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Synopsis

TopPhotography is a powerful force in contemporary society. Photographs can be found in advertisements, newspapers, photo albums, museums, archives, websites, and more. In this course, you will learn to think and write critically about such photographs. Are they objective copies or artistic transformations of the world? Is photography a democratic art, accessible to all, or is it an instrument of surveillance and social control? What other social purposes does photography serve? We will address these questions and more by discussing the work of photography critics and by examining documentary, advertising, fashion, art, archival, and amateur photography.

Learning Outcomes

TopAll Ideas & Exposition modules help students to produce expository writing that readers will recognize as increasing their understanding of a given topic. These modules develop five sets of core strategies that underlie successful scholarly writing in the arts, humanities, social sciences, life sciences, physical sciences, and mathematics:

1.) Analyzing how authors problematize what other authors say and how they argue their responses to these problems,
2.) Entering the conversations between these authors by problematizing their arguments and arguing why one’s problem and response are reasonable with available evidence,
3.) Organizing and wording ideas to help readers understand a line of reasoning,
4.) Documenting sources so readers can check one’s use of other scholars’ ideas, and
5.) Revising the content, wording, and organization of a paper, as well as surface features such as spelling, punctuation, etc.

Syllabus

TopGrade Determination:
            Participation:                 10%
            Presentation:                 10%
            Writing Assignment 1:     15%
            Writing Assignment 2:     25%
            Writing Assignment 3:     40%

Participation (10%): Your participation grade in the course will be determined by four factors: your active engagement in class conversations, your successful completion of short written response exercises, your reviews of peer writing, and your consistent and timely attendance in class.

(1) Class discussion and activities: All students will be expected to participate actively in class discussions and complete assigned activities. Active participation involves a willingness to pose questions to the group and present and defend arguments about the texts under consideration. If class participation makes you nervous or uncomfortable, please schedule a meeting with me so that we can come up with an alternative means of assessing your participation.

(2) Peer Review: You will revise a peer’s first draft of each writing assignment, with the goal of helping him or her prepare a stylistically polished, well-reasoned, and effective final draft. You will follow a step-by-step process in which you systematically evaluate major elements of your peer’s writing. By practicing revision on the work of your peer, you will also acquire skills that will help you revise your own work.

(3) Guided reading: You will give a brief presentation (5-10 minutes) and lead discusson of one of the course readings.

(4) Attendance and timeliness: As this is a seminar-style class, regular attendance is expected, and will be taken at the beginning of each class period. You may take two unexcused absences freely during the semester without penalty. Any additional unexcused absences will reduce your overall participation score by 25 marks (out of 100) per absence. Absences may be excused in certain cases (e.g., medical reasons, personal or family emergencies, participation in certain university activities), but, if possible, you should speak with your instructor in advance to determine whether or not you can be formally excused in any given case.

Consistently arriving late will negatively impact your participation grade. If you arrive more than 15 minutes late, then you will be considered absent for the day. If you have a conflict that prevents you from coming to class in a timely manner, please schedule a meeting with me so that we can discuss how it might be resolved.

Final Presentations (10%)

You will share your final paper topic with your classroom audience. You will have 15 minutes in class, divided as you see fit between a formal presentation and a question and answer session. Treat this as an opportunity to get additional feedback on your final paper.

Writing Assignment 1: Reflective Summary (15%)
Assignment Length: 400-600 words

This writing assignment asks you to (1) summarize an assigned reading and (2) reflect on ideas in the reading that strike you as new or interesting. The reading will be handed out in class prior to the assignment.

The summary portion of the assignment should identify the reading’s topic, show how the reading uses main claims and evidence to reach its conclusions, and identify the intended audience and its importance for the author.
The reflection portion of the assignment should highlight your understanding of the text, your questions for the text, your active engagement with it, and interesting examples or problems that might serve as avenues for future research.

Specific expecations for the assignment will be handed out in class closer to the project's due date.

Writing Assignment 2: Critical Comparison (25%)
Assignment Length: 600-800 words

In this writing assignment, you will choose two readings from Unit 2 to discover how their ideas relate to one another, how they reinforce or call into question ideas or assertions, and how they suggest new ways of viewing the topic. Specific expectations for the assignment will be handed out in class closer to the project's due date.

