The Visual Culture of Las Vegas from its Foundation to the Present Time




	COURSE DESCRIPTION		This course traces the many metamorphoses of the visual culture of Las Vegas from its foundation into the present time. Its focus is on individual and collective expressions including painting, photography, buildings, and movies. Las Vegas has transformed itself again and again as architects, designers and artists, driven by competition, rid themselves of the old to make way for the new. In these different creative manifestations, the city has impersonated the Wild West; illuminated itself with twenty-story-high neon signs; created Disney-like theme parks and replicas of Venetian canals, New York skyscrapers, and the Eiffel Tower; and built mega-hotels and casinos. In exploring these transformations of Las Vegas, the course will consider how Las Vegas has mirrored, magnified and at times initiated trends in art and architecture while promoting the commercialization of culture and nature. Each of the twelve lectures is devoted to a particular topic: Las Vegas as a Frontier Town Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam Las Vegas, City of the Atomic Age Las Vegas Strip Learning from Las Vegas Theming Las Vegas Art in Las Vegas Real Las Vegas Las Vegas in the 1990s: Fantasy Narratives and Simulations of Places and Spaces Las Vegas as a Casino City Las Vegas Elsewhere Las Vegas and Popular Culture Dr. Loren Lerner, Professor Emerita, Department of Art History, Concordia University, Montreal Following the links to these lectures are links to a comprehensive bibliography; the course syllabus; and the student handouts. The lectures are PowerPoint images and texts, culled from numerous sources. Here are some suggestions: Use the whole series of lectures, meeting to discuss sections of the presentation. Use the images and texts to develop or augment your own course material or discussion group subjects. Use one or some of the lectures as required or suggested readings for your own course or discussion group. Please do not hesitate to contact me. lernerloren[at]gmail.com

	HOW TO ACCESS AND WATCH THE LECTURES		Click on the link to download the lecture to your computer. These are large file sizes which take some time to download. Open the PowerPoint Presentation. In the main menu choose View > Enter Full Screen. The arrows on the bottom left will help you navigate between the slides.

	LECTURES		Lecture 1 Las Vegas as a Frontier Town 65MB Download _ Lecture 2 Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam 58MB Download _ Lecture 3 Las Vegas City of the Atomic Age 53MB Download _ Lecture 4 Las Vegas Strip 50MB Download _ Lecture 5 Learning from Las Vegas 31MB Download _ Lecture 6 Theming Las Vegas 56MB Download _ Lecture 7 Art and Las Vegas 68MB Download _ Lecture 8 Real Las Vegas 73MB Download _ Lecture 9 Las Vegas in the 1990s 71MB Download _ Lecture 10 Las Vegas as a Casino City 72MB Download _ Lecture 11 Las Vegas Elsewhere 100MB Download _ Lecture 12 Las Vegas and Popular Culture 25MB Download return to the top of the page _

	CUMULATIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY + COURSE SYLLABUS + HANDOUTS + EXAM		Las Vegas cumulative bibliography Download Word document _ Course syllabus Download Word document _ How to write an art history paper Download Word document How to analyze a work of art Download Word document How to write about buildings Download Word document How to analyze a photograph Download Word document How to analyze a film Download Word document How to analyze a scholarly reading Download Word document _ Guidelines and Suggestions for Major Assignment Download PDF Las Vegas final exam Download Word document _

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			Available to the public.