THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2011/2012
- ARCHIVE for reference only
THIS PAGE IS OUT OF DATE

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : Edinburgh College of Art : Architecture and Landscape Architecture

Postgraduate Course: Text and the City (CLLC11098)

Course Outline
SchoolEdinburgh College of Art CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Course typeStandard AvailabilityAvailable to all students
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) Credits20
Home subject areaArchitecture and Landscape Architecture Other subject areaNone
Course website None Taught in Gaelic?No
Course descriptionThe course explores the aesthetics and ethics of urban writing, public lettering, and various textual forms that rely upon urban spaces and surfaces: graffiti, commemorative inscriptions, signage, advertising, and text-based public art. It examines the ways in which languages, cultures, spatial ideologies and histories intercede and interplay in the making and re-configuring of urban texts. It looks as well at interpretive strategies and discourses of endorsement and containment of textual experiences and practices. The historical and theoretical reflections are linked to case studies and examples taken from the contemporary art and media, graphic design and street art that explore the relationship of letters, text and language to place, architecture and urban landscape.

The course incorporates trans-disciplinary methodological and theoretical questions crucial for probing urban semiotic landscapes, representations of cities in media texts, spatial and temporal dimensions of multimodal everyday urban texts. Much emphasis will be placed on the multimodality of the forms of presentation of research and on trans-disciplinary methods for investigating texts in specific urban contexts. In their projects, students will creatively engage with urban texts by exploring theories and concepts as well as examining and interpreting textual artifacts, forms of writing, language signs, word-images and related spatial practices, media representations and discourses.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Additional Costs None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus?Yes
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2011/12 Semester 1, Not available to visiting students (SS1) WebCT enabled:  Yes Quota:  None
Location Activity Description Weeks Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
CentralSeminar1-11 11:10 - 13:00
First Class Week 1, Wednesday, 11:10 - 13:00, Zone: Central. Seminar Room 4, Minto House, Chambers Street
No Exam Information
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
At the end of the course students will:
- be able to conduct analysis of the graphic forms of writing in their urban context;
- learn to critically evaluate established theories and methods for the study of the relationship between text and the city;
- learn new theoretical instruments for studying texts and images and analyse their relationship to different cultural and disciplinary traditions;
- be able to research, analyse and interpret complex multimodal material;
- learn to analyse and critically assess specific forms of urban writing (graffiti, advertising,
inscriptions, logos) as well as technologies that implicate or rely upon visible texts;
- develop skills in relating theory to the analysis of the material manifestations of textual practices and graphic and spatial dimensions of textual artefacts;
- learn to examine urban space and interpret the city in relation to its multitude of textual and intertextual forms.
Assessment Information
The course is assessed based on an illustrated essay of approximately 4,000 words. Essay topics are developed individually by the students over the course of the semester. Students are encouraged to experiment with the form of the essay to best reflect their topic, argument, and the visual strategy selected.
Special Arrangements
None
Additional Information
Academic description Not entered
Syllabus Not entered
Transferable skills Not entered
Reading list Not entered
Study Abroad Not entered
Study Pattern Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Ella Chmielewska
Tel: (0131 6)51 3736
Email: Ella.Chmielewska@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMr Christopher Miller
Tel: 0131 221 6150
Email: c.miller@ed.ac.uk
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Timetab
Prospectuses
Important Information
 
© Copyright 2011 The University of Edinburgh - 16 January 2012 5:48 am