Helen Taschian, Art 1A: Visual Literacy Summer Session A 2026
Research Paper Due: Wednesday, October 28 in lecture at 9:30AM (hard copies only).
The Assignment: Write a 10-page formal research paper on the work of Eileen Cowin (b. 1947. Brooklyn). Use relevant research materials available at Davidson Library, and any articles that you might find useful in the course reader to clarify your assertions. We will discuss the paper in depth in lecture and section. There are books on reserve at the library for you, and many scholarly journal articles about his artistic practice at the Davidson Library that you can download from the library website, and from our articles databases. There are also numerous books available via Interlibrary Loan (ILL).
About Eileen Cowin:
Eileen Cowin: Between Panic and Paradise presents the provocative photography and video of the Los Angeles–based artist who has explored romance and rivalry, the personal and the political, and the monotony and mystery of daily life, for more than 50 years. Often blurring the distinction between nonfiction and fiction, Cowin draws on cinema, literature, poetry, and painting to shape her photographic narratives. This survey highlights the artist’s work with experimental photographic processes, Polaroids, inkjet prints, and videos, featuring works from LACMA’s collection and other Southern California museums. Source: LACMA
Artist Website: https://www.eileencowin.com
LACMA Exhibition: We will visit LACMA on Saturday, October 17 to see the Eileen Cowin exhibition: Eileen Cowin: Between Panic and Paradise (BCAM, Level 2)
https://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/eileen-cowin-between-panic-and-paradise
You need to purchase the Art Exhibition Catalogue for this exhibition: Rebecca Morse et al. (Required) Eileen Cowin: Between Panic and Paradise (Purchase from Artbook, LACMA or Amazon).
Be sure you use at least 10 different scholarly research sources (including peer-reviewed journal articles, journal articles, monographs, art exhibition catalogues and scholarly books) and make a minimum of 10-15 citations. Remember that this is a formal research paper, not a personal response paper. You can access scholarly journal articles and books from the Davidson Library, but some of the books will only be available from Inter-Library Loan (ILL), and therefore you will want to order those as early as possible.
Paper Format:
- 10 pages of text (this does NOT include the cover page, bibliography or images)
- Double-spaced
- Cover page
- Footnotes or endnotes
- Bibliography
- Images (at the end of the paper)
- Use at least 10 different research sources (including peer reviewed journal articles, books, exhibition catalogs, monographs, etc.)
- Use at least 10-15 citations
GENERAL TIPS ON WRITING YOUR PAPER:
1. The selection of a good thesis and supporting examples is an important part of producing a good paper. Be selective. The paper is about how to look closely at works of art and how your evaluation of objects and images is expanded by the specific context in which they are presented.
2. Write primarily with nouns and verbs. Avoid unnecessary (especially vague and imprecise) adjectives and adverbs.
3. Revise and rewrite. Proofread your work. Do not rely solely on "spell check."
4. Use the dictionary to refer to words you do not fully understand.
5. Do not overstate, or excessively use qualifiers (such as very, rather, little, etc.).
6. Use orthodox diction and accurate spelling. ("Its" is possessive; "It's" is a contraction for "it is," "Its' " doesn't exist. "Their" is possessive, "They're" is a contraction of "they are," There is declarative).
7. Be clear. Make references clearly. (Do not use the word "this" as the subject of a sentence).
8. Do not let your opinions get in the way of your writing.
9. Avoid using Wikipedia, blogs, newspaper articles and other materials that are not scholarly. These ARE NOT appropriate materials for a formal research paper.
10. Get to the point quickly. Concentrate on quality of writing not quantity of words.
11. For help writing the paper contact CLAS at 893-3269. They have a writing lab that will help you with papers, and will even proofread your papers. They also offer help specifically to students for whom English is a second language. CLAS site: http://www.clas.sa.ucsb.edu/
12. For help with formatting MLA and Chicago citations, visit Purdue Owl: https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html
13. Carefully review the course policy on plagiarism and academic misconduct (see Syllabus). Any act of plagiarism or academic misconduct will result in failing Art 1A, and will result in disciplinary action from the Office of Student Conduct.
