COMM 455.001
Global Visual Cultures
JULIA SONNEVEND
Course Description
This course examines the transnational flows of visual media. We will survey the growing
literature of visual culture in multiple academic disciplines, while considering how images
travel across cultural boundaries. The course’s case studies are organized around feelings we
experience in all parts of the world: fascination, fear, admiration, solidarity, grief, hope and
outrage, among others. The course raises the questions of which visuals do and do not resonate
with international audiences, and why certain visuals resonate more than others.
Instructor:
Julia Sonnevend, Assistant Professor in Communication Studies, University of Michigan
E-mail: sonneven@umich.edu
Office hour: Wednesday 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Office location: North Quad #5429
Meeting times
Mondays & Wednesdays, 11:30 a.m. -1:00 p.m., room 1460 MH.
Reading Materials
Required reading materials will be provided on CTools.
Grading policy:
Following the standards of other professors in this department, your performance will be
graded on the following scale:
A = Extraordinary. “A” work requires a full command of the material, a strong sense of
purpose, clear and compelling thought, and skillful writing.
B = Good to very good. This is work that provides a very solid fulfillment of the assignment.
Papers demonstrate clear argumentation and presentation.
C = Acceptable. This is work that fulfills the minimum required by the assignment. It might
lack skillful argumentation, but show an understanding of the material. It might also
suggest interesting approaches to the material, but falter in carrying them out.
D = A major deficiency in writing and argumentation.
F = Unacceptable.
Graded course activities:
Participation in class discussions: 20 %
Presentations: 20 %
First paper: 30%
Second paper: 30%
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First paper on local icons:
Topic: Please find the “iconic photograph” of your family and explain to me why this
photograph is special and memorable. Research the photograph’s history, (try to) find out
who took it, and provide a thorough visual analysis of the image. This paper requires
extensive research and interviews.
First papers should be in 12-pt Times New Roman, double-spaced and 6 pages in length.
Due: March 18, 2015.
First papers will be presented at a special event on the weekend after their
submission (details of location and time TBA).
Second paper on global icons:
Topic: You have two paper topic options. You can (1) either pick an iconic photograph that
has gained international significance OR (2) an Internet meme that circulates globally.
Please provide a detailed visual analysis of the iconic photograph or Internet meme. For
both topics please read Limor Shifman’s Memes in Digital Culture (MIT Press. 2013)
http://mitpress.mit.edu/books/memes-digital-culture
Second papers should be in 12-pt Times New Roman, double-spaced and 6 pages in length.
Due: April 20, 2015.
We will discuss the requirements for both papers in detail in class.
Presentations:
Every student is required to give two presentations during the “case studies” part of the
seminar. Your presentation has to be at least 10 minutes and you have to use Prezi. Each
class will have multiple presenters and you must coordinate your presentations as a group.
You will also have to present your first and second papers to the class.
Class attendance:
This seminar requires active participation. All students are expected to contribute to class
discussions. Please contact me in person or by email if you have to miss a class. Extensive
excused absences may result in extra assignments. Unexcused absences will affect your
grade. After four unexcused absences, I will have to give you an F.
Academic honesty
Successful education is based on mutual trust. I trust that you follow the University
Michigan’s
standards
of
academic
integrity.
For
more
information:
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/academicintegrity
Accommodations for Students with Disability
Please feel free to discuss with me any special needs you may have. I will treat any
information you provide as private and confidential. Information on services for students
with disabilities: http://ssd.umich.edu/
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Laptops:
Laptops can be used during the discussion of readings, but you are not permitted to use
them during student presentations.
Class 1 – Wednesday, January 7
INTRODUCTION
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Class 2 – Monday, January 12
DEFINING GLOBALIZATION
Kraidy, M. M. (2005). Hybridity, or the Cultural Logic of Globalization, (Chapter 2,
“Scenarios of Global Culture” pp. 15-22). Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Appadurai, A. (2003). Disjuncture and difference in the global cultural economy. In
Braziel, J. E., & Mannur, A., Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader (pp. 25-49, shorter version
of the original article). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Class 3 - Wednesday, January 14
DEFINING VISUAL CULTURE:
Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2009). Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual
Culture (Chapter 10, “The Global Flow of Visual Culture”). New York: Oxford
University Press.
Mirzoeff, N. (2009). An Introduction to Visual Culture. (2nd edition, Introductory
chapter: “Global Visual Cultures: Paradox and Comparison”). New York: Oxford
University Press
Class 4 – Monday, January 19
NO CLASS, MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY
Class 5 – Wednesday, January 21
GLOBAL OBSERVERS, SPECTATORS & WITNESSING
Phipps, P. (2004). Tourism and terrorism: An intimate equivalence. In Gmelch, S. B.
