Studies & Degrees in Visual Culture

Choose where you would like to study Visual Culture:

As we look at our surroundings, we see paintings, sculptures, new technologies rising, different kinds of advertisement, new trends in fashion and a lot more, as we look at it every day, we see more than just mere objects, we see our culture. Yes! Culture is strongly visible in the visual images that we see around us. Actually, these things that we perceive through our eyes are considered as evidences of our culture. Visual images are reflections of culture. Thus, Visual Culture was born.

As we study the meaning of Visual Culture, it would help us to get a better understanding of the term “Visual Culture” if we understand each word that comprises the whole. Visual refers to everything that our eyes can see. Anything that is perceptible by the sense of sight. Culture, in the other hand, refers to the behaviors and beliefs of a particular group of people. So when you put them together, Visual Culture is mainly about studying culture through visual images. As most of us will perceive how a culture could have been recorded and could have been a part of history, we would think of the written records first. But, pictures and relics can be more valuable as evidences of existence and other traditions.

Therefore, according to Nicholas Mirzoeff, Visual Culture is considered a tactic for studying the past until the present functions of the world covered through pictures, images, and other visualizations, rather than through written facts such as texts and words. Visual Culture gives us a better understanding about our culture and probably, our history. It is even more realistic than any other recorded facts which are written down.

Those who take up Visual Culture can have the option to choose a secondary major with it since Visual Culture can be paired with Fashion, 3D Design, Fine Arts, Textiles, and Screen Arts. It is usually associated with the study of different groups or culture and such courses are Ethnic Studies which delve into the different races around the world and talks about their history and culture in their own terms; Gender Studies which studies and analyze the phenomenon of gender; and Area Studies which refers to the study of the geographical and cultural points of an area or region.

The course Visual Culture is offered as a part of the Bachelor of Arts since it focuses on the visual aspects. So, students can find jobs in industries which are related to arts. Being an individual or collaborative arts practitioner could be one. They could also participate in associations such as public and community art, and they could eventually become an arts administrator. Teaching in schools could also be an opportunity to share culture through visible objects.

Visual Culture graduates can work with organizations that see the significance of visible components in terms of culture. They could fit in jobs that require critical thinking, open-mindedness and visualization.

Visual Culture hands out a better and a clearer form of evidence that describes and foretells the history and culture, itself.