Writing Assignment 3: Expository Research Paper (40%)
Assignment Length: 1000-1500 words

This writing assignment asks you to (1) formulate an as-yet unresolved research problem on a chosen/assigned topic, (2) draw conclusions about the problem from your analysis of collected/given data, and (3) argue the contestable aspects of these conclusions. You will need to focus your research problem so that you are able to fully explicate your argument within 1000 and 1500 words.

You may use primary sources (sources of data to be analyzed to resolve the problem), but you must engage with secondary sources (other studies used to show the research problem has not been raised but provide insights into how/if the problem might be resolved). The paper does not need to offer the final resolution, but it should advance the intended readers’ understanding of the problem as described by the secondary sources. Specific expecations for the assignment will be handed out in class closer to the project's due date.

Expectations for All Writing Assignments

All writing assignments must be turned in via the appropriate student submission folder on IVLE postmarked by the time and day on which the assignment is due. Late assignments will receive a 5 mark deduction for each day that they are late.
All references must be formatted in MLA style. Consult the online resources section below for samples of MLA formatting, or consult an appropriate style guide in the Central Library.
All papers should be prepared according to standard academic formatting (double spaced, 12 point, Times New Roman font, one inch margins, include page numbers).
You may use any standard model of English in your writing (e.g., UK, US). Just be consistent!

Policy on Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious offense, especially in a writing intensive module like UTW1001. Please be sure to appropriately reference any and all sources that you use in the preparation of written assignments. Pay close attention to class discussions of quotation, citation, and paraphrase, and understand that you are responsible for knowing what counts as plagiarism. Any serious instance of plagiarism will be reported to the appropriate administrative and academic departments for review, and could have very severe consequences for your academic career

Technology in the Classroom Policy

Laptops may be used (although they are not required) in the following situations:

During mini-lectures, to facilitate note-taking
During peer review sessions, to make changes to documents under review
In other situations directly authorized by your instructor

Laptops need to be put away during class and small group discussions. This means that you must print hard copies of all readings for reference during class discussion. This will also facilitate annotation of reading materials.

Cell phones should be turned off or set to silent during class, although you may use them to update personal calendars. No texting, emailing, or internet surfing please!

Schedule

Top
Unit 1: Uses of Photography in History
In the first unit, we will cover basic ground in the history of photography by looking at the different uses to which photography has been put by amateurs (Heiferman), artists (Stieglitz), social activists (Hine), and documentary photographers (Trachtenberg, Morris). Our objective will be to familiarize ourselves with the development of photography in the 20th century and identify major uses played by photography in society.

Major assignments:
Writing Assignment 1: Reflective Summary

Week	Focus	Session 1	Session 2
Week 1: Jan 11-15	Orientation to the module Critical reading strategies	No Class	Course Introduction: 1.) Syllabus, expository writing, class resources 2.) Topical overview: Photography and Society 3.) Discussion: contemporary examples of photo controversy
Week 2: Jan 18-22	Critical reading strategies Understanding a given reading’s arguments for its conclusions and thesis	Critical Reading Strategies 1: Annotating and summarizing a reading Discussion Topic: What purposes are served by amateur snapshot photographs? How have these purposes changed over time? Reading: Marvin Heiferman, “Now is Then: The Thrill and the Fate of Snapshots,” 41-76 (IVLE workbin). Note: pages 54-76 are photographs from the Maresca collection. The reading runs from pages 41-53. *Short paper 1 due	Critical Reading Strategies 2: Responding to a reading without plagiarism; Identifying intended audiences and rhetorical strategies to engage them in a reading’s ideas Discussion topic: The uses of Photography: Documentary and Art Reading: Hine and Stieglitz, Classic Essays on Photography, 109-24 (IVLE workbin)
Week 3: Jan 25-29	Critical reading strategies (cont.)	Critical Reading Strategies 3: Selecting and responding to a reading’s ideas; planning and drafting a reflective summary Discussion topic: Hine and Stieglitz in historical context Reading: Alan Trachtenberg, Reading American Photographs, 164-76 (IVLE workbin) *Short paper 2 due	Critical Reading Strategies 4: Considering multiple perspectives within a single text Discussion topic: Documentary photography and manipulation (part I) Reading: Errol Morris, “The Case of the Inappropriate Alarm Clock,” Believing is Seeing (Observations on the Mysteries of Photography), 123-57.
Week 4: Feb 1-5	Revision Reviewing selection and organization of ideas	Critical Reading Strategies 5: Evaluating an author's contribution to a research area Discussion topic: Documentary photography and manipulation (part II) Reading: Errol Morris, “The Case of the Inappropriate Alarm Clock,”Believing is Seeing (Observations on the Mysteries of Photography), 157-85.	Guided peer review: selected drafts Peer review and revision workshops
Final Paper 1: Due Wednesday, February 10 @ 8:00 PM. Submit via student submission folder for paper 1 on IVLE.

