The class introduces students to theories and practices of visual communication in the United States. We examine theoretical approaches to understanding visual communication - semiotics, psychoanalysis, political economy, Marxism - that would enable us to analyze an image internally, as well as to place it in its historical, economic, political, and cultural context. We get to know historical moments of U.S. visual culture, such as Act Up! posters, street murals from around the Twin Cities, labor comic books from the Second World War, and the graffiti scene in New York.
The class works closely with the University of Minnesota Libraries Gorman Rare Art Book Collection which holds thousands of zines (http://gormanartspeccoll.tumblr.com/). Zines are usually, but not always, black and white publications that are cheaply made using a photocopier. Throughout the semester, the class works with Collection to create metadata (thorough description) of zines. This is great experience to include on your resumes!
Each of you will make your own zine that we will showcase at the end of the semester. The best zines will be permanently curated into the library's collection. For your zine you will research a topic of political, social, and economic importance - housing rights and gentrification; LGBTQ+ rights; reproductive rights; mass incarceration and the carceral state; racism and white supremacy; settler colonialism and genocide; misogyny, toxic masculinity, and rape culture; the electoral college; student debt; lobbying in Washington; fossil fuels and pollution - and visually communicate your argument to your imagined audience. Zines can include collages, writing, and hand-drawn images, photographs - anything you want to be in it - as long as it visually communicates your argument!