Undergraduate Course: Latin American 'Photographies' (HIAR10203)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course offers a thematic overview of photographic practices from Latin America (including Central America and the Caribbean), exploring the work of established photographers, alongside lesser-known practitioners and overlooked figures, as well as artists working with photography, and inter-media approaches. |
| Course description |
Though seminar topics may vary from year to year, class discussion will be structured around themes such as: Metropolitan Vernaculars and Modernist Vision; Social Documentary and 'Fotografía Comprometida'; The Political Body: Feminist and Queer Identities; Colonial Aftermaths: Indigenous, Black and Mestizo Identities; Colour. The course seeks to problematise notions of Latin America as a homogenous cultural entity by introducing a multitude of national, regional and transnational or diasporic perspectives. One might ask, for instance, how Central America and the Caribbean fit into this discussion, and why their histories of photography have been left outside of a still-developing 'canon'? Photography has a rich and textured history in Latin America, yet the most prominent work is often political, social and documentary in character. While recognizing the importance of these issues and approaches, the course aims nonetheless to open up new avenues for inquiry, exploring less visible discourses and categories.
The course consists of weekly 2-hour sessions. Students are expected to read required texts in advance and actively participate in class discussions alongside their peers.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 20 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 4,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
171 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
This course has 2 assessment components:
1) 10-minute individual presentation, written script or recording and slides due Weeks 8-9 (40%)
2) 2,500-word essay, due in the exam diet (60%)
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| Feedback |
Formative Feedback:
Students will be supported in developing a spoken presentation to be delivered in class (or option to pre-record for students with a relevant Schedule of Adjustments). They will attend a one-to-one meeting beforehand and receive feedback from the CO and their peers afterwards. Additionally, students will be asked to submit an essay plan in Week 8 and will receive feedback in a one-to-one meeting. The work done for the presentation will contribute directly to the essay.
Summative Feedback:
Written feedback on both assessment components will be provided via Turnitin as per University regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate breadth of knowledge with some depth of understanding of a range of photographic practices in Latin America, Central America and the Caribbean.
- Engage with and analyse in a critical manner contexts and ideas associated with vernacular, social and modernist photography from a global perspective.
- Apply art historiographical methodologies and analyse relevant texts and theoretical approaches, from political theory, feminist and queer identities, colonialism, indigeneity, black and mestizo identities.
- Conduct visual and textual analysis through image-based learning.
- Formulate, structure and communicate arguments, verbally and in writing, in a clear and compelling manner.
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Reading List
Cadava, Eduardo and Gabriela Nouzeilles. The Itinerant Languages of Photography. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013.
Coronado, Jorge. Portraits in the Andes: Photography and Agency, 1900- 1950. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018.
Fernandez, Horacio, ed. The Latin American Photobook. New York: Aperture, 2011.
Poole, Deborah. Vision, Race and Modernity: A Visual Economy of the Andean Image. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1997.
Taylor, Diana. ¿You Are Here¿ H.I.J.O.S. and the DNA of Performance.¿ In The Archive and the Repertoire: Performing Cultural Memory in the Americas, 161-189. Durham, London: Duke University Press, 2003.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Personal Development: This course will help students to develop their visual analysis skills, enhancing their abilities as critical and reflective thinkers, by asking them to engage with critical arguments put forward in a variety of texts.
Personal Effectiveness: The course will help students develop their abilities as creative problem-solvers and independent researchers, by asking them to explore how artists and institutions have framed art works within diverse cultural contexts, and to develop convincing interpretations (both visual and textual) in relation to those examples.
Communication: The course will help students develop their skills as effective communicators, in writing, through coursework and assessment (including an essay), as well as in spoken form, through an individual presentation. They will learn to organise and plan their research, to develop arguments in a well-structured manner, and to articulate ideas clearly. The emphasis on seminar class discussion will help students develop their critical skills through listening to and engaging with others¿ ideas, working constructively through group discussion, towards develop new understanding. |
| Keywords | Photography,Latin American art,representation,memory,the archive,protest,decolonisation,indigeneity |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Lorna Dillon
Tel:
Email: ldillon@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mx Hannah Pennie Morrison
Tel: (0131 6)51 5763
Email: Hannah.PM@ed.ac.uk |
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