Unit 2: Photojournalism and Ethics
In the second unit, we will take a more narrow investigation of the problem of manipulation and propaganda in photojournalism. We will consider the professional standards of photojournalism (Horton), and consider cases where they may or may not be upheld by photographers (Morris), editors (Kennerly), or policy makers (Stallabrass and Gilbertson). We will examine issues of posing, authenticity, and embedding in photojournalism, and ask, when is a photograph acting as evidence, when is it propaganda, and when is it making an argument? We will find that these questions do not have easy answers!

Major Assignments:
Writing Assignment 2: Critical Comparison

Week	Focus	Session 1 (Monday)	Session 2 (Thursday)
Week 5: Feb 8-12	Planning and Drafting a Comparative Paper	No class: Lunar New Year	Planning/Drafting a Comparative Paper 1: Review for paper 2: Functions of comparative papers; models of argumentation in academic writing; how authors use argument to challenge one anothers' perspectives and assumptions Discussion topic: Questioning the objectivity of war photographs Reading: Errol Morris, “Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?” New York Times, Opinionator blog. Part 1. (IVLE Workbin)
Week 6: Feb 15-19	Planning and Drafting a Comparative Paper	Planning/Drafting a Comparative Paper 2: Topic, problem, motive, analysis, and conclusions for comparative papers Discussion topic: Visual communication, style, cropping, professional obligations of photojournalism Reading: Brian Horton, The Associated Press Guide to Photojournalism. (IVLE Workbin) David Hume Kennerly, "Chop and Crop," New York Times Lens Blog.	Planning/Drafting a Comparative Paper 3: Thesis and supporting arguments; Selecting relevant, sufficient, and representative evidence Discussion topic: Are documentary photographs impactful? How? Reading: Fred Ritchin, “The Useful Photographer,” Bending the Frame: Photojournalism, Documentary, and the Citizen, 8-27. (IVLE Workbin)
Feb 20-28	RECESS WEEK	No class for recess week	No class for recess week
Week 7: Feb 29-Mar 4	Revision Reviewing selection and organization of ideas	Planning/Drafting a Comparative Paper 4: organizing your arguments; rebutting the claims of other authors Discussion topic: The ethics and routines of embedded photojournalism Reading: Julian Stallabrass and Ashley Gilbertson, "In Conversation," Journal of Visual Culture, 349-57. (IVLE Workbin) Ashley Gilberson, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, selected images.	Peer Review
Week 8: Mar 7-11	Revision Student-teacher conferences	One-on-one conferences on paper drafts	One-on-one conferences on paper drafts
Final Paper 2 draft due Wednesday, March 16 @ 8:00 PM. Submit via student submission folder for paper 2 on IVLE.

Unit 3: Iconic Photographs: “Afghan Girl” and “Tank Man”
In the third unit, you will drive class discussion by selecting an interesting topic for an expository paper, which will become the focus of class discussion. You will research, write, and revise your paper across multiple drafts with the aim of saying something new about the changing role of photography in society. As a model for analysis, we will perform an in-depth examination of Steve McCurry’s iconic “Afghan Girl” photograph, taken in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion in 1985.

