Digital photography and image processing have radically transformed the production and distribution of visual culture. Although these tools now allow us access to new types of data, and some of them have been widely adopted as infrastructural components of art historical publishing and pedagogy, they have yet to be critically examined for the methodolical contributions they might make to the field. Over the semester, students will be introduced to many of these technologies (including laser scanning, photogrammetry, Photoshop, and 3D modeling and rendering) and will learn to use them firsthand in the lab and during field trips to local museums and cultural heritage sites. Questions we will ask over the course of the semester include the following:

How can we tell when an image has been altered?

How is digital documentation used for cultural heritage and historical preservation?

How can these tools be used to situate a work of art in its original visual ecology? How are museums doing this with interactive displays?

What is the broader impact of these technologies as they are utilized in legal, commercial, and medical contexts?

This course fulfills the following Major requirements: Geographical areas (E) and Chronological period (III).