The “small wonders” of this class are isolated moments in time, depicted in the verbal and visual media of the modern age – newspapers, stories, poems, photographs, and films. Moving between visual and verbal examples across a considerable span of time, from eighteenth-century poetry and prose fiction to twenty-first century social media, the class examines how artists working in different media seek to evoke, preserve. and reflect on fleeting moments of present time. With help from philosophers, contemporary cultural historians, and others, we will think about some contemporary media practices in an expanded context. In the second half of term, students will work on final projects that develop their own experiments in time – in text, image, sound, video, code, or some combination of these. 6 units; meets 1 evening/week; enrollment limited.