(Ed.), Tourists and Tourism: A Reader (pp. 71-90). Illinois: Waveland Press.
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Zelizer, B. (2002). Finding Aids to the Past: Bearing Personal Witness to Traumatic
Public Events. Media, Culture & Society 2002, 24, 697-714.
Class 6 – Monday, January 26
GLOBAL SEMICULTURE AND LOCAL SENSIBILITIES
Gitlin, T. (2001). Media Unlimited: How the Torrent of Images and Sounds
Overwhelms Our Lives. (Chapter 4, “Under the Sign of Mickey Mouse & Co., pp. 176210). New York: Metropolitan books.
Zelizer, B. (2011). Cannibalizing memory in the global flow of news. In M. Neiger, O.
Meyers, & E. Zandberg (Eds.), On media memory: Collective memory in a new media
age (pp. 27-37). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Class 7 - Wednesday, January 28
GLOBAL PLACES AND NON-PLACES
Please watch the movie “The Terminal” (2004).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362227/
Please research Marc Augé’s term “non-place.”
Helpful resource: Kolb, D. (2008). Sprawling places (“Augé on Non-Places,”
hypertext web version) available at:
http://www.dkolb.org/sprawlingplaces/generalo/placesto/augonnon.html)
Pütz, O. (2011). From non-places to non-events: The airport security checkpoint.
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 41, 2, pp. 154-188.
CASE STUDIES: IMAGERIES OF GLOBAL FEELINGS
Class 8 – Monday, February 2
FEELING GLOBAL
Good, K. D. (2013). Why We Travel: Picturing Global Mobility in User-Generated
Travel Journalism. Media, Culture & Society 35(3), pp. 295-314.
Cook, A. (March 19, 2013). Travel Photography: Tips & Tricks. Global Encounters
http://globalencounter.com/2013/03/travel-photography-tips-tricks/
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Class 9 – Wednesday, February 4
FEAR
Smith, P. (2012). Narrating Global Warming. In Alexander, J. C., Jacobs, R. N., & Smith,
P. The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Sociology (pp.745-759). New York: Oxford
University Press.
O’Neill, S., & Nicholson, C., S. (2009). “Fear Won’t Do It”: Promoting Positive
Engagement With Climate Change Through Visual and Iconic Representations.
Science Communication 30(3), 355-379.
Class 10 – Monday, February 9
DISCONTENT
Lee, Ch.-Ch., Li, H., & and Lee, F. L. F. (2011) Symbolic Use of Decisive Events:
Tiananmen as a News Icon in the Editorials of the Elite U.S. Press, The International
Journal of Press/Politics 16(3), 335-356.
Hariman, R., & Lucaites, J. L. (2007) Liberal Representation and Global Order. In No
Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and Liberal Democracy (pp. 208243). Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press.
Class 11 – Wednesday, February 11
ENJOYING CUTENESS
Miltner, K. (2011). Srsly phenomenal: An investigation into the appeal of Lolcats
(Master’s thesis at LSE), pp. 7-42. Available at:
http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/37681185/MILTNER%20DISSERTATION.pdf
Class 12 – Monday, February 16
FASCINATION
Boorstin, D. J. (2006). From hero to celebrity: The human pseudo-event. In Marshall,
D. (Ed.), The Celebrity Culture Reader (pp. 72-90). New York: Routledge.
Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2009). Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual
Culture (Chapter 7, “Advertising, Consumer Cultures, and Desire”). New York:
Oxford University Press.
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Class 13 - Wednesday February 18
COMPASSION
Cottle, S. (2012). Mediatized Disasters in the Global Age: On the Ritualization of
Catastrophe. In Alexander, J. C., Jacobs, R. N., & Smith, P. The Oxford Handbook of
Cultural Sociology (pp. 259-284). New York: Oxford University Press.
Höijer, B. (2004). The Discourse of Global Compassion: The Audience and Media
Reporting of Human Suffering. Media, Culture & Society 2004 26, 513-531.
Class 14 – Monday, February 23
GRIEF
Marwick, A., & Ellison, N. B. (2012). “There Isn't Wifi in Heaven!” Negotiating
Visibility on Facebook Memorial Pages, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic
Media, 378-400, available at:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08838151.2012.705197
Pantti, M, & Sumiala, J. (2009). Till death do us join: Media, mourning rituals and the
sacred centre of the society. Media, Culture & Society, 31(1), 119-135.
