2024/25 Undergraduate Module Catalogue

ARTF0010 Art and Cultural History

40 creditsClass Size: 25

Module manager: Dr Brenda Hollweg
Email: b.hollweg@leeds.ac.uk

Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable

Year running 2024/25

This module is not approved as a discovery module

Module summary

This module introduces students to aspects of art and art production from the Renaissance to the 20th and 21st century. In a series of case studies, it brings past works into dialogue with cultural developments more broadly and addresses their traces and enduring meanings in contemporary art practice. Mainly focused on European and Western art and culture, the module also raises critical questions about how the history of art has been written, who has been left out and how the legacies of European imperialism and modernity have been challenged. Furthermore, the module considers differing ideas of 'art' and 'culture' and shows how scholars have critically examined them with the help of concepts, frameworks and theories. The module combines lectures, interactive seminars, screenings as well as archive and gallery visits. Over the course of two semesters, students develop practical skills in the analytical reading of works of art in various media and different contexts. They also learn to read academic publications, work with primary sources, bibliographies and databases, and present their own ideas and analyses in class discussions, group activities, oral presentations and written work. Knowledge, understanding and cultural analysis skills from this module relate directly to the practice-based module ARTF0020; they are also transferable to other modules and foundational for a host of arts and humanities undergraduate programmes.

Objectives

This module introduces students to aspects of art and art production from the Renaissance to the 20th and 21st century. In a series of case studies, it brings past works into dialogue with cultural developments more broadly and addresses their traces and enduring meanings in contemporary art practice. Mainly focused on European and Western art and culture, the module also raises critical questions about how the history of art has been written, who has been left out and how the legacies of European imperialism and modernity have been challenged. Furthermore, the module considers differing ideas of 'art' and 'culture' and shows how scholars have critically examined them with the help of concepts, frameworks and theories.
The module combines lectures, interactive seminars, screenings as well as archive and gallery visits. Over the course of two semesters, students develop practical skills in the analytical reading of works of art in various media and different contexts. They also learn to read academic publications, work with primary sources, bibliographies and databases, and present their own ideas and analyses in class discussions, group activities, oral presentations and written work.
Knowledge, understanding and cultural analysis skills from this module relate directly to the practice-based module ARTF0020; they are also transferable to other modules and foundational for a host of arts and humanities undergraduate programmes.

Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students will
1. have gained foundational knowledge of salient moments and developments in (mainly) European and Western art history from the 15th century to the present,
2. have encountered diverse works of art and explored the role of artist and medium as well as contexts of production, collection and exhibition,
3. be familiar with a selection of art historical and cultural theories, concepts and vocabularies,
4. be able to conduct and present, orally and in writing, a basic analysis of a cultural artefact, drawing on research and semiotic skills acquired in the module,
5. be able to articulate some connections between artistic practice, critical thinking through art, aesthetics, history and social change.

Syllabus

In the first semester, students discuss the question ‘What is Art?’, how a ‘history’ of art has been constructed and how artworks can be studied and analysed. They learn, in an exemplary fashion, how European art was produced and embedded in wider cultural and social frameworks from the Renaissance period to the revolutionary times of the late 18th and mid-19th centuries. Students visit an art gallery to explore the materiality of artworks and how art is curated and formally displayed.

In Semester Two, students encounter a variety of 19th- and 20th-century ‘modernisms’ and then turn to postmodern and contemporary developments from the 1960s onwards. The second part of the module also addresses, among others, time-based, performance, installation and digital art. Research skills introduced in the first semester are deepened and further theoretical approaches and terminologies are introduced. Students visit another gallery and have a hands-on session with archival material from the University’s Special Collections. Activities include the exploration of the University’s Art Collection, the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery and the Public Art on Campus Trail.

Throughout both teaching periods, students consider the relationship between art and culture in the past and the present. They examine how art itself functions as a critical thinking tool and how feminist, postcolonial, ecocritical and posthumanist approaches impact on art and cultural analysis.
Students practise their research and presentation skills in a recorded oral presentation and a literature review in Semester One. In Semester Two, they reflect in writing on a series of questions and issues and demonstrate their consolidated historical understanding and analytical skills in an end-of-term essay.

Teaching methods

Delivery type	Number	Length hours	Student hours
Art Gallery visits	2	4.00	4.00
Film Screenings	1	2.00	2.00
Seminars	17	1.00	17.00
Archival Sessions	1	2.00	2.00
Lecture	17	1.00	17.00
Private study hours			358.00
Total Contact hours			42.00
Total hours (100hr per 10 credits)			400.00

Private study

Students are given set readings (including audiovisual material and other resources) in preparation for class. For some of their assessed work, students are asked to visit local galleries. They also explore the University’s Public Art on Campus Trail. Study time is also needed to research and compile, write and record their assignments.

Opportunities for Formative Feedback

Assessment on this module is divided into four diverse assignments which are spread evenly across two semesters to ensure regular participation and to offer ‘check-in’ points to monitor understanding and progress.
Each assignment is carefully embedded and introduced; students have access to information about the assessment regime for both semesters from the outset in Semester One. In-class and individual feedback is provided in a timely fashion.
Assessment weightings are split into 2 x 20% in Semester One (recorded oral submission; literature review) and 1 x 20% (five reflective logs) and 1 x 40% (1,500-word essay) in Semester Two, giving students a lower weighted ‘lead in’ time before their final essay project. Students can present and discuss their essay plans before submission.
Office hours are offered if students wish to discuss their progress or assignments. Class size is usually small enough so that the module tutor can spot issues early and engage with individual students if there is a cause for concern.
Students are asked for module feedback/evaluation in both semesters so that they can raise any needs or wants.

Methods of assessment

Coursework

Assessment type	Notes	% of formal assessment
Essay	1,500 words	40.00
Oral Presentation	Narrated PowerPoint or video recording (5-8 mins)	20.00
Reflective log	5 x 300 words	20.00
Literature Review	Various entries amounting to 1,200-1,500 words	20.00
Total percentage (Assessment Coursework)		100.00

Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated

Reading list

The reading list is available from the Library website

Last updated: 29/04/2024 16:10:26

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