28468 - Semiotics of the Visible (1) (2nd cycle)

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Docente: Lucia Corrain
  • Credits: 6
  • SSD: L-ART/04
  • Language: Italian
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Visual Arts (cod. 9071)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, students will have acquired the necessary methodological tools to observe, describe and analyse visual texts in general, and more specifically the ones which will be discussed during each lesson. Students will, thus, develop transversal skills to read and interpret works of art in themselves, and in connection to their significance in the spaciotemporal moment of their production and first exhibition.

Course contents

A fruitful approach to the human sciences is one that tends to demonstrate how many of the problems that cross contemporaneity in actual fact have ancient roots, having already made their appearance in history. In this perspective, artistic representation constitutes a true and proper benchmark: it is the "memory" of a given phenomenon and it is down to the analyst to re-actualize its contents accurately, conferring specific importance to the same visual representation. Starting from this kind of approach, the course will deal with different themes, from anthropological ones concerning the representation of “the other”, to those concerning the issues surrounding the diverse media used by art and the different meanings they channel.

Readings/Bibliography

Lucia Corrain, Il velo dell'arte. Una rete di immagini tra passato e contemporaneità, La casa Usher, Firenze 2015.

Victor Stoichita, L’immagine dell’altro. Neri, giudei, musulmani e “gitani” nella pittura occidentale dell’età moderna, La casa Usher, Firenze 2019.

Horst Bredekamp, Immagini che ci guardano, Raffaello Cortina, Milano 2015.

Teaching methods


Lectures and participation with the support of slides and audiovisuals; materials shared on the VIRTUAL platform.

Due to the restrictions imposed by the current health emergency, the teaching will be carried out in a traditional way: the teacher will always be present in the classroom designated for teaching:

traditional: the lecturer will always be present in the classroom designated for teaching, the students will alternate in presence according to a rota scheme that is currently being defined (more detailed information on the rota and on how to access the lesson in presence will be provided later). It will always be possible to connect remotely and follow live streaming of classroom lessons via the TEAMS platform.

Assessment methods

The oral test – both for non-attending students and attending students – consists of a conversation whose aim is to evaluate the critical skills developed by the student who will have to prove that he or she possesses an appropriate knowledge of the books detailed in the syllabus.

1. The test in which the student shows he/she is able to analyse the texts deeply and is able to insert them in an organic vision of the themes studied. The expressive mastery used during the oral exam will also be fundamental.

2. Mostly mnemonic knowledge, non-in-depth analysis and correct language but not always appropriate regarding the texts to be studied will lead to satisfactory evaluations.

3. Approximate knowledge, superficial understanding, scarce capability of analysis and expressiveness that is not always appropriate will lead to an evaluation which is little more than satisfactory.

4. Learning gaps, unsuitable language, lack of orientation within the bibliographic materials to be studied in the syllabus will lead to a negative evaluation.

Teaching tools

Powerpoint and hypermedia projections.

Office hours

See the website of Lucia Corrain

SDGs

Gender equality Reduced inequalities Life on land Peace, justice and strong institutions

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.