Class 15 – Wednesday, February 25
OUTRAGE
Tomlinson, J. “And Besides, the Wench is Dead”: Media Scandals and the
Globalization of Communication. In Lull J & Hinerman, S. (Eds), Media Scandals (pp.
65-85). Cambridge: Polity.
Marcotte, A. (August 26, 2013). A proposal: Let’s try not to be scandalized by
something
that
happened
at
the
WMA.
Slate.
Available
at:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/08/26/miley_cyrus_was_trying_to_sc
andalize_us_with_her_vma_performance_don_t_let.html
Class 16 – Monday, March 2
NO CLASS, SPRING BREAK
Class 17 Wednesday, March 4
NO CLASS, SPRING BREAK
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Class 18 – Monday, March 9
First paper discussion in Group 1.
Class 19 – Wednesday, March 11
First paper discussion in Group 2.
Class 20 – Monday, March 16
PATRIOTIC FEELINGS AND POLITICAL ICONOGRAPHY
Douglas, K. (2009). Barack Obama and Celebrity Spectacle. International Journal of
Communication 3, 715-741. Available at:
http://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/559/350
Sturken, M. (2009). The New Aesthetics of Patriotism. Journal of Visual Culture
2009(8), 163-172.
Recommended:
Appadurai, A. (2013). The Charisma deficit. (personal blog)
http://www.arjunappadurai.org/2011/02/04/the-charisma-deficit/
Class 21 – Wednesday, March 18
SHAME
Hariman, R., & Lucaites, J. L. (2007). No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public
Culture, and Liberal Democracy. (“Introduction” and “Trauma and Public Memory:
Accidental Napalm” (171-208). Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press.
WEEKEND (March 20-22):
special event for presenting first papers (details TBA)
Class 22 – Monday, March 23
SHOCK
Zelizer, B. (2010). About to die: How news images move the public. (Chapter 2, “Why
images of impending death make sense in the news,” pp. 28-76.)
New York: Oxford University Press.
7
Junod, T. (September 8, 2009). The Falling Man. Esquire
http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0903-SEP_FALLINGMAN
Class 23 – Wednesday, March 25
TRAUMA
Eyerman, R. (2012). Cultural Trauma: Emotion and Narration. In Alexander, J. C.,
Jacobs, R. N., & Smith, P. The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Sociology (pp. 564-582).
New York: Oxford University Press.
Möller, F. (2010). Rwanda Revisualized: Genocide, Photography, and the Era of the
Witness. Alternatives: Global, Local, Political 35, 113-136.
Class 24 Monday, March 30
ADMIRATION
Mitchell, W. J. T. (1998). The Last Dinosaur Book: The Life and Times of a Cultural
Icon, pp. 1-48.
Class 25 Wednesday, April 1
IDENTIFICATION
Hariman, R. & Lucaites, J. L. (2007). Performing Civic Identity: Flag Raisings at Iwo
Jima and Ground Zero. In No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and
Liberal Democracy (pp. 93-137). Chicago, London: The University of Chicago Press.
Class 26 Monday, April 6
ENJOYING THE EVERYDAY
Murray, S. (2008). Digital Images, Photo-Sharing, and Our Shifting Notions of
Everyday Aesthetics. Journal of Visual Culture 7, 147 -163.
Holohan, S. (2012). 'We're a very normal family': Representing the mundane in
Channel 4's The Family. Media Culture & Society 34, 21-36
Class 27 Wednesday, April 8
FEELING OVERWELMED (BY IMAGES)
Frosh, P. (2001). Inside the Image Factory: Stock Photography and Cultural
Production. Media, Culture & Society 23, 625-646.
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Sonnevend, J. (2012). Iconic Rituals: Towards a Social Theory of Encountering Images.
In J. C. Alexander, D. Bartmanski, & B. Giesen (Eds.), Iconic power: Materiality and
meaning in social life (pp. 219-233). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Class 28 Monday, April 13
NOSTALGIA
Schwarz, O. (2009). Good Young Nostalgia: Camera Phones and Technologies of Self
Among Israeli Youths. Journal of Consumer Culture 2009(9), 348-376.
Lambert, C. Hypochondria of the Heart (September-October, 2001). Harvard
Magazine. Available at: http://harvardmagazine.com/2001/09/hypochondria-of-thehear.html
Class 29 Wednesday April 15
FINAL PAPER PRESENTATIONS
Class 30, Monday, April 20
Closing discussion
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