COGN 150: Politics and Cultures of Display

Fall 2009
Wednesdays 9 - 11:50AM
Office Hours: Th 10:30-noon
Office: MCC 205


 Professor: Brian Goldfarb
email: bgoldfarbii@iiucsd.edu
Communication Dept
UCSD

 

  fred wilson sculpture: guarded condition
Meetings

above: Guarded View (Fred Wilson, 1991)
below: I Can't Imagine Ever Wanting to Be White
 (Daniel Martinez, 1994) 

 

course website: http://communication.ucsd.edu/goldfarb/cogn150f09/

Course Overview:

This senior seminar will be concerned with institutions and practices of public exhibition and display. Weekly readings, screenings and discussion topics will address historical and contemporary forms of display and their social, ethical, political and organizational dimensions. We eill take up range of examples of visual presentation including: the exhibitions of art and artifacts, modes of commercial display (from store windows to billboards to runway), and the re-conceptualization of these as digital forms. Participants will also visit exhibitions and other sites of display that we will discuss in seminar. While focusing attention on critical analysis of practices of display as a site of research, the course will also consider alternative approaches to curatorial practice and engage participants in rethinking exhibition strategies.

Questions addressed include: How have museums mediated relationships between among social, cultural and economic groups? What ethical challenges are presented by the representation of others? What are the interrelationships among public exhibition practices and commercial display?

Requirements

Assessment

The main goals of this class are learning and preparation for research, as well as intellectual and creative work in the field. Grades are required, but I hope of secondary concern. Participants will be graded based on attendaence, participation, and completion of assignment, as follows:

Texts


Course Schedule:

Note: This set of weekly topics/readings is provisional and may change. You are responsible for checking the online syllabus weekly for updated reading assignments, as well as off site experiences (be sure to refresh your browser to see the most recent version). Readings will be selected from those listed by the instructor through discussion with participants. Some optional readings will be summarized and discussed by presenters. Readings are due before the class each week and participants are required to post a set of two to three comments/questions on the readings to WEBCT by Tuesday at 8AM.

week: 1  |  2  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10

Week One (Sept 30):  Introduction

Week Two (Oct 7): Technologies of Representation and the Visualization of Modern Nations

to skim:

Week Three 14): Origins of the Museum

Optional Reading:

Week Four (Oct 21): Representing Others, Representing Self: Ethnography and Struggles Over Display.
Meet at Chicano Park

Optional Reading:

Week Five (Oct 28): Globalization and Display

Select one of the following to read as well:

Week Six (Nov 4): Online Commerce and Pedestrian Archives

Week Seven (Nov 11): Ability and Access to Exhibitions and Commercial Display                

Optional Reading:

Week Eight (Nov 18): Interpretation and Museum Education |  Difficult Displays and Exhibits

Week Nine (Nov 24): Human Rights

Week Ten (Dec 2): Historical Displays and the Politics of Memory

Optional Reading:

Finals Week (Dec 7): FINAL PAPER due on


 

Plans for Field Trips and Site Visits will be discussed in class. Some possible destinations:


 

Alternative Weekly Topics:

Technology and Forms of Exhibition Interaction

 

Tactics of Display

 

 


 

Some Exhibition/Museum resources