Declaration of Major section. The faculty adviser for the religion and visual culture concentration is Raoul Birnbaum.

Requirements for the Religion and Visual Culture Concentration

The 15-course curriculum of the Religion and Visual Culture Concentration is pedagogically distinct from that of history of art and visual culture. Students are required to take four lower-division classes (three from the 10 series—10C or 10D, 10E, and either 10F or 10G—and one additional lower-division course), rather than the five currently required for the history of art and visual culture major and 11 upper-division courses, seven from within history of art and visual culture and four relevant upper-division courses taken from other departments.

Students in the religion and visual studies concentration complete the following required upper-division curriculum listed below.

Eleven courses, as follows:

• 100A recommended in sophomore or junior year
• 101-189: four courses required
• 190-191: two courses required, one of which must satisfy the senior comprehensive requirement (see Senior Comprehensive Requirement above)
• Four relevant upper-division courses in the study of religion from programs on campus such as anthropology, history, literature, and philosophy. (The department maintains a current list of approved courses that focus on the study of religion.)

Disciplinary Communication (DC) Requirement

Students of every major must satisfy that major's upper-division Disciplinary Communication (DC) requirement. The DC requirement will normally be met within one to three courses already required for the major. For detailed information on this major’s DC requirement, consult your major adviser or see the 2010-11 general catalog.

Minor Requirements

Nine courses, as follows:

• lower-division: three courses from the introduction to visual culture series (10C or 10D, 10E, and either 10F or 10G);
• upper-division: six courses planned in consultation with a faculty adviser.

Department Advising

Undergraduate Adviser

The undergraduate adviser offers specific information about navigating through the program and the curriculum and assists students with requirements, prerequisites, policies and procedures, learning support, scholarships, and special opportunities for undergraduate research.

Faculty Advisers

Faculty are the best resource for learning about the philosophies and foundations of history of art and visual culture. Faculty advisers work individually with students to develop a specific course of study, recommend additional courses of interest, and discuss long-term career goals including education beyond the baccalaureate. A faculty adviser is assigned to each student by the undergraduate adviser during the declaration of major meeting.

Languages

All majors are encouraged to study at least one foreign language. Graduate programs in visual culture, art history, and other related disciplines generally require competence in another language besides English. Students are encouraged to consult with their faculty adviser to discuss an appropriate course of language study.

Transfer Students and Transfer Credit

As preparation, transfer students are encouraged to fulfill at least three of the lower-division history of art and visual culture requirements prior to transfer. Refer to the ASSIST articulation agreements at www.assist.org for approved lower-division courses. A student may transfer up to six art history courses toward the major, only three of which may be upper division. Upper-division transfer credit is evaluated on a case-by-case basis and must be approved by the student’s faculty adviser. Transfer students are strongly encouraged to contact the History of Art and Visual Culture Department before enrolling at UCSC.

Study Abroad

The University of California’s Education Abroad Program (EAP) operates in countries throughout the world . Students may receive transfer credit for a maximum of three upper-division art history courses taken through the EAP program (see Transfer Student/Transfer Credit above). Many EAP programs require competency in a language besides English (see Languages above). Students should make every effort to consult with a faculty member about their course of study before going abroad .

Careers

The preparation students receive from the baccalaureate of arts degree in history of art and visual culture provides skills that can lead to successful careers in law, business, and social services, in addition to a more specific focus on museum curating, art restoration, studies in architecture, and studies in art history leading to a graduate degree.

Graduate Study

There are many graduate programs of visual culture that lead to the M.A. and Ph.D. in fields such as art history, cultural history, semiotics, rhetoric, history of religions, comparative arts, theory and criticism of art, and so forth. Most graduate programs require a reading knowledge of one or two languages other than English (see Languages above). Students who are contemplating graduate study should consult with their adviser as early as possible in their undergraduate career.

The History of Art and Visual Culture Department is in the final stages of developing an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program in visual studies, and anticipates matriculating the first class in 2010.