How has visual culture shaped the construction of "ecology" as a discipline and object of study? In this seminar, we will explore the intersection of artistic practice, scientific research, and ecological thoughts from the early modern period to the present. Drawing on the work of artists and scientists from Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and other parts of the globe, we will consider how artists contributed to, drew inspiration from, and critiqued changing conceptions of the environment as an ecological milieu, paying particular attention to exchanges between the arts and sciences; new perspectives opened by media technologies such as microscopy, photography, film, and digital imaging; the legacies of colonialism and resource extraction; and environmental crisis across temporal and geographic scales. Objects to be discussed include natural history illustrations, survey photography, popular science film, and contemporary media art.
This course will include regular field trips to local collections, including Special Collections at the University of Minnesota Library, the Bell Museum of Natural History, the Weisman Art Museum, and Minneapolis Institute of Art. As final projects, students will have the option of developing a research paper, digital exhibition, or creative project. The language of instruction and readings will be in English, with additional reading assignments in German for interested students.