Major assignments
Response Paper 3: Topic Proposal
Writing Assignment 3: Expository research paper
Final Presentation for your expository research paper

Week	Focus	Session 1 (Monday)	Session 2 (Thursday)
Week 9: Mar 14-18	Planning/Drafting an Expository Essay · Understanding the fit and/or tension between multiple readings’ arguments for their conclusions/ theses · Independently finding source material	Planning an expository paper 1:Overview of paper 3: functions of an expository paper; reading sources to identify a research area; identify conclusions, problematize them, and formulate a thesis addressing contestable aspects of those conclusions Discussion: Steve McCurry’s iconic photograph “Afghan Girl” and the varied purposes it has served Reading: Holly Edwards, “Cover to Cover: The Life Cycle of an Image in Contemporary Visual Culture,” inBeautiful Suffering: Photography and the Traffic in Pain, 75-92 (in IVLE workbin)	Planning an expository paper 2: Collecting and analyzing ideas from primary and secondary sources to investigate the researchable problem; conventions of academic expository writing Topic Proposal Exercise
Week 10: Mar 21-25	See Week 8	Planning an expository paper 3: Selecting relevant, sufficient, and representative evidence In class: Visit to class by NUS Library staff Homework: complete peer review handout outside of class	No Class: Good Friday
Week 11: Mar 28 – Apr 1	Revision Peer review	Planning an expository paper 4: Writing the conclusion; Citing images Peer review and revision workshops	Final paper presentations
Week 12: Apr 4-8	Revision Student-teacher conferences	Final paper presentations	Final paper presentations
Week 13: Apr 11-15	Wrap up Class presentations of final papers	Student-teacher conferences on first drafts	Student-teacher conferences on first drafts
Final Paper 3 draft due Tuesday, April 19 @ 10:00am. Submit via student submission folder for paper 3 on IVLE.

Disclaimer

TopAs this course treats photography in a variety of contexts, students may be exposed to some images that they find disturbing, including images that are violent or sexual in nature. Please schedule a meeting with me if you are concerned about the content of images discussed in the course.

Supplemental Online Resources

TopWriting Resources
The Purdue Online Writing Lab has an excellent resource for preparing documents according to MLA style: http://owl.english.purdie.edu/handouts/research/r_mla.html

You may also consult the MLA style resources available at the NUS library website: http://libguides.nus.edu.sg/content.php?pid=214901&sid=1788121

The Writing and Communication Hub is an EXCELLENT resource for those looking to get an additional set of eyes on their paper drafts prior to submission. You can sign up for writing consultations here: http://www.nus.edu.sg/celc/writinghub/booking.htm

Photography Resources
As you do the reading for the course, you may want to supplement your research by visiting any of the following websites on a regular basis so that you can dig into visual coverage of contemporary events. These are excellent resources for brainstorming topic ideas for your final paper!

The Lens: The New York Times photojournalism blog, includes slideshows, photo-essays, and interesting reflections on “problems” in photojournalism.
http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com

The Big Picture: The Boston Globe photoblog, focuses on high-resolution and “striking” images, covering both current events and lesser known but still “spectacular” stories.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/

The Guardian: London newspaper with excellent resources for studying and practicing photography, including "Camera Club," "In Pictures," and "My Best Shot."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/photography

MediaStorm: Updates monthly, includes photojournalism, video journalism, and other multimedia presentations on newsworthy social issues. Very high production values.
http://www.mediastorm.com

The Sartorialist: Contemporary street photography / fashion photography blog.
http://www.thesartorialist.com/

BagNewsNotes: Blog devoted to the politics of photojournalism with a distinctly left-leaning stance. Updates frequently. Also features the work of several in-house photojournalists.
http://www.bagnewsnotes.com

MSNBC Picture Stories: MSNBC’s collection of photo-essays covering contemporary news issues.
http://www.msnbc.com/id/5114929/

No Caption Needed: Photojournalism and rhetoric blog co-written by Northwestern professor Robert Hariman and University of Indiana professor John Lucaites. Good place to observe “close readings” of individual photographs.
http://www.nocaptionneeded.com

Teaching Modes

TopLike all Ideas & Exposition I modules, this modules will operate chiefly on problem-based learning, supplemented by class discussion, mini-lectures, and IVLE exercises.

Prerequisites

TopStudents must have passed/been exempted from the NUS Qualifying English Test (QET) or have passed CELC English for Academic Purposes modules.

Preclusions

TopIEM1201%, UTW1001%, ES1501%

Workload

Top0-4-0-0-6

Workload Components : A-B-C-D-E
A: no. of lecture hours per week
B: no. of tutorial hours per week
C: no. of lab hours per week
D: no. of hours for projects, assignments, fieldwork etc per week
E: no. of hours for preparatory work by a student per week