THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2018/2019

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Edinburgh College of Art : Art

Undergraduate Course: Introduction to Visual and Cultural Studies (ARTX08063)

Course Outline
SchoolEdinburgh College of Art CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis first stage of your studies in contemporary art introduces you to key concepts and approaches used in the study of visual culture. During your first year you will explore and apply a variety of critical approaches to analyse visual culture. Through a range of assignments you will test, apply and communicate your ideas in a clear, cogent manner.

Course description This course introduces you to key concepts and approaches used in the study of visual and material culture as they relate to contemporary art. You will explore theories about how we read images and engage with the material world, you will be introduced to key historical and contemporary artists and theorists who have contributed to these philosophies, as well as the place of visual and material culture studies in Euroamerican art school curriculum.

Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Students MUST NOT also be taking History of Art 2 (HIAR08012)
Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Investigate: Use appropriate theories, histories and practices to help you select texts, images and artifacts.
  2. Reflect: Demonstrate an ability to analyse and apply knowledge to various forms of visual and material culture.
  3. Communicate: Convey your ideas and arguments in coherent and appropriate formats.
Reading List
Theodore Adorno. The Culture Industry. Selected Essays on Mass Culture. Verso 2001.

Louis Aragon. Paris Peasant. Exact Change 1999.

Georges Bataille. Encyclopaedia Acephalica. Atlas. 1997

John Berger. Ways of Seeing. Penguin 2008

Roland Barthes. Mythologies. Vintage 2009.

James Elkins, Visual Studies: A Skeptical Introduction Routledge 2003

Hal Foster, Rosalind Krauss, Yves-Alain Bois and Benjamin Buchoh Art Since 1900: Modernism-Antimodernism-Postmodernism. NY & London: Thames & Hudson. 2004

Francis Frascina and Jonathan Harris. Art in Modern Culture. An Anthology of Critical Texts. Phaidon. 1992

Charles Harrison, and Paul Wood. Art in Theory 1900-2000 Wiley-Blackwell; New edition edition (23 Sept. 2002)

Nicholas Mirzoeff, How To See The World: An Introduction to Images, from Self-Portraits to Selfies, Maps to Movies, and More. New York: Basic Books, 2016.

WJT Mitchell, Iconology: Image, Text, Ideology. Chicago: University of Chicago press 1987

Nicholas Mirzoeff, ed. The Visual Culture Reader, London and New York: Routledge, 2002.

Nicholas Mirzoeff. An Introduction to Visual Culture. Routledge. 1999

Matthew Rampley, Exploring Visual Culture: Definitions, Concepts, Contexts. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2005.

Stiles, K. and Selz, P. (1996) Theories and documents of Contemporary Art. A Sourcebook of artist¿s writings. California: University of California Press.

Terry Smith (2009) What is Contemporary Art? Chicago: Chicago University Press

Amelia Jones, and Warr, T. (eds) (2012) The Artist¿s Body. London: Phaidon.

Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, Practices of Looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture (2009), New York: Oxford University Press.

Gillian Rose (2001) Visual Methodologies. An introduction to the interpretation of visual materials. London, sage 2001

Susan Sontag On Photography. Penguin 1979

Junichiro Tanizaki. In Praise of Shadows. Vintage 2001
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Research methods, self motivated practice, collaboration, negotiation, critical evaluation.

Keywordsvisual culture,critical evaluation,presentation,research
Contacts
Course organiserDr Kamini Vellodi
Tel: (0131 6)51 5800
Email: k.vellodi@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Clara Fraser
Tel: (0131 6)51 5763
Email: cfraser9@exseed.ed.ac.uk
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