Module Information

Module Identifier
AH11520
Module Title
Looking into Landscape: Reading, Researching, Responding
Academic Year
2024/2025
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 1
Reading List
Other Staff

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Annotated bibliography in MLA style  (Works Consulted) in preparation for the essay project. (​1000 words) - 10 sources, at least 5 of which annotated (i.e., summary, assessment, excerpts).  35%
Semester Assessment Essay  Research essay on the function of figures in works of landscape art. (1750 words) - plus MLA-style bibliography (Works Cited) and list of figures (illustrations) with captions.  65%
Supplementary Assessment Annotated bibliography in MLA style  (Works Consulted) in preparation for the essay project. (​1000 words) - 10 sources, at least 5 of which annotated (i.e., summary, assessment, excerpts).  35%
Supplementary Assessment Essay  on the function of figures in a work of landscape art. (1750 words) - plus list of Works Cited (bibliography) and list of figures (illustrations) with captions.  65%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Examine works of art and visual culture in their historical, national and sociopolitical contexts.

Discuss the functions, development and canonical status of Western landscape art/visual culture.

Describe works of art and visual culture effectively and analyse them formally.

Carry out art historical research; evaluate, document and cite secondary sources.

Brief description

This core module provides a broad survey of the development of Western landscape art and artistic approaches to the environment from its origins to the present day. It also introduces students to ways of thinking, researching 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.

Content

​Lecture 1—Origins and Traditions: ‘Landscape’ in Western Visual Culture

Follow-up seminar 1—Definition and Description

Lecture 2—Nature and Culture: Seventeenth-century Dutch ‘Views’

Follow-up seminar 2—Classification

Lecture 3—Taste and Feeling: Romantic Landscapes

Follow-up seminar 3—Research and Contextual Analysis

Lecture 4—Illusionism and Abstraction: Modernist Landscapes

Follow-up seminar 4—Citation and Documentation

Lecture 5—Habitat and Environment: Postmodern and Contemporary Responses to Nature

Follow-up seminar 5—Argumentation and Outlining

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Communication Articulating and debating ideas in seminar discussions, project tutorials as well as written assignments.
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 in-class projects and exercises in researching, writing, outlining and editing during the seminars.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 4