Welcome to Pratt’s Program in Critical and Visual Studies!

Critical and Visual Studies is a four-year interdisciplinary program leading to a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.

Who we are:

We are a group of faculty and students committed to the idea that critical thinking is not limited to the classroom, and that creative practice extends beyond the studio. We use all the resources of Pratt—an internationally recognized school of art, design and architecture—and all the resources of New York City to explore creativity, criticality and culture in the broadest sense, including:

• art, design and literature
• global political, economic and social systems
• media, performance and popular culture
• environments and space

What we do:

We explore the interface between the creative and the critical, without sacrificing rigor in either area. Students take challenging and provocative classes in the liberal arts and sciences, experiment with emerging interdisciplinary topics, and explore a wide range of courses in the studio arts and art and design history.

Who our students are:

Diverse, highly motivated, independent thinkers who want the flexibility to shape their own program of study from across Pratt’s curriculum. We have artists, aspiring filmmakers, photographers and writers. We have thinkers and critics who want the opportunity to explore how the world works, and understand themselves in relation to larger social, political and economic systems. We also have students who don’t yet know what they want to do, but want the freedom to explore and grow through courses, projects, special activities and internship possibilities.

(Everyone asks) What you do with a degree in Critical and Visual Studies:

Work in a Chelsea photography studio, go to film school. Work in a variety of arts and cultural organizations, or in the fields of government or education. Go to law school or graduate school in urban planning. The list is growing along with our graduates.

CritViz works the way the world of work increasingly does. The students who are best equipped have a rigorous foundation and excellent communication skills, but are also prepared for flexibility, multiple modes of problem-solving, changing work technologies, teamwork and the demands of a globalizing economy.

new curriculum preview

Students Speak Out

Our students are actually the best interpreters of our program, so why not let them tell you what they find interesting and important in the CritViz program at Pratt

Because of modern technology, the internet, and easier transportation, we can no longer look at most cultures as islands, as isolated entities unaffected by the outside world.
Virginia

The program combines history, sociology, culture, anthropology, art, literature and writing into one major. I can get what I want out of this major because of the freedom and broadness it entails.
C. P.

The list (of possible objects of study) is such an eclectic group… I am a fan of any list that has fashions, international airports, Cat Clocks, and macramé on it. I like to think of the list… as happily inclusive.
Betty

Critical and Visual Studies is a major that just can’t be described in one universal way. It’s all about the way you apply yourself as an individual to what you choose to focus on.
Katie

I find myself constantly surveying my surroundings already, noting what were previously completely inconsequential details about the most mundane of things. Two months ago the odds of entering a heated debate about the difference in societal messages in Hanna Barbara as opposed to Disney (would have been inconceivable). My small amount of time in the program has already had a fairly profound effect on my way of thinking.
Zach

The thing I have found about Critical and Visual Studies… is that is serves as a platform to the student’s individual interests. For example … I have related the theories of my core classes to the principles of design. From the Critical and Visual Studies classes, I’ve found that it is always important to closely analyze the information I have been given, and by doing so, come up with my own conclusion, based on reasonable evidence, that may or may not agree with traditional theories.
Ann

Critical and Visual Studies gives students the opportunity to look not only to images for ideas, but also teaches the relationship between literature, images, culture and film. The integration of all those means of study makes it extremely rewarding.
Josh

I have always been interested in sociology, specifically the stratifications of societies and the reasons for such class differences. I am intrigued with history, not necessarily dates, places, and names of random people, but the reasons and motivations behind events and movements. I have always had a passion for theater and film… I have always loved art, not only the production of art, but the history and interpretations… the Critical and Visual Studies program presents a place to pursue these interests; more specifically, to pursue all of these interests if I so choose, rather than having to focus on one and one alone.
Carly

To be a Critical and Visual Studies student one must concern themselves with the meaning and practices of everyday life and the world around them. To be critical is to be aware and observe… Critical and Visual studies enables one to develop and react to (the proliferation of media and cultural) images. Rather than just accepting an image, a CritViz student will want to know who, what, where, why and what will happen next.
Alaina

I really see my entire generation as having already dutifully begun careers as editors, curators maybe, of our present and our histories as a given condition of the times; but with the people involved in the project of Critical and Visual studies being expected to retain a consciousness about the process in particular.
Francesca

Take for instance the assembly of goods that have landed so beautifully in our mall across the country. Just how have my pumas come to be? I purchased this fine pair of sneakers in a small shop in Brooklyn, where they were probably shipped from some warehouse in New York State, which was supplied most likely from (a labor intensive factory in) Vietnam. Then you think, where did these materials come from? Most likely they came from another Asian country that has underpaid and overworked laborers farming for rubber, from rubber trees. If I broke down this process and was confronted with it directly, I would most likely never buy another pair of shoes… However, the beautiful packaging, strong color coordination and design always seem to visually entice me… I was sold on a visual concept alone. This is the idea behind Critical and Visual Studies, connection!
Teresa

Director’s Note

It is both easy and impossible to define Critical and Visual Studies. We can tell you that this major provides a strong foundation in the traditional liberal arts while immersing students in the new critical and visual theories of last half-century. We can add that this takes place at Pratt of one of the leading schools of art, architecture and design in the country, in one of the hottest boroughs—Brooklyn—of one of the premier global cities—New York.

