Postgraduate Course: Reimagining 'Renaissance' Scotland: Visual Culture and European Perspectives, 1400-1550 (HIAR11143)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Was there a Scottish 'Renaissance'? This course examines developments in art, culture and patronage in Scotland from 1400 to 1550 in order to answer this question. Working with material held in local collections, students will consider how Scotland's visual and cultural heritage informs our understanding of Scots and Scotland during this period. Ideas of identity and Scotland's place in Europe will be explored. |
| Course description |
Critical engagement with 'Renaissance' as a problematic term in relation to northern European cultural developments from 1400-1550 marks a point of departure for this course. Working through a series of thematic ideas relating to origin myths, patronage, gender, collective identity and belief, students will consider what Scotland's visual and material culture tells us. Central themes focus on the material culture of court, kirk and lay community, as well as links forged through trade, travel and diplomacy between Scotland and Europe. Texts will be analysed to determine what they reveal of the concerns and outlooks of authors and audiences in their immediate Scottish context, but also as examples of wider medieval debates or concerns. The course takes full advantage of the rich and diverse collections in Edinburgh's museums, galleries and archives and libraries. Objects examined include manuscripts, panel paintings, architectural decoration, coinage, medals, sculpture and textiles.
This course is taught over 10 weeks through 2-hour weekly seminars, one or more of which take place in Edinburgh's museums and galleries and the Centre for Research Collections. Classes are a mixture of lectures, group work, class discussion and hands-on practical work; assessments reflect this. Essential readings consist of primary and secondary sources that allow students to interrogate objects, artworks and architecture in relation to their socio-historic context. Preparatory reading for each class is complemented by self-guided site visits and digital research.
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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 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 10,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 8,
External Visit Hours 2,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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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 components of assessment.
1) Exhibition proposal, 1500 words, 40%, weeks 7-9, relating to all Learning Outcomes.
2) Essay, 2500 words, 60 %, exam diet, relating to all Learning Outcomes.
Resubmission Information
The resubmission arrangements for this course are as follows:
The resubmission task for the Exhibition proposal, is an Exhibition Proposal, 1500 words, 40%.
The resubmission task for the Essay is an Essay, 2500 words, 60%.
Students will submit to the original assessment brief.
Students will receive further resubmission information as per University regulations as necessary. |
| Feedback |
Formative Feedback
Students have two formative feedback points in this course. Each of these opportunities for ungraded feedback aids in preparing students for their summative assessments.
1. An in-class peer review exercise on the Exhibition Proposal in Weeks 3-5 will provide spoken feedback by peers and the CO.
2. An essay plan due in Weeks 5-7. This essay plan includes key components of the final summative assessment such as a bibliography. Light written feedback will be delivered by the CO within two weeks of submission.
Summative Feedback
Feedback on both summative assessments will be delivered in writing by the CO, with the possibility of further spoken feedback by request.
Feedback on the first summative assessment will help students develop their skills of critical thinking, expression and analysis of secondary academic texts skills important for the second summative assessment.
Summative feedback will be provided according to university regulations.
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Analyse key primary sources relating to late-medieval and early modern Scotland.
- Critically engage with current scholarly debates around premodern identity and periodisation.
- Communicate detailed knowledge of Scottish art from 1400 to 1550 in discussion and in writing.
- Construct an argument grounded in visual and material evidence.
- Evaluate the significance of the arts of Scotland within the broader history of Western visual culture.
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Reading List
Coombs, Bryony. Visual Arts and the Auld Alliance, Scotland, France and National Identity c.1420-1550. Edinburgh University Press, 2024.
Ditchburn, David. Scotland and Europe: The Medieval Kingdom and Its Contacts with Christendom, c. 1214-1545. Vol. 1, Religion, Culture and Commerce. Tuckwell Press, 2001.
Ewan, Elizabeth and Maureen M. Meikle, eds. Women in Scotland c.1100-c.1750. Tuckwell Press, 1999.
Murawski, Mike, Museums as Agents of Change. A Guide to Becoming a Changemaker. Bloomsbury, 2021.
Stevenson, Katie. Power and Propaganda: Scotland, 1306-1488. Edinburgh University Press, 2014.
Thomas, Andrea. Glory and Honour: The Renaissance in Scotland. Edinburgh University Press, 2013.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critical Thinking: An independent research essay (the final summative assessment) enables students to seek, evaluate and interpret primary visual and textual knowledge-skills developed throughout the course in class discussion, close reading and the close examination of visual material. Students are guided through the research process from developing their enquiry to finding reliable and appropriate resources to identifying and deploying evidence.
Problem solving and Individuality: Discussion-based seminars encourage students to practice, refine, and express their own ideas in relation to others. The limited historiography in this area presents challenges, but also incentives to develop intellectual autonomy and imagination.
Communication: Students develop oral communication skills through discussion-based activities. Written (summative) assessments challenge students to convey complex information in a variety of formats. In their first summative assessment, students learn to creatively explore the possibilities of reaching diverse audiences through exhibition design and curation. The second assessment further develop their writing skills, critical thinking and ability to evaluate different forms of evidence
key skills of use beyond university. |
| Keywords | Scottish,visual culture,identity,Renaissance,manuscripts |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Bryony Coombs
Tel: (0131 6)51 5800
Email: Bryony.Coombs@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | |
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