Admission requirements
A relevant BA-degree. Please consult the lecturer beforehand if you want to follow this course as an elective.
Description
By surveying the contemporary theories of photography, this course will critically examine the topical debates in/around this constantly evolving medium. To better delineate different branches of photography theories, it begins by inspecting the contentious distinction between documentary and art photography. To do this, it will first draw on some long-lasting notions in the field of photographic studies, such as: ‘referentiality’, ‘indexicality’, ‘iconocity’, ‘transparency’, and ‘opacity’, thereby judging how they deal with our putative understanding of reality.
However, as it has remained controversial what justifies the veracity of photographic documentation and what we mean by ‘reality’ when dealing with photography, the course will later probe into more cross-disciplinarity concepts and discourses, such as: Materiality and Agency, Virtuality and AI, Semiotic and Semantic, Post and Prosthetic Memory, Archive and Trauma, and Ethics and Politics.
To explore these territories, we will read and discuss several texts written by artists, theorists, philosophers, and interdisciplinary scholars. The assigned literature includes (but is not limited to) the texts written by Allan Sekula, W. J. T. Mitchell, Jussi Parikka, Abigail Solomon-Godeau, Judith Butler, Susan Sontag, Tom Gunning, Susie Linfield, Elizabeth Edwards, Marianne Hirsch, Ariella Azoulay, Eduardo Cadava, Okwui Enwezor, Ulrich Baer, and Joanna Zylinska.
Course objectives
Students:
Can independently research and provide alternatives to current photographic debates.
Can critically analyze photographs by using pertinent concepts and theories.
Learn about the sociopolitical applications of photography in contemporary discourses.
Gain the necessary skills for writing an individual research paper on photography.
Learn how to collaboratively present and orally analyze photographs in the class.
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Research
Assessment method
Assessment
Presentation as a midterm exam: a 20-minute presentation based on thorough research.
Research proposal: a 500-word proposal explaining the research question, methodology, and theoretical framework.
Final paper: a research paper of approximately 5,000 words.
Weighing
Presentation: 30%
Research Proposal: 0%
Final paper: 70%
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
Only the final paper can be retaken. The resit will be announced on Brightspace.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
The reading list will be announced prior to the start of classes.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Arsenaal.
Remarks
Not applicable