Visual Studies 101 provides an introduction to a variety of approaches to understanding the nature of seeing, with attention to its physiological, environmental and cultural bases. As part of this introduction, the course willattempt to compare and contrast to the way that artists, art historians, philosophers, and scientists consider the same broad set of issues. The course will typically be co-taught by two faculty whose expertise represents two of these different approaches, and whos lectures will attempt to make explicit connections between different styles of intellectual endeavor. In this sense, the course is a microcosm of the visual studies major.

The topics include - The eye, light and visual system, including both our modernunderstanding and a disucssion of how this understanding developed over time. - The eye and culture, with particular emphasis on artistic depictions and concepts of the role of vision in society. - How perceptual abilities are measured in the lab, and the relationship between seeing and measurement and science. Perception and depiction of scenes, including depth, color, and motion. - How culture endows visual attributes (e.g. color) with meaning. - Depicting the body; seeing the self. - Visual memory and visual cognition. - Philosophy of seeing and science. What does it mean to see? How do we know what we see? Is seeing believing?