How Do You Look?
Duke University Libraries and the Nasher Museum of Art challenge members of the academic community to consider how they think about the visual world by asking “How do you look?”
Visual literacy is an increasingly important skill, and learning to think critically about images is an essential component of a 21st-century education. By providing the tools and experiences needed to perform effectively in this visual world, we empower students and scholars to search out their own answers.
Duke Libraries provides access to world-class resources with significant holdings of images that can be accessed freely and a wealth of information about the many ways images are utilized and interpreted, both in the contemporary world, as well as historically.
The Nasher is an interdisciplinary nexus and a laboratory where students and scholars can investigate, explore, and test knowledge. Confronted with a different kind of source material–image rather than text–viewers are challenged to look at concepts and issues in a new way.
For more information about visual literacy at Duke, explore our links or contact us:
Nasher Museum:
Marianne Wardle, Academic Program Coordinator (marianne.wardle@duke.edu)
Juline Chevalier, Curator of Education (juline.chevalier@duke.edu)
Molly Boarati, Academic Program Assistant (molly.boarati@duke.edu)
Website: www.nasher.duke.edu
Duke Libraries:
Lee Sorensen, Lilly Library, Visual Studies, Art, and Dance Librarian (lslilly@duke.edu)
Diane Harvey, Head, Library Instruction & Outreach (diane.harvey@duke.edu)
Website: www.library.duke.edu
Credit: Pieter van Slingeland (attributed), "Allegorical Portrait of a Lady" (detail), c. 1675. Oil on canvas, 20 1/8 x 15 1/8 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift in honor of Marilyn M. Segal by her family, 1998.22.10.
Permalink: http://nasher.duke.edu/howdoyoulook/about.php
Nasher Museum Homepage
How can I use visual materials in my teaching?
Find images through Duke Libraries
http://guides.library.duke.edu/images
http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/
Explore the Nasher Museum’s collection online
http://www.nasher.duke.edu/collections/
Discover activities for teaching
http://www.nasher.duke.edu/faculty-resources.php
Contact Nasher Museum to arrange a class visit
Molly Boarati, Academic Program Assistant (molly.boarati@duke.edu)
Learn about Visual Thinking Strategies
http://www.vtshome.org/
Contact someone to talk to your class about using images and artwork in their research:
Library: Lee Sorensen, Art and Dance Librarian (lslilly@duke.edu)
Nasher: Marianne Wardle, Academic Program Coordinator (marianne.wardle@duke.edu)
Credit: Artist Mickalene Thomas strikes a pose in front of her 2007 photograph "Lovely Six Foota," part of the Nasher Museum's permanent collection. Gift of Christen and Derek Wilson (T '86). Photo by Dr. J Caldwell.
Permalink: http://nasher.duke.edu/howdoyoulook/teaching.php
Nasher Museum Homepage
What is visual literacy and where is it at Duke?
Visual Literacy:
The ability to recognize and understand ideas conveyed through visible actions or images (as pictures). (Merriam-Webster)
“Visual literacy is the ability to find meaning in imagery. It involves a set of skills ranging from simple identification--naming what one sees--to complex interpretation on contextual, metaphoric and philosophical levels. . . . Visual literacy usually begins to develop as a viewer finds his/her own relative understanding of what s/he confronts, usually based on concrete and circumstantial evidence. It eventually involves considering the intentions of the maker, applying systems for thinking and rethinking one's opinions, and acquiring a body of information to support conclusions and judgments. The expert will also express these understandings in a specialized vocabulary.” (Phillip Yenawine) http://www.vtshome.org/research/visual-thinking
Research Visual Literacy at Duke Libraries
http://guides.library.duke.edu/vislit
Expand your Visual Literacy at the Nasher
http://www.nasher.duke.edu/visual-literacy.php
Other places at Duke to find Visual Literacy:
Franklin Humanities Institute http://www.fhi.duke.edu/
Visual Studies Initiative http://visualstudies.duke.edu/
Center for Documentary Studies http://cds.aas.duke.edu/index.html
Arts of the Moving Image http://ami.duke.edu/
MFA program in Experimental and Documentary Arts http://mfaeda.duke.edu/about
Need some Visual Literacy to write a paper? Look here.
Sources on Visual Literacy across the curriculum: Visual Literacy Bibliography.pdf
Other Resources:
International Visual Literacy Association
http://www.ivla.org/org_what_vis_lit.htm#definition
Association of College and Research Libraries Visual Literacy Competency Standardshttp://acrlvislitstandards.wordpress.com/
Credit: Visitors to the exhibition "Displacement: The Three Gorges Dam and Contemporary Chinese Art" take in Liu Xiaodong's 2005 painting "Hotbed." Photo by Dr. J. Caldwell
Permalink: http://nasher.duke.edu/howdoyoulook/literacy.php
Nasher Museum Homepage
How can I understand more about an image?
- Look long. Spend more time looking than you usually would. Do nothing but look for a full minute. Try 5 minutes.
- Look close. What do you see? Describe it with the most vivid words you can think of.
- Look again. Try drawing it.
- Look critically. What do you think of it? Why do you think so?
- Look thoughtfully. What do you think the artist meant?
- Look into it. Do some investigation into the artist, the subject, or the medium.
Duke’s LibGuide to Visual Literacy
http://guides.library.duke.edu/vislit
Duke’s LibGuide to researching works of art
http://guides.library.duke.edu/individual-works
Thompson Writing Center Guides
Art History and Visual Studies http://uwp.duke.edu/writing-studio/resources/writing-for-specific-d...
Visual Analysis http://uwp.duke.edu/uploads/assets/visual_analysis.pdf
Formal Analysis (understanding the visual makeup of an image)
http://www.getty.edu/education/teachers/building_lessons/formal_ana...
Art Criticism and Formal Analysis
http://www.uwgb.edu/malloyk/art_criticism_and_formal_analysi.htm
Visuals and design
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/691/01/
Credit: Visitors at the opening event for "Building the Contemporary Collection: Five Years of Acquisitions" take in Dan Perjovschi's "Postcards from America," 1994-1995, an installation of 72 postcards (ink and graphite on paper mounted on cardboard). The work is part of the Nasher Museum's permanent collection and a gift of Kristine Stiles. Photo by Dr. J Caldwell.
Permalink: http://nasher.duke.edu/howdoyoulook/understanding.php
Nasher Museum Homepage
How do I find and cite images?
Find
Explore the Nasher Museum’s online collection
http://www.nasher.duke.edu/collections/
Duke Libraries’ image resources
http://guides.library.duke.edu/images
Duke Digital Collections
http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/
Cite
Find examples on Duke Libraries’ Visual Literacy page
http://guides.library.duke.edu/vislit
Credit: Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, "Portrait of Miss Mary Lillian Duke (Mrs. Mary Duke Biddle, 1892-1960)" (detail), 1911. Oil on canvas, 83 x 44 3/8 inches. Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Gift of Mr. Nicholas D. Biddle.
Permalink: http://nasher.duke.edu/howdoyoulook/findandcite.php
Nasher Museum Homepage
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