Fall 2008 and Spring 2009

Students explored key themes and struggles in Mexican society and culture through the visual legacy of Mexico's photographers, domestic and foreign, past and present. The primary goal of the course was to analyze photography as a means of understanding Mexico's complex diversity of peoples, landscapes and history. The goal of the course was not only to motivate students to learn about Mexican photography but also to analyze the political, social, economic, cultural and religious contexts informing the work in order to formulate a broader understanding of Mexico and Mexicans. Among the questions asked in the exploration of the photography of Mexico were what motivated the photographer to create the images; how did the photographer shape the images to become visual symbols? Materials for the course included the visual legacies of photographers, photographic criticism and recorded interviews with the photographers talking about their work.

"[This class has] helped me open my mind and the way I can perceive something. I've learned to look at something through a photographic lens (mentally and literally)."

Elizabeth Ferrufino Class of '09