Visual Resources Association 2015 Annual Conference

MODERATOR: Mark Pompelia, Rhode Island School of Design

PRESENTERS:
Vicky Brown, University of Oxford, UK
Jenny Godfrey, Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK
Jillian Slater, University of Dayton / Dayton, Ohio   
Rachel Wen-Paloutzian, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA   

Following the popular Visual Literacy Case Studies session that premiered at the 2012 annual conference and continued in 2013, this session follows that same purpose while expanding the definition of “visual literacy”.   As background, a term first coined in 1969, visual literacy “is a set of abilities that enables an individual to effectively find, interpret, evaluate, use, and create images and visual media.  Visual literacy skills equip a learner to understand and analyze the contextual, cultural, ethical, aesthetic, intellectual, and technical components involved in the production and use of visual materials.   A visually literate individual is both a critical consumer of visual media and a competent contributor to a body of shared knowledge and culture” (Association of College and Research Libraries, “Visual Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education).   This year’s projects include re-imagining one of the nation’s largest postcard collections through creative instruction design, an exhibition of faith-based photography that poses difficult challenges to viewer interpretation, and two projects in the UK to encourage first-year art student research in areas outside their usual subject areas and an effort to have diverse faculty introduce images into their teaching, practice, and research.