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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Edinburgh College of Art : History of Art

Undergraduate Course: Sexual Politics and the Image (HIAR10066)

Course Outline
SchoolEdinburgh College of Art CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryWidely encountered in late 20th-century criticism, the term ?sexual politics? has revolutionised our approach to the image. ?Sexual politics? is a key term in the humanities because it positions sexuality, as well as the production of the sexed/gendered subject, as complex political issues that are neither fixed nor exclusively private. Instead, the term ?sexual politics? implies that these issues are actively negotiated in the public domain of culture. The image (in the visual arts and elsewhere) has come to play a central role in contemporary culture and therefore the deployment of the term ?sexual politics? in current approaches to the image helps illuminate how images are produced and consumed by different subjects. The deployment of the word ?politics? in this context suggests that the interests of diverse social groups are expressed in the image, which can therefore never be ?neutral? and completely autonomous -even if it appears so. On the contrary, within the framework of ?sexual politics? both making and looking at images are understood as social practices. The discourse of sexual politics makes evident the immediate relevance of images, and of art, to our private and public existence. Ultimately then the term ?sexual politics?, far from displacing the allure of the image, empowers us as spectators by helping us grasp the very complex processes that draw us to the image as such.
The course will place particular emphasis on the production and consumption of the image in the visual arts and related spaces of representation, such as film. We will concentrate on work produced during the last quarter of the 20th century when ?sexual politics? became a key concept in the practice and theory of art and visual culture. The unit will consider a variety of media and practices currently defining the expanded field of the visual.
Course description Not entered
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Students MUST have passed: History of Art 2 (HIAR08012) OR Architectural History 2A (ARHI08002) AND Architectural History 2B (ARHI08003)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students should have at least 3 History of Art courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses.

** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2014/15, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  20
Course Start Semester 2
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Revision Session Hours 1, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 173 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 50 %, Coursework 50 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) 1 two-hour examination paper (50%) and 1 extended essay (50%)
Visiting Student Variant Assessment
2 x 2000 word essays (100%)
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course, students will have knowledge and understanding of:
? The diverse ways by and through which sexuality structures the image as well as of the impact of sexual politics on a significant body of theory and contemporary art practice
? The ways that sexual politics, necessarily encoded in space and time, define one?s response to the image
? How and why artists, theorists and historians, sought to subvert the conventions defining the sexual politics of their times
? The conflicts between, and alliances, of theory and practice
? The significance of specific media and theoretical paradigms towards that end
? How to approach critically the wide variety of images in contemporary spaces of representation and assess the role of sexual politics in their formation, function and appeal to audiences
? How to participate with confidence in debates that continue to fuel arguments in contemporary art theory and practice but that spill over everyday practices as well
? How to formulate and assess own theoretical position and informed views in relation to relevant images and texts
? How to structure arguments that respect (do not underplay) the complexity of the positions encountered in art and its theory

Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Angela Dimitrakaki
Tel:
Email: angela.dimitrakaki@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Sue Cavanagh
Tel: (0131 6)51 1460
Email: Sue.Cavanagh@ed.ac.uk
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