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This course ex­plores re­search and doc­u­men­ta­tion for all media for­mats in­clud­ing text, im­ages, sound, and mul­ti­me­dia. Stu­dents will ex­plore in­for­ma­tion is­sues, es­pe­cially in terms of their rel­e­vance today: how in­for­ma­tion is pro­duced and or­ga­nized in both tra­di­tional and emerg­ing media, how in­for­ma­tion ac­cess is af­fected by po­lit­i­cal, eco­nomic and cul­tural fac­tors, and the ethics of in­for­ma­tion use. Stu­dents will also ac­quire the prac­ti­cal skills of lo­cat­ing in­for­ma­tion sources in a va­ri­ety of media and for­mats, crit­i­cal eval­u­a­tion of sources, and doc­u­men­ta­tion and ci­ta­tion of tra­di­tional and emerg­ing media and tech­nolo­gies. Stu­dents will apply what they learn to cre­ate and pre­sent re­search and doc­u­men­ta­tion pro­jects.

This course explores research and documentation for all media formats including text, images, sound, and multimedia. Students will explore information issues, especially in terms of their relevance today: how information is produced and organized in both traditional and emerging media, how information access is affected by political, economic and cultural factors, and the ethics of information use. Students will also acquire the practical skills of locating information sources in a variety of media and formats, critical evaluation of sources, and documentation and citation of traditional and emerging media and technologies. Students will apply what they learn to create and present research and documentation projects.

“The mo­ment al­ways dic­tates in my work. What I feel, I do. This is the most im­por­tant thing for me. Every­body can look, but they don’t nec­es­sar­ily see.” — André Kertész This course sur­veys the his­tory of pho­tog­ra­phy from its be­gin­nings in the early nine­teenth cen­tury to the pre­sent. We will ex­am­ine the use of pho­tog­ra­phy for aes­thetic, doc­u­men­tary, and “sci­en­tific” pur­poses, styl­is­tic shifts in pho­tog­ra­phy re­lated to aes­thetic con­cerns, and vary­ing in­ter­pre­ta­tions of sub­ject mat­ter based on so­cial and cul­tural con­cerns at spe­cific mo­ments in his­tory. We will also con­sider the re­la­tion­ship be­tween pho­tog­ra­phy and the vi­sual arts in gen­eral, which cul­mi­nates with the pri­macy of pho­tog­ra­phy as a medium by the late twen­ti­eth cen­tury.

“The moment always dictates in my work. What I feel, I do. This is the most important thing for me. Everybody can look, but they don’t necessarily see.” — André Kertész This course surveys the history of photography from its beginnings in the early nineteenth century to the present. We will examine the use of photography for aesthetic, documentary, and “scientific” purposes, stylistic shifts in photography related to aesthetic concerns, and varying interpretations of subject matter based on social and cultural concerns at specific moments in history. We will also consider the relationship between photography and the visual arts in general, which culminates with the primacy of photography as a medium by the late twentieth century.