| Ses # | Topics | Key Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1: Introduction | ||
| 1 | Photography, France, How to talk / write about photographs | |
| Week 2: What is photography? I. (Moment or Network) | ||
| 2 | The Decisive Moment with Special Guest Dr. Nadya Bair | |
| 3 | Making the News | |
| Week 3: What is Photography? II (Science or Art) | ||
| 4 | Is it Technology? | |
| 5 | Is it Magic? With Special Guest Photographer Wilfrid Rouff | |
| Week 4: Capturing the World: Albert Kahn to Aerial Photography | ||
| 6 | Albert Kahn & The Archives de la Planète | |
| 7 | Aerial photography and surveillance | |
| Week 5: Likeness and Identity (Portraiture) | ||
| 8 | From Early Portraiture to the Selfie | |
| 9 | Photography, Identity, & Resemblance | Visual Analysis Paper 1 due |
| Week 6: Politics, Propaganda, Protest | ||
| 10 | Protest Photography from May ’68 to Nuit Debut | |
| 11 | Photography and the President | |
| Week 7: Urban Exploration (Street Photography) | ||
| 12 | Documenting Urbanism | |
| 13 | People in the Streets | |
| Week 8: Research and Investigation | ||
| 14 | Peer Review Workshop | |
| 15 | Visit to the MIT Museum – Berenice Abbott Archive | Visual Analysis Paper 2 due |
| Week 9: Marking Art I (Realism & Abstraction) | ||
| 16 | Photography & Painting | |
| 17 | Visit to MIT LIST Gallery – Charlotte Moth Exhibition | |
| Week 10: Writing Week | ||
| 18 | Exhibition Review Workshop | Exhibition Review due |
| Week 11: Tourism & Travel | ||
| 19 | The Postcard | |
| 20 | Snapshot photography | |
| Week 12: Making Art II (Institutions) | ||
| 21 | Museum Visit | |
| 22 | Photography and the Art Market / Museum | Visual Analysis Paper 3 due |
| Week 13: Surveillance & the Law | ||
| 23 | Photographs as Witnesses | |
| 24 | Photography as Crime | |
| Week 14: Spreading the News (Humanistic Photography and Ethics) | ||
| 25 | Humanist photography | |
| 26 | Aesthetics and Suffering | Revised and Expanded Paper due |