14. Refer to the UCSB Library Art 1A Research Page:
http://guides.library.ucsb.edu/art1a
15. Contact Heather Nisen, the Art & Architecture Librarian, for help finding research materials: hnisen@ucsb.edu (805) 893-3026
16. Here is the link to the plagiarism tutorial that the Teaching & Learning Department created: https://guides.library.ucsb.edu/citation/plagiarism
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF WHEN WRITING & EDITING YOUR PAPER:
1) Do I have the proper number of citations and sources?
2) Did I properly format my citations using MLA or Chicago?
3) Do I have a properly formatted formal bibliography?
4) Did I adhere to the proper paper length?
5) Do I have a clear, and specific thesis statement?
6) Does my thesis statement specifically relate to the final draft of my paper?
7) Did I run spell check (repeatedly)?
8) Did I carefully edit to make sure that I used proper grammar, and were my tenses consistent?
9) Did I formulate clear arguments and substantiate all of my claims with clear and concrete examples?
10) Did I avoid sweeping generalizations and vague assertions?
11) Did I use casual colloquial language in my formal research paper? If so, find more precise ways to describe the point being made.
12) Did I use scholarly research sources such as peer-reviewed journal articles, scholarly articles and books rather than sources such as blogs, Wikipedia, encyclopedias etc (that are not acceptable sources for a formal research paper).
13) Did I properly cite quotes and summaries of other people's intellectual property (footnotes and in-text citations)?
14) Did I avoid excessive biographical information about the artist? Instead I should only include biographical information that is directly relevant to their artistic practice.
15) Would anyone reading my paper understand what I am trying to convey, or do I need to more clearly define the scope of my research and ultimately the point of my paper?
16) Did I place the pictures at the end of my paper? If I embedded them in the text, I need to remove them and place them at the end of my paper.
17) Did I remember to put my name, perm number and section time on my paper?
18) Did I remember to frequently save, backup and email drafts of my paper to myself (just in case my computer crashes)?
19) When I had questions, or needed help, did I reach out to my TA, professor or CLAS?
1) Do I have the proper number of citations and sources?
2) Did I properly format my citations using MLA or Chicago?
3) Do I have a properly formatted formal bibliography?
4) Did I adhere to the proper paper length?
5) Do I have a clear, and specific thesis statement?
6) Does my thesis statement specifically relate to the final draft of my paper?
7) Did I run spell check (repeatedly)?
8) Did I carefully edit to make sure that I used proper grammar, and were my tenses consistent?
9) Did I formulate clear arguments and substantiate all of my claims with clear and concrete examples?
10) Did I avoid sweeping generalizations and vague assertions?
11) Did I use casual colloquial language in my formal research paper? If so, find more precise ways to describe the point being made.
12) Did I use scholarly research sources such as peer-reviewed journal articles, scholarly articles and books rather than sources such as blogs, Wikipedia, encyclopedias etc (that are not acceptable sources for a formal research paper).
13) Did I properly cite quotes and summaries of other people's intellectual property (footnotes and in-text citations)?
14) Did I avoid excessive biographical information about the artist? Instead I should only include biographical information that is directly relevant to their artistic practice.
15) Would anyone reading my paper understand what I am trying to convey, or do I need to more clearly define the scope of my research and ultimately the point of my paper?
16) Did I place the pictures at the end of my paper? If I embedded them in the text, I need to remove them and place them at the end of my paper.
17) Did I remember to put my name, perm number and section time on my paper?
18) Did I remember to frequently save, backup and email drafts of my paper to myself (just in case my computer crashes)?
19) When I had questions, or needed help, did I reach out to my TA, professor or CLAS?
