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When
I look, what I see is not simply light but intelligible
form: the rays of light are caught in a network
of meanings.
--Norman Bryson, "The Gaze in the Expanded
Field"
Throughout
the 20th century, Bryn Mawr College has been a distinguished
site of study of the ancient and modern visual arts
of painting, sculpture, and architecture. One of
the College's four new Centers for 21st Century
Inquiry, the Center for Visual Culture draws upon
Bryn Mawr's rich traditions in art and archaeology
and augments them with an equally rigorous study
of visual media from the invention of photography
and film in the 19th century to the proliferation
of interactive digital media in the 21st.
Since
1999, a weekly colloquium has hosted presentations
in Africana Studies, Biology, Classical and Near
Eastern Archaeology, English, French, German, Greek,
Latin, and Classical Studies, Growth and Structure
of Cities, Hebrew and Judaic Studies, History, History
of Art, Mathematics, Philosophy, Political Science,
and Social Work and Social Research. In these varied
presentations members of the community come together
to exchange perspectives on the vital role of the
visual image in the production of historical and
contemporary forms of human culture around the world.
The
Center for Visual Culture provides a forum for a
wide range of curricular and extra-curricular events
such as lectures, conferences, film series, exhibitions,
and trips. The Center underwrites travel expenses
associated with undergraduate and graduate research,
and also supports postdoctoral scholars engaged
in projects extending in scope from ancient Constantinople
to the Hollywood of today. These visitors enjoy
the use of the excellent visual and textual resources
of Carpenter and Canaday libraries and also contribute
much to the intellectual life of the College through
public and more informal discussions of their work.
Among
its current projects, the Center for Visual Culture
looks ahead to the launching of a new on-line journal
in visual culture. The Center also anticipates ambitious
joint initiatives with the Center for Communities,
Ethnicities, and Social Policy, the Center for International
Studies, and the Center for Science in Society.
Center
for Visual Culture July 4, 2001
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