This seminar prepares CCA students to participate actively and confidently in conversations about the visual arts. Students will investigate the historical bases of contemporary debates and begin to frame their own work and that of others in terms of these ideas. We will examine the critical philosophies that shape the arts and consider the various frameworks for interpreting and judging visual images and objects. Seminar members will read about and discuss important critical methods and apply these approaches to artworks, exhibitions, institutions, and systems of production and distribution through oral presentations and written arguments.