St. Mary’s College of Maryland Art Professor Carrie Patterson released today a series of 24 compelling lessons on visual literacy through The Great Courses.
The Great Courses are a series of educational classes delivered in video and audio formats offered to “surround the world’s greatest teachers with a team of experts who collaborate on crafting a customized and entertaining educational journey.”
The courses are available on DVD, streaming, or video download at www.thegreatcourses.com.
Patterson’s “Visual Literacy Skills: How to See” takes a deep look at the principles and skills of visual literacy, and how these visual skills directly inform one's experience. The course teaches the vocabulary of art—line, shape, space, texture, color, and more; how to understand and use the principles of visual design; how visual language operates in art, design, and media; and how to communicate visually. Patterson also discusses how to cultivate powers of deep observation and alternative ways of seeing, how to generate original thought, and how to become a creator of one’s own art or design.
The course touches on how visual perception and visual language operate in art, design, and media, and how visual literacy increases the power of communication, deepens insight into visual persuasion and manipulation, and refines skill and pleasure in the multi-dimensional world of visual experience.
This is Patterson’s first course released through The Great Courses.
Patterson said the most important job she has as a professor is to “draw attention to the power of the visual and its impact on our lives.”
“Creating How to See with The Teaching Company has made it possible for me to reach life long learners, and draw even more attention to how everyday objects and visual phenomena can impact our daily lives.”
Patterson earned a B.F.A in studio art from James Madison University and an M.F.A in painting from The University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, she was a student resident at The New York Studio School where she worked with second generation abstract expressionists Charles Cajori, Mercedes Matters, and Rosemarie Beck. Her artwork has been exhibited across the country with solo shows in New York City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Minnesota. Patterson is also the 2019 recipient of the Homer L. Dodge Award for Outstanding Service. Established in 1985 by the late Norton T. Dodge, the award recognizes faculty accomplishments.
