Undergraduate - UnitAHT4503 - Advanced art theory

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture
Organisational Unit	Department of Fine Art
Offered	Caulfield First semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Ms Shelley McSpedden

Synopsis

This unit aims to help students develop their knowledge and understanding of various key theoretical writers and concepts relevant to advanced studies in contemporary art. Prevailing critical theories and terms are outlined in order to open up research venues considered particularly productive for the art researcher's own personal directions. The unit is designed as a training for independent research and encourages students to investigate a wide range of ideas circulating in contemporary visual culture.

Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will:

be aware of current discourses in a range of disciplines which bear on contemporary artistic production
be able to pursue critical arguments with a sense of their ideological relativity
assess the bias of an investigative method, considering gender, class and ethnicity
understand methodology as a critique of method and be able to practice criticism in their chosen field
identify assumptions inherent in the formulation of critical questions and cultivate caution against prejudicing the outcomes of research by foreclosing on the terms of inquiry
be ready to explain the basis of art works not merely as the outcome of practical constraints but the expression of cultural values.

Assessment

Assignments (two written papers): 30% and 70%

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Daniel Palmer

Workload requirements

3 hours of lectures and tutorials and 9 independent study hours per week

Prerequisites

Admission to honours year