Module Information
Module Identifier
AH11520
Module Title
Looking into Landscape: Reading, Researching, Responding
Academic Year
2016/2017
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 1
Other Staff
Course Delivery
| Delivery Type | Delivery length / details |
|---|---|
| Lecture | 6 x 1 Hour Lectures |
| Seminar | 5 x 2 Hour Seminars |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Assessment length / details | Proportion |
|---|---|---|
| Semester Assessment | Response to work of art. 500 word response to a specified work of art, involving description and analysis | 25% |
| Semester Assessment | Lexicon. Lexicon containing key vocabulary encountered in the lectures, seminars and assigned readings. Approx. 500 words (5 words/phrases per lecture, with definition and 3 sample sentences per entry. | 25% |
| Semester Assessment | Research essay. MLA-style research essay on one of the lecture topics. 2000 words plus list of Works Cited and list of figures (illustrations) | 50% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Response to work of art. 500 word response to a specified work of art, involving description and analysis | 25% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Lexicon. Lexicon containing key vocabulary encountered in the lectures, seminars and assigned readings. Approx. 500 words (5 words/phrases per lecture, with definition and 3 sample sentences per entry. | 25% |
| Supplementary Assessment | Research essay. MLA-style research essay on one of the lecture topics. 2000 words plus list of Works Cited and list of figures (illustrations) | 50% |
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module students should be able to:
1. Examine works of art and visual culture in their historical, national and sociopolitical contexts.
2. Discuss the functions, development and canonical status of Western landscape painting and photography.
3. Distinguish between intention and reception as well as form and idea.
4. Describe works of art and visual culture effectively and analyse them formally.
5. Use key terminology to classify, define and interpret works of art and visual culture.
6. Carry out art historical research; assess and cite secondary sources.
Brief description
This core module provides a broad survey of the development of Western landscape art from its origins to the present day. It also introduces students to ways of thinking and writing about art and visual culture.
A series of lectures examines artistic modes and movements in a variety of media (painting, photography, cartography and land art) and explores them in their historical contexts. The lectures are arranged chronologically so as to chart changing attitudes and approaches to land, nature and the environment in art practice and theory.
The lectures are followed up by seminars that are designed not only to debate points raised in the lectures but also to build practical skills essential to all art history modules and thus to prepare students for their undergraduate coursework. Such skills include: observation and description, definition and classification, expanding an active and academically sound vocabulary, interpretation, contextualization and argumentation, along with researching, quoting and paraphrasing and the documentation of sources.
A series of lectures examines artistic modes and movements in a variety of media (painting, photography, cartography and land art) and explores them in their historical contexts. The lectures are arranged chronologically so as to chart changing attitudes and approaches to land, nature and the environment in art practice and theory.
The lectures are followed up by seminars that are designed not only to debate points raised in the lectures but also to build practical skills essential to all art history modules and thus to prepare students for their undergraduate coursework. Such skills include: observation and description, definition and classification, expanding an active and academically sound vocabulary, interpretation, contextualization and argumentation, along with researching, quoting and paraphrasing and the documentation of sources.
Content
1. Origins and Meanings: Landscape in Western Visual Culture (Lecture 1)
2. Definition: Scenery and Landscape (Follow-up Seminar to Lecture 1)
3. Nature and Culture: Seventeenth-century Dutch/Flemish Townscapes and Cartography (Lecture 2)
4. Classification: Visual Culture, the Canon and the Hierarchy of Genres (Follow-up Seminar to Lecture 2)
5. Soil and Spirit: Nineteenth-century German, British and American Landscape Painting (Lecture 3)
6. Contextualisation: Art, Politics and National Identity (Follow-up Seminar to Lecture 3)
7. Record and Response: Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth-century American Landscape Photography (Lecture 4)
8. Research: Functions and Status of Photography in Western Art (Follow-up Seminar to Lecture 4)
9. Habitat and Environment: Contemporary Responses to Nature (Lecture 5)
10. Theory: Aesthetics, Ecology and Land/Landscape Art (Follow-up Seminar to Lecture 5)
2. Definition: Scenery and Landscape (Follow-up Seminar to Lecture 1)
3. Nature and Culture: Seventeenth-century Dutch/Flemish Townscapes and Cartography (Lecture 2)
4. Classification: Visual Culture, the Canon and the Hierarchy of Genres (Follow-up Seminar to Lecture 2)
5. Soil and Spirit: Nineteenth-century German, British and American Landscape Painting (Lecture 3)
6. Contextualisation: Art, Politics and National Identity (Follow-up Seminar to Lecture 3)
7. Record and Response: Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth-century American Landscape Photography (Lecture 4)
8. Research: Functions and Status of Photography in Western Art (Follow-up Seminar to Lecture 4)
9. Habitat and Environment: Contemporary Responses to Nature (Lecture 5)
10. Theory: Aesthetics, Ecology and Land/Landscape Art (Follow-up Seminar to Lecture 5)
Module Skills
| Skills Type | Skills details |
|---|---|
| Application of Number | N/A |
| Communication | Articulating ideas through seminar discussions as well essay writing. |
| Improving own Learning and Performance | Independent study through research, vocabulary building and essay preparation. |
| Information Technology | Information retrieval from academic research portals and online museum collection databases. |
| Personal Development and Career planning | Emphasis on professionalism in the presentation and documentation of research. |
| Problem solving | In seminar discussions, essay drafting and revision, as well as in individual tutorials. |
| Research skills | In essay preparation and the gathering of relevant, scholarly sources. |
| Subject Specific Skills | In defining the term ‘landscape’ and classifying landscape art encountered in a variety of media and (art) historical contexts. |
| Team work | By working in teams (of two or three) for exercises in writing, outlining and editing during the seminars. |
Notes
This module is at CQFW Level 4