But that doesn’t convey the experience of CritViz, as we call it. Our students talk about the breadth and freedom they have, but also the responsibility that comes with shaping their own education. They talk about the feelings of headiness and exhilaration, from all they are learning, and the vertigo that comes from having to rethink many of the things they took for granted. They describe the excitement of expressing newly learned concepts through creative practice, and the challenges of integrating their studio work with their classes on visualiy, social life and culture.

In the global era with access to visual culture expanding exponentially, through advertising, television, DVDs, the Internet, our students grapple creatively with the impact of these changes, while learning that the history and context of images, ideas, and their cultural meanings are crucial to grasping the complexities of the present and the future. They also constantly pioneer new ways to analyze, comment and even intervene, using their own preferred media and all the resources available at a place like Pratt.

Our website is constantly changing to respond to the latest program developments and student initiatives. (Stay tuned for student work up on the web!) Please feel free to drop me an email if I can answer any questions about our program, or if you would like to talk about whether CritViz is right for you. I look forward to meeting and talking with you.

Ann Holder
Director, Critical and Visual Studies
aholder@pratt.edu

Beginning in Spring of 2008, Critical and Visual Studies will offer a semester study abroad program by partnering with:

DIS, Denmark’s International Study Program
• Academically Challenging Courses Taught in English
• Intercultural Skills For The Global Job Market
• Copenhagen As Your Home, Europe As Your Classroom
• Cultural Immersion Through Unique Housing Options

Programs include: China Studies, European Politics and Society, Migration and Multiculturalism, European History and Culture, Marine and Environmental Biology, Communication and Media

DIS also features frequent study tours, one to multi-day trips around Denmark, Scandinavia and Europe designed to contribute to the hands-on learning valued by DIS.

New curriculum coming soon.
See preview on left.

Bachelor of Arts (Critical and Visual Studies)
133 total credits required

highlighted courses

Student Work

For more information about the program:

cst@pratt.edu

To apply:

https://www.applyweb.com/apply/pratt/menu.html

Introduction to Cultural Studies

CST-100S

Cultural studies draw inspiration from the disciplines of both the social sciences and humanities. Students in Cultural Studies explore the vast array of techniques, institutions, and media through which we create and give value to our social and natural

2.00 credits

Praxis II: Siting Culture

CST-210

The spatial aspects of cultural production inform all of our theoretical and historical questions. This course provides students with an introduction to various methods for understanding space itself as a cultural production. The course consists of pract

3.00 credits

Research and Practicum Preparation

CST-300

This course provides upper class and advanced students with the necessary preparation to engage in active research towards the completion of a project, and at the same time, it begins to introduce students to the key features of critical and visual studie

3.00 credits

Praxis III: Culture in Motion

CST-310

Culture is not static, but constantly in motion. To get a sense of the scale and scope of cultural activity, students make documentary videos and consider how the movements of history and society are recorded. This course encourages students to think abo

3.00 credits

Art/Work: Documenting Cultural Production

CST-320

The fields of art, design, architecture and media have been transformed over the past century by new industrial technologies and increasing integration within a world market. At the same time, these fields have taken on an increasingly powerful role in s

3.00 credits

Internship

CST-400

Students are placed in local arts organizations, governmental and non-governmental agencies, non-profits and elsewhere in the culture industry to acquire knowledge of these sites and to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of existing institutions as well

6.00 credits

Senior Project

CST-440

This course provides an opportunity to use their knowledge and experience to create an innovative organizational initiative or cultural intervention. This could entail organizing a neighborhood mural project, designing and managing a Web site, producing

3.00 credits

Senior Seminar

CST-480

This seminar helps students synthesize and reflect upon their experiences in the program. Students present position papers outlining the more pressing questions that have resulted from their studies. These papers are developed into a final thesis statem

4.00 credits

3 Cultural Studies SS-330
3 Studies in Creativity & Society CST-100
3 World Civilizations I CH-300
3 Introduction to Literary & Critical Studies I ENGL-101
3 Math/Science
3 Elective credits
18 CREDITS

3 Praxis I: From Work to Text CST-110
3 World Civilizations II CH-400
3 Introduction to Literary & Critical Studies II ENGL-103
3 Methods of Cultural Analysis SS-430
3 Elective credits
15 CREDITS

3 Praxis II: Siting Culture CST-210
3 History of Philosophy PHIL-207
3 Controversies in Cultural Theory SS-510
3 Math/Science
3 Social Science/Philosophy
3 Elective credits
18 CREDITS

3 Art/Work: Documenting Cultural Production CST-320
6 Social Science/Humanities (Non-Western)
3 Social Science/Philosophy
3 Modernism & Postmodernism HUM-412
3 Elective credits
18 CREDITS

3 Praxis III: Culture in Motion CST-310
6 Social Science/Philosophy
3 English/Humanities
3 Elective credits
15 CREDITS

3 Praxis IV: Cultural Contexts CST-410
3 Globalization: The Contemporary World Economy SS-537
3 History of Art & Design Elective credits
3 English/Humanities
3 Elective credits
15 CREDITS

6 Internship CST-400
3 Spaces, Movements, Identities SS-560
3 Humanities (Performing Arts)
3 Social Science/Philosophy
3 Elective credits
18 CREDITS

4 Senior Project CST-480
3 Senior Project CST-440
6 Social Science/Philosophy
3 Elective credits
16 CREDITS