Durham University
Programme and Module Handbook

Undergraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2010-2011 (archived)

Module EDUS2521: ARTS 2

Department: Education [Queen's Campus, Stockton]

EDUS2521: ARTS 2

Type Open Level 2 Credits 20 Availability Available in 2010/11 Module Cap None. Location Queen's Campus Stockton

Prerequisites

  • None.

Corequisites

  • None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

  • None.

Aims

  • To develop the students' understanding and appreciation of music and visual arts.
  • The course is designed to help students to develop their knowledge and understanding of: the place of music and art and the artist in society.
  • feminist art practices.
  • ideology and the arts.
  • artistic conventions and the social and cultural contexts in which they are developed and experienced.
  • the development of a national identity through the arts.

Content

  • In this module, students will be able to study critical and historical concepts relating to music and the visual arts in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as they relate to society.
  • Students will be encouraged to explore theories and practices in music and visual art through the study of first hand sources and texts.
  • Students will have the opportunity to increase their understanding of the histories and practices of music and art as they explore critically a selection of topics drawn from the following :- development of nationalism in England and Spain, the social and artistic environment in which nationalist music flourished, the contribution of repressed peoples to musical identity, artistic responses to the social experience of the modern city, the concept of primitivism in the visual arts, the avant garde and the bourgeoisie, the role of art in the context of socio-political and economic revolution.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:
  • key ideas underpinning a foundation subject (either arts, humanities or ICT);
  • Students should be able to demonstrate a good basic knowledge and understanding of the evolution of music and the relationship between music and societies past and present.
  • the ways in which meaning is generated in music, the place of folksong and dance in the creation of cultural identity.
  • ways in which visual artists respond to, and are influenced by soci-political forces, differing artistic responses to the development of the urban environment in the late nineteenth and early century Central Europe.
  • the impact of the First World War on the development of the arts in the 1920s, the relationship between art and political ideology in the inter-war period.
Subject-specific Skills:
  • think critically and independently;
  • contrasting different authoritative views on teh arts.
Key Skills:
  • reading and interpreting works of art;
  • examining works of art.

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

  • Teaching and Learning: The module is managed through a series of lead lectures and associated group work sessions (workshops, seminars and tutorials) in which students examine themes and issues in the arts.
  • The emphasis is upon active learning, and students are encouraged to contribute to sessions by taking account of their developing knowledge of music and visual arts.
  • The module will be supported by visits to appropriate local arts institutions.
  • Students are provided with a selection of readings to support the required reading lists and are expected to take individual responsibility for sharing their reading with other people taking the module.
  • Students engage in discussion, in informal presentations, and in a range of task based activities.
  • There is a series of practical sessions through which students explore and produce music and visual art.
  • They have the opportunity to share their work with their peers and tutors, and to examine critically, each other's work.
  • The experience gained in these practical workshops is used to inform the students' understanding of the theoretical base of the module.
  • Some of these workshops may involve local artists and representatives from art institutions.
  • There is a programme of directed study tasks which include reading, formative assignments, preparation for practical work, and other tasks which tutors may set from time to time.
  • Assessment: The assignment and examination programme is designed to encourage students to think about the nature of the arts and the place of the arts in society.
  • Assessment is provided through a formative assignment and a three hour examination.
  • After the formative assignment students are provided with individual feedback for which they are given guidance on the preparation for their examination.
  • The examination criteria focus on the students' knowledge and understanding, intellectual skills and use of English.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity Number Frequency Duration Total/Hours
Lectures 18 Weekly 2 hours 36
Tutorials 2 Each semester 1 hour 4
Seminars 1 Each semester 1 hour 2
Practicals 12 Weekly 1 hour 12
Preparation and Reading 146
Total 200

Summative Assessment

Component: Examination Component Weighting: 100%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
three-hour unseen written examination 100%

Formative Assessment:

One formative written assignment of 1000 words.


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