ARTH 249

Credit: 3 hours.

Investigates the mechanics of visual humor in nineteenth-century American visual and material culture, including graphic satire, painting, sculpture, comics, and early film. Considers this material in the context of social and political attitudes, styles of communication, consumer culture, literary comedic strategies, aesthetic theory, and humor theory more generally. Incorporates in-class screenings of contemporary comedians, visits to the Rare Book Room at the University library, and visits to the Krannert Art Museum.