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Close Looking

What can the pedagogy of “close looking” offer to classes both inside and outside of the humanities? Join the TLC to explore visual pedagogy and visual thinking strategies in a workshop on how CUNY instructors can use close looking across the disciplines. Though close looking strategies originated in the visual arts, they can help all students connect more deeply to course materials and develop key skills in critical thinking, analysis, and reflection.

In this workshop, we will introduce two types of close looking activities. We will review how close looking can work in different disciplines, both within the classroom and across NYC as our shared campus. In the second hour, we will generate ideas and workshop assignments using a template that helps participants design close looking exercises that fit within their curriculum.

This workshop was offered as an in-person workshop at the Frick Museum (Spring 2017) and the Graduate Center, CUNY (Spring 2018). The workshop and materials were developed by Elizabeth Decker and Kaitlin Mondello. The Spring 2017 workshop was moderated by Elizabeth Decker in Collaboration with Caitlin Henningsen and Rika Burnham (Frick Collection).

Materials

All materials on this page and in the linked google folder are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC-BY-SA) 4.0 International Public License.

This folder contains outreach materials, workshop plans and slides: Close Looking

Agenda

I. Introductions and Two Styles of Close Looking (40 mins): (Kaitlin and Elizabeth)

II. Overview of pedagogy and debrief (20 minutes) (Kaitlin)

III. Independent workshop time (30 mins) (Elizabeth)

  • Review and distribute template (Kaitlin, Elizabeth, Sarah (if able to attend) circulate to assist)

IV. Discussion and report back  (30 mins of remainder) (Kaitlin)

  • 10 minutes with peer
  • 10 minutes group report
  • 10 minutes final questions and evaluation
  • Reminder to fill out evaluation form and will send out resources