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74734-01 - Seminar: Visual Politics in Peace and Conflict (3 CP)
| Semester | spring semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Marie Migeon (marie.migeon@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This seminar will explore the growing field of visual politics, allowing students to become familiar with important developments in social sciences. Scholars of social sciences, and of peace and conflict studies, have been gaining interest in visual studies over the past few decades, highlighting the need to take visual productions seriously in order to understand the processes of both peace and conflict. This seminar will be looking at both concepts and methodologies of visual studies and visual politics through specific case studies (of peace and conflict processes) and visual productions (such as photographs, films, street art, etc.). This seminar will be divided in three parts. In the first part, we will explore visual studies and visual politics, and attempt to understand the ways scholars have defined them through seeing, visualizing and representing. In the second part, we will focus on three ways to ‘make’ visual politics: visibility, visual representation, and visual expression. Finally, in the third part, we will dive into specific visual artefacts and methodologies, looking at the way photographs, documentary films, memorials and street art can be used by researchers to understand the processes of peace and conflict better. This will provide students with the tools to use visual studies in their own research. |
| Learning objectives | • Understanding the importance of visuality for peace and conflict research • Understanding visual methods and applying them • Using visual methods in contexts of peace and conflict reseearch The aim of this seminar is for students to reach an understanding of the intrinsic political dimension of visuality, by looking at the way visuality both reproduces and produces politics. In each session, we will focus on specific visual productions (documentary films, photographs, street art, posters, etc.) and directly apply different visual methodologies. The goal is for students to be able to autonomously apply these methodologies to their own work at the end of the seminar. Moreover, the seminar will explore case studies from different contexts, ensuring a global understanding of the significance of visual studies for peace and conflict research. I strongly encourage students to also bring up case studies and visual productions they are familiar with to discuss during the seminar. |
| Bibliography | • Aiello, Giorgia, and Katy Parry. 2019. Visual Communication: Understanding Images in Media Culture. 1st edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. • Berger, John. 1972. ‘Ways of Seeing’. BBC. • Bleiker, Roland, ed. 2018. Visual Global Politics. London ; New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group. • Harvey, Alison. 2020. Feminist Media Studies. Cambridge, UK ; Medford, MA: Polity Press. • Hutchison, Emma, and Roland Bleiker. 2021. ‘Visuality of Peace and Conflict’. In The Oxford Handbook of Peacebuilding, Statebuilding, and Peace Formation, eds. Oliver P. Richmond and Gëzim Visoka. Oxford University Press, 175–89. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190904418.013.14. • Pauwels, Luc, and Dawn Mannay, eds. 2019. The Sage Handbook of Visual Research Methods. 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Inc. • Rose, Gillian. 2016. Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials. 4th edition. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. • Sturken, Marita, and Lisa Cartwright. 2017. Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. Third Edition, Third Edition. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. • Zarzycka, Marta. 2017. Gendered Tropes in War Photography: Mothers, Mourners, Soldiers. New York: Routledge. |
| Comments | All Seminars will be graded in the Department of Political Science. Grading scale 6.0 to 1.0, whereupon 4.0 is a pass. The number of participants will be limited. The places are assigned according to date of enrollment and subject of study. Priority will be given to students of Political Science. |
| Admission requirements | All Seminars will be graded in the Department of Political Science. Grading scale 6.0 to 1.0, whereupon 4.0 is a pass. The number of participants will be limited. The places are assigned according to date of enrollment and subject of study. Priority will be given to students of Political Science. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Thursday | 14.15-15.45 | Bernoullistrasse 14/16, Seminarraum 02.004 |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday 20.02.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Bernoullistrasse 14/16, Seminarraum 02.004 |
| Thursday 27.02.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Bernoullistrasse 14/16, Seminarraum 02.004 |
| Thursday 06.03.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Bernoullistrasse 14/16, Seminarraum 02.004 |
| Thursday 13.03.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Fasnachstferien |
| Thursday 20.03.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Bernoullistrasse 14/16, Seminarraum 02.004 |
| Thursday 27.03.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Bernoullistrasse 14/16, Seminarraum 02.004 |
| Thursday 03.04.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Bernoullistrasse 14/16, Seminarraum 02.004 |
| Thursday 10.04.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Bernoullistrasse 14/16, Seminarraum 02.004 |
| Thursday 17.04.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Ostern |
| Thursday 24.04.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Bernoullistrasse 14/16, Seminarraum 02.004 |
| Thursday 01.05.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Tag der Arbeit |
| Thursday 08.05.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Bernoullistrasse 14/16, Seminarraum 02.004 |
| Thursday 15.05.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Bernoullistrasse 14/16, Seminarraum 02.004 |
| Thursday 22.05.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Bernoullistrasse 14/16, Seminarraum 02.004 |
| Thursday 29.05.2025 | 14.15-15.45 | Auffahrt |
| Modules |
Modul: Erweiterung Gesellschaftswissenschaften B.A. (Bachelor's degree subject: Political Science) Modul: Regionaler Fokus B.A. (Bachelor's degree subject: Political Science) Modul: Vertiefung Politikwissenschaft B.A. (Bachelor's degree subject: Political Science) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Continuous assessment. • Group presentation • Written paper Every student will take part in a group presentation, either focusing on a concept (explaining it and using it through an example of a specific visual production) or on a method (explaining it and using it through an example of a specific visual production). Students are also expected to participate actively in seminars, discussing class readings and other students’ presentations. Students will also be expected to submit a written paper (approx. 2000 words) during the semester that will build on the different themes of the seminar. Students will pick a form of visual production (graffiti, documentaries, photographs, etc.) in a specific context of peace and conflict, present the context shortly, and pick one/several method(s) to analyse the visual production, and show the new perspective that it brings to our understanding of the specific peace and conflict process they have chosen to research. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | 1-6 0,5 |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Politikwissenschaft |