CRITICAL & VISUAL STUDIES : Media/Technology

Social Science and Cultural Studies Speaker Series presents Hanna Rose Shell: "Shoddy Heap" - Thursday, May 1 at 12:30pm.

Environmental Studies 8:00 AM

Social Science and Cultural Studies Spring Speakers Series
Presents

Hanna Rose Shell
Leo Marx Career Associate Professor of Society, Technology, and Society, M.I.T.
“Shoddy Heap”

Thursday May 1 at 12:30pm

Alumni Reading Room

Pratt Institute Library

Free and Open to the Public

Moderated by Carl Zimring

Bio: I work on the skins of things, excavating histories of technology and media from the surface layers of natural and man-made objects. I use tools from the fields of the history of science and technology, media production, art history, media studies and material culture studies to analyze the production, use, and transformation of often-overlooked, even marginalized, material artifacts located at the interstices of the found and the fabricated.
Through my analysis, I break down increasingly untenable divides between production and consumption, art and technology, and invention and reuse. From camouflage netting, old clothes, decomposing vegetable matter, and other artifacts of creative repurposing, I uncover historical shifts in modern epistemologies of self, nature and representation. Through my work, I not only contribute to the academic fields in which I am based, but also provide a vital historical and creative context for present-day concerns with the engineering of sustainable environments through innovations in transformational and biomimetic technology.
Critical media practice is a working method that both guides my analytic framing and provides interpretive data. As an example, my film Blind (2009) and my site-specific installation Camoufleurs (2008) accompany the book Hide and Seek. Producing the film and the installation, as well as the feedback I received from viewers and other participants, was crucial to the development of my theoretical and historical argument.

More information: http://web.mit.edu/sts/people/shell.html

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Exciting changes coming soon to our BA in Critical and Visual Studies!

Announcement 8:00 AM

The B. A. in Critical and Visual Studies

Pratt’s Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts major

The faculty in the Department of Social Science & Cultural Studies has been working diligently over the last two years to revise our major and now we can begin to tell you about the truly exciting changes we making starting this Fall!

Critical and Visual Studies is Pratt's Liberal Arts B. A. major and we are revising it to be even more in keeping with the intellectual openness and creativity of our students and faculty.

In the coming weeks we will be announcing the many of the details here, but here in short is what you can expect in the coming year:

A. Reduction of the required credits for the degree from 133 to 121, giving our students more time to reflect or to go deeper into their subjects.

B. Clustering the fundamental Liberal Arts courses in the first year of study so that our students have a broad and deep foundation for their studies.

C. The introduction of 4^th semester Moderation or Sophomore Review. Our students will work closely with faculty to develop their course of study and choice of minors.

Moderation gives students the ability to structure and focus their studies through guided advisement in their 3^rd and 4^th years, leading to their 3-credit Senior Project or 6-credit Honors Thesis. With the introduction of Moderation and Thesis advisement, you will now have an organic link between your studies and your project or thesis.

D. Our "Praxis" courses, always a mainstay of student and faculty interest, combined into a suite of Theory and Practice courses intended to introduce you to a specific cultural institution both academically and practically. Each course culminates in a group production of a cultural event. An important objective is to offer you courses taught by professors who are themselves academically trained practitioners.

CST. 110 Praxis I: From Work to Text
CST. 210 Praxis II: Siting Culture
CST. 310 Praxis III: Culture in Motion
CST. 410 Praxis IV: Cultural Contexts
SS.490 The Art Museum: Theory and Practice
SS.470 Film Festival: Practice and Theory in conjunction with the WALLABOUT Film Festival

TheWallabout Film Festival: produced and curated by an interdisciplinary group of students from Pratt Institute. Showcasing films by innovative student filmmakers from around the world, Wallabout is a platform for students to screen their work to a diverse community of peers, artists and industry professionals. It has become an important platform for student filmmaking and an addition to the vibrant creative culture of Brooklyn.)

E. Five new courses:

CST. 190 Beyond Google I: Basic Information Literacy (1credit) Beyond Google examines the central issues in Information Literacy (the ability to critically retrieve, use, and evaluate information). Topics include an introduction to information literacy best practices, research strategies, search engine limitations, online and print resources, and citation styles. Students will gain an understanding of copyright, fair use, plagiarism, and information ethics. The culture and theory of contemporary information-related issues will be covered as well.

SS.225 Symposium ( 3 credits) The Symposium allows students to become acquainted with the range of fields covered by the department. Students will gain knowledge of the methods and approaches available to them as they prepare for Moderation, as well as deeper insights into the work and subjects pursued by faculty and other scholars in their fields. Students in the Critical and Visual Studies are required to take this course the semester before their advancement to Moderation.

SS.299 Moderation (2 credits) “Moderation” provides students with the opportunity to reflect on their studies during semesters 1-3, identify their interests and begin to focus on the concentration that will structure the final two years of their program. Moderation requires students to examine their initial experiences in the program, their goals, and their interests, to evaluate their performance and their commitment to a course of study and to chart their final two years of college with the help of a faculty committee.

CST. 390 Beyond Google II: Thesis and Project Research (1 credit) Beyond Google II provides a review of research techniques, resources, and ethics. This is an advanced course focused on identifying and using information sources relevant to project and thesis research. This course will use the research topics of the students as its focus, with the goal of advanced Information Literacy in general and in their areas of research. Topics include an introduction to information literacy best practices, research strategies, search engine limitations, online and print resources, and citation styles. Students will gain an understanding of copyright, fair use, plagiarism, and information ethics. The culture and theory of contemporary information-related issues will be covered as well.

CST.9400.01, CST.9401.01, CST.9402.01 Internship This course provides students with a structure for experiential learning through internships with local arts organizations, governmental and non-governmental agencies, non-profits and elsewhere in the culture industry. The internship provides an opportunity to acquire knowledge of these sites and to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of existing institutions as well as their possibilities. Students may register for 1 credit (CST.9401.01) or 2 credits (CST.9402.01) or, during summer term(s), for 0 credits (CST.9400.01).