Course Catalogue

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This is a single-semester course taught in semester two: Art History in Action.  This will examine some long lasting issues in the history of art between Antiquity and the present day, including the relationship between the depiction of the natural world and a culture of idealism during the Renaissance and more recently. It will also look at dialogues between past and present, classical order and romanticism and between art as personal expression and as collective experience.

Lectures: Mondays, Tuesdays & Thursdays at 3pm over 7 weeks as scheduled in MyCampus; Seminars: weekly one hour seminar over 9 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus

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One 90-minute exam (50%); one 1500-wd essay (25%); one 50-minute visual test (25%)

This course aims to:

■ offer a short initiation course for those who wish to study the History of Art within the context of an interdisciplinary degree

■ furnish students who may have no prior knowledge of the subject, with a good general knowledge of history of art and world cultures represented by the periods and themes discussed

■ foster transferable skills, for example, time-management; problem-solving; observation and visual analysis; independent learning; presentation and communication (oral and written)

■ present a basic foundation in selected areas of History of Art, which will enhance students' appreciation and understanding of major aspects of the material heritage of Western and world cultures and, in conjunction with HISTART1002, allow entry to Level-2 History of Art.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ identify the distinguishing characteristics of the art covered by the course

■ recognise and comment critically, in writing and verbally, on selected major art works from the periods covered

■ accurately relate key works of each period to their artistic, cultural and historical contexts.

■ define and use correctly the technical terms necessary to describe: (a) the different techniques, elements and forms used; (b) the different types of work produced by artists (including architects) during the periods covered by the course.

■ identify and place in the correct historical context the imagery (iconography) used by the artists covered by the course.

■ analyse the salient features of the works presented in the visual test and account for their significance in relation to the main themes of the course.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.