Module EDUC1441: INTRODUCTION TO MODERN ART: ITS MEANINGS AND HISTORIES

Department: Education

EDUC1441: INTRODUCTION TO MODERN ART: ITS MEANINGS AND HISTORIES

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To introduce students to the history of Modern art and to explore the possible meanings that Modern art possesses.

Content

• This module explores the development of Modern art from its origins in Romanticism, through the hey-day of Impressionism and the rise of Abstraction to the Postmodernism of the present day.
• To access the meanings and significance of Modern art the module adopts a socio-historical viewpoint but also relies upon critical methodologies such as Modernism and Feminism.
• Primary sources such as artists' writings and critical commentaries are used to contribute to our understanding of what Modern art is and why it looks the way it does and what it means.

Learning Outcomes

• At the end of the module students should understand the development of Modern art in its socio-historical and cultural context.
• They should be able to undertake a sophisticated pictorial analysis of an art work and to use relevant professional terminology.
• In addition, they should appreciate the value of differing methodologies and primary sources in constructing meaning.
• They should recognise that the form of an art work is integral to its meaning and be able to explore those meanings in the context of existing art practice and in relation to disciplines such as Music, Literature, Philosophy and Science.

• Students should be able to demonstrate an ability to apply their subject knowledge and understanding through:
• a) their personal research on a particualr topic;
• b) personal exploration of examples of visual culture from the period;
• c) the provision of well argued conclusions relating to specific issues regarding artistic theory and practice;
• d) evaluation of the critical methodologoes as they apply tothe history of art;
• e) the analysis of art works in terms of their form and content;
• f) reflection upon the relations between visual culture and society;
• g) identifying and evaluating the 'construction' of meaning in examples of visual art.

• think critically and independently;
• analyse, synthesise, evaluate and identify problems and solutions;
• acquire complex information of diverse kinds in a structured and systematic way;
• construct and sustain a reasoned argument;
• communicate effectively with appropriate use of specialist vocabulary;
• use ICT and a variety of library and IT resources;
• improve their own learning and performance, including the development of study and research skills, information retrieval, and a capacity to plan and manage learning, and to reflect on their own learning;
• explore different ways of 'reading', understanding and explaining objects of visual culture.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The first level of learning will take place through a programme of weekly lectures accompanied by slides.
• These lectures will: i) convey relevant art historical and socio-historical knowledge ii) explain and utilise relevant terminology iii) demonstrate the relevance of competing critical methodologies iv) allow for formal analysis of specific art works in relation to their meaning.
• Through this programme the students will acquire an historical, methodological and critical framework which will equip them for a second level of learning in the form of weekly tutorials and seminars.
• The seminars will include group work, video discussion, individual presentations by students and in-put from the lecturer.
• The seminar programme will: i) allow for assessment of critical methodologies ii) provide opportunities for students to use artists' texts and critical sources iii) encourage skills of visual analysis iv) promote the exploration of form and content in the construction of meaning v) develop the use of professional terminology.
• The tutorial and seminar programme will offer students a more flexible learning context by providing a variety of activities through which they will be able to apply, develop and question the knowledge, skills and views that they have received in the lecture programme.
• Formative assessment will take the form of a short seminar paper on a theme selected from a list of options.
• The first stage of Summative assessment will take the form of an assignment.
• Both these forms of assessment will require consideration of: i) use of relevant terminology ii) analysis of form and content in relation to meaning iii) presentation of art historical and socio-historical knowledge iv) the use of primary sources and critical texts.
• The second stage of Summative assessment will take the form of an end of year examination.
• This will test the students learning across the module and will require demonstration of: i) overall knowledge of the development of Modern Art ii) skills of pictorial analysis in relation to the construction of meaning iii) awareness of socio-historical context in accounting for artistic change iv) basic understanding of critical methodologies and their role in constructing meaning.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

One seminar presentation on topic selected from a given list of options.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University