Module EDUC1011: BEAUTY & THE BEAST: KEY THEMES IN THE ARTISTIC CULTURE OF EUROPE

Department: Education

EDUC1011: BEAUTY & THE BEAST: KEY THEMES IN THE ARTISTIC CULTURE OF EUROPE

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To help students acquire a conceptual 'map' of the arts and the place of central historical figures, movements and ideas.
• To help students understand what distinguishes the arts from other disciplines of study.
• To help students understand some of the approaches and topics characteristic of the arts.
• To help students gain an understanding of key terms and vocabulary in the arts.
• To enable students to understand the role of the Arts in the context of their wider studies.
• To enable students to draw distinctions and make connections between music and visual arts.

Content

• This module explores the key practices and debates that have informed the broad development of the arts in Europe from Classical Antiquity to the present day.
• The module is arranged in a chronological manner but is structured around key themes such as Classical 'Beauty' and the nature of Gothic, Gender issues, Cultures of Opposition, Primitivism, the arts and politics, the arts and the Church and Kitsch and Culture.
• These themes may be seen to recur again and again as key issues of debate amongst artists and composers as they have struggled in different generations to develop the practice of their art in new contexts.

Learning Outcomes

• Students should be able to demonstrate: knowledge of the place of central historical figures, movements and ideas.
• An understanding of what distinguishes the arts from other disciplines of study.
• An understanding of many of the approaches and topics characteristics of the arts.
• An understanding of key terms and vocabulary in the arts.
• An ability to draw distinctions and make connections between music and visual arts.

• undertaking personal research on a specific project;
• Personal exploration of examples of visual art and music from the European context;
• the provision of well argued conclusions relating to specific issues regarding artistic theories and practices;
• To evaluate the significance of particular historical events and ideas in the development of the arts;
• To analyse art works (music and visual art) in terms of their form and content;
• To reflect upon the complex relations existing at any one point between the arts and the society that gives rise to them;
• To identify and evaluate the construction of meaning in specific examples of artistic production;
• To explore the relationship between diverse artistic disciplines.

• 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;
• interpret and present relevant cultural information;
• 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.

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

• The module will be delivered through a programme of weekly lectures and fortnightly seminars, which will be supported by directed study tasks.
• The lectures will convey relevant historical, cultural and philosophical knowledge and will introduce students to key practices and debates that have underpinned the development of the arts in the European context.
• Directed study tasks will allow for assessment of critical texts and sources.
• These activities will encourage the students to think critically about key works of visual art and music, and to assess their meaning within the contexts that gave rise to them.
• The formative assessment will take form of an assignment, which will introduce the students to academic writing at degree level and particularly to the requirements of writing about the arts in an informed and critical manner.
• The summative assessment will take the form of an assignment which involves the student in researching a given theme and will demand use of: relevant terminology, analytical skills in relation to the works chosen for discussion, the presentation of relevant socio-historical, cultural and philosophical knowledge as well as the use of primary sources and critical texts.
• An end of the year examination will require demonstration of overall knowledge of the practices and debates, themes and issues which have acted as determinants upon the broad development of the arts in the European tradition.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative assessment (2,000 words) will be provided through a written assignment on a given theme. The title will be given to the students at the start of the module.

■ 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