Introduction to the sociology and anthropology of visual and material culture

The course will examine sociological and anthropological approaches to visual and material culture. We will map the various approaches to the image and the object by delving into the different roles played by visual and material culture in different social arenas (food, clothing, furniture), under different social conditions (practices, relationships, rituals) and in different social contexts (ethnic, national, racial). By trying to define the ways in which images and objects fulfil social needs we will analyze their symbolic value and the ways in which they take part in constructing the social order, the social structure and the definition of identity. In addition, we will explore the ways images and objects affected values, moral perspectives, and issues of inequality. The reading will include writings from the field of sociology and anthropology, as well as contemporary ethnographies of Western capitalist culture