Picturing Science, Imaging Truth: Visual Culture of the Real

Images, photos, and film are key to our understanding of the world, yet we tend to take these representational practices for granted. Focusing on visual culture of the sciences we will explore the historical link between imaging practices and our perceptions of what is real and what is true. We will analyze the specific strategies through which scientific truth, objectivity, and empiricism are signaled through images across different media. Some questions animating the course are: How do images convey truth? How is the human body represented in science, medical culture, and popular culture? How are race, gender, sexual difference, and the animal-human divide depicted in science?