VSA3010

Making art history

John Gregory

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* First semester
* Clayton
* Prerequisites: Two visual arts subjects at second-year level

Objectives On completion of this subject, students should have developed a sense of how to situate their own research and writing in relation to relevant art historical principles and approaches; and learnt or refined a number of skills valuable to the progress of their studies in art history and theory.

Synopsis This subject is designed to equip students for honours in art history and theory, by introducing and developing skills and methods appropriate to advanced studies in the field. Consideration will be given first to some broader questions - such as the roles of the contemporary art historian and critic, general problems involved in visual analysis, recent approaches to interpretation and meaning (for example in Renaissance studies), and modes of interpretation and analysis in architecture and photography. Seminars will then focus on a range of `hands-on' matters such as the production of catalogues raisonées and single-artist monographs, technical examination and conservation, the relevance of new technologies (eg CD-ROM and the Internet), research methods (including archival work), and general principles of thesis/research paper writing in art history and theory. Wherever possible, emphasis will be given to issues and approaches directly relevant to students' own research and interests in the field.

Assessment Seminar paper (1500 words): 25%
* Short exercise (1500 words): 25%
* Essay (3000 words): 50%

Recommended texts

Booth W and others The craft of research U Chicago P, 1995
Fernie E (ed.) Art history and its methods: A critical anthology Phaidon, 1995
Moxey K The practice of theory: Postructuralism, cultural politics and art history Cornell U P, 1995