Undergraduate Course: Art and Ecology: the intersection of environmental and social justice (ARTX10075)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | In this course we will investigate how artistic work develops in diverse geographies and engages with the contemporary conditions of environmental and social injustice. We will explore the ways in which late capitalism generates and aggravates these injustices, trace the legacy of inequalities, and study how artworks foreground the values of sustainability, accountability, and connectivity. |
| Course description |
In this course we will explore how artists and creative practitioners are addressing climate crisis and systems of globalisation that are impacting on human life, other species, and life at large. We will look at artistic work across mediums that challenges the conditions of late capitalism and consider the entanglement of environmental and social injustice. The contemporary field of art and ecology is underpinned by rich histories of environmental and socially engaged art. Questions of exclusion, extraction and assimilation are central to creative practice in this field. This course draws on examples of this work from around the world and pays particular attention to activities from the Global South that have been under-represented in art history. It emphasizes the crucial role of indigenous art practices, and highlights collaboration, artist-led activities, the intersection of art and activism, and forms of community engagement.
This course is delivered in a series of ten weekly two-hour study sessions that feature a lecture in combination with a seminar or workshop run by tutors. Across ten weeks these sessions unpack the issues and ideas that define art and ecology through the study of artworks, exhibitions, and creative projects. A number of sessions feature guest speakers from the arts and/or take place in external arts venues. Each week we consider artists' critical and creative approach to art and ecology in their work with: timescales and time perspectives; materials and technologies; sites/spaces and publics; ideas of community, labour, and the 'worker'. Students prepare for the sessions by reviewing course materials and researching examples of artistic/creative practice in art and ecology in past and current arts exhibitions, projects, and events.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 6,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 3,
External Visit Hours 2,
Online Activities 2,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Formative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
170 )
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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. Presentation of proposed art and ecology essay topic in a video recording (4-5 minutes, with slides and indicative references list) OR a written essay plan and an indicative reference list (800-1000 words), submitted between weeks 4-6 (30%).
2. A 3000-4000 word essay OR a 10-12 minute video essay (recording of an oral presentation accompanied by slides and a transcript with reference list), submitted between weeks 10-11 (70%). The essay topic should address the practices and ideas of art and ecology.
Both components of assessment on this course are assessed against all three learning outcomes for the course, with equal weighting given to each learning outcome. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Informal verbal feedback on student work and ideas will be provided by tutors and peers on a weekly basis during seminars and workshop events.
In advance of submitting Summative Assessment Component 1 you will receive in-class verbal formative verbal feedback on your intended submission to help guide you towards making your initial submission.
Summative Assessment
Feedback on Summative Component 1 is intended to support your development towards the submission of Summative Component 2 as both are assessed against the same learning outcomes and with the same weightings. Students will be provided with individual written feedback and grades on their summative submissions, which will be disseminated via Learn VLE as per university regulations. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Undertake independent scholarly research at a high level that addresses the creative and critical exploration of social and ecological justice in contemporary art.
- Critically analyse a range of textual and non-textual materials and discourses that explore contemporary practices in the field of art and ecology.
- Communicate oral and/or written responses to ecological and social justice in contemporary art in forms that are imaginative and creative.
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Reading List
Culture/Shift (2023) Culture/Shift. Available at: culture/SHIFT | Creative Carbon Scotland
(Accessed: 21/09/2023).
Gómez-Barris, Macarena. (2017) The Extractive Zone : Social Ecologies and Decolonial Perspectives. Durham: Duke University Press.
Ponce de Leon, Jennifer. (2021) Another Aesthetics Is Possible: Arts of Rebellion in the Fourth World War. [Online]. Durham: Duke University Press.
Latour, Bruno & Weibel, Peter. (eds.) (2020) Critical Zones : The Science and Politics of Landing on Earth. Karlsruhe, Germany: ZKM Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, & The MIT Press.
Weintraub, Linda. (2012) To Life! : Eco Art in Pursuit of a Sustainable Planet. Berkeley: University of California Press. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
1. Research and enquiry
Students will develop the ability to critically review, consolidate and extend knowledge, skills, practices and thinking in the field of art and ecology.
2. Personal and intellectual autonomy
Students will develop independent research skills relating to the creative and critical ways that contemporary art addresses the challenges of social and environmental justice.
3. Personal effectiveness
Students will build the capacity to self-manage, including skills in planning, research, and communication, to meet course deadlines. They will develop ideas through to outcomes that confirm an engagement with the ethical principles of the art and ecology field.
4. Communication
Students will develop their ability to effectively communicate ideas and information about current debates and issues in contemporary art and ecology in visual, oral and/or written forms. |
| Keywords | ecology,socially engaged art,environmental art,class,curation,globalisation,climate crisis |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Julie Louise Bacon
Tel: (0131 6)51 5800
Email: J.L.Bacon@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mx Hannah Pennie Morrison
Tel: (0131 6)51 5763
Email: Hannah.PM@ed.ac.uk |
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