In his latest book, James Elkins offers a road map through the field of visual studies, describing its major concerns and its principal theoretical sources. Then, with the skill and insight characteristic of his previous work on art and visuality, Elkins takes us down a side road where visual studies can become a more interesting place. Why look only at the same handful of theorists? Why exclude from one's field of vision non-Western art or the wealth of scientific images? The centerpiece of Visual Studies is Elkins's proposal for ten ways in which visual studies could be made more challenging - theoretically, practically and in terms of its interpretative and historical range.