This course surveys the history of photography from its beginnings to the mid-twentieth
century.  Although quite a lot of attention is given to individual photographers, the course is also
designed to acquaint students with such things as the business and institutions of photography,
certain commercial applications, and some of the key theoretical issues that have emerged in
recent scholarship and debate on the subject, as well as the cultural and social contexts of
photography and its practices.  Topics to be covered include: landscape photography and the
American west; Civil War photography; the democratization of the portrait; photography as art;
issues of the nude in photography; the emergence and ideologies of "documentary" photography;
photography and modernism; photography and gender.
Projected assignments: reading notes, two or three papers (including a take-home exam);
two quizzes in-class.
Texts: Pending availability, the required textbook is Naomi Rosenblum, World History of
Photography.  Other required readings are excerpts from recent monographs photography as well
as a selection of articles.