This upper-division course offers an innovative curricular design that bridges the creative and theoretical sides of photography, traditionally taught separately, by integrating hands-on image making into the study of history. The course challenges students to develop a critical eye and mind and to interrogate our visual culture with their camera and writing. Students examine key texts on the development of photographic technologies and analyze the diverse work of photographers from around the world. Students also investigate cultural and sociopolitical issues in photographic practices, including a postcolonial reading of the so-called anthropological pictures, the use of photography as social construction in the case of W.E.B. DuBois, and photographic performances that call racial and gender stereotypes into question. Our historical survey is punctuated by a series of assignments that require students to produce photographs that correspond to the periods, styles, and photographic inventions under study. As they have to write a short passage to accompany each submission, students are encouraged to explore the nuances of image-text interplays in these visual essays.

Students in the Spring 2007 class showed sustained interest in exploring issues concerning the people and their lives in Merced and the San Joaquin Valley; assignments in Spring 2008 require students to continually photograph and write about the changing cultural, economic, and sociopolitical landscape of the Central Valley region. Students will not only explore issues of aesthetics, visual perception, and social consciousness in relation to their imagery, but also dialogue with their peers and visitors via this website to create meaningful and continual interactions. Students can also integrate the course website into their online social networks, such as facebook.com and myspace.com, to reach a broader audience and solicit more diverse feedback. Towards the end of the course, students will collectively curate an online exhibition showcasing their best works and collaborate with the UC Merced Kolligian Library staff to also stage their exhibit on digital screens throughout the campus. Students will design and distribute flyers and posters to advertise the course project and invite local communities to visit the campus and participate via the website throughout the semester.

The Effecting Eye will be an interdisciplinary project that encourages students to document and connect with our locality as well as explore the possibility of digital photography and the Internet as crucial tools for them to effect cultural and social changes.