Is Instagram changing the way we make and view images? With nearly a billion users and forty billion posts, Instagram has placed a remarkable number of pictures in the palm of many people's hands. But are we just looking at more of the same old thing? This class will investigate the ways the platform and its users continue and "disrupt" traditional genres (self-portraits, landscapes), ideas of artistic creation — are influencers artists? — and contexts for viewing. In the process we will question how contemporary culture visualizes gender, travel, eating, and culture.

Bring your phones and your willingness to think critically because we are going to take a serious look at Instagram.

Estimated Cost of Materials: less than $50

HISTART Concentration Distributions: Modern and Contemporary, Europe and the US.

Textbooks/Other Materials: Available through Canvas.

Course Requirements:

• Discussion Participation 30%
• Minilecture and Note Keeping 20%
• Instagram Project 10%
• Final Paper 40%

Intended Audience: All are welcome!

Class Format: Two one-and-a-half-hour seminars per week.