Cross-Cultural Artistic Encounters in the Mediterranean, 1200-1700 HISTART5164

  • Academic Session: 2024-25
  • School: School of Culture and Creative Arts
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 5 (SCQF level 11)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No

Short Description

Since antiquity, the Mediterranean has been a connecting sea, a zone of economic, religious, and artistic contacts among diverse cultures and worldviews. In this course we will examine the artistic encounters between Muslims, Jews, and Christians in the Mediterranean, extending from Spain to Syria, c. 1200-1700. Among the topics covered will be the multifaith city of Jerusalem, Jewish books featuring Islamic and Christian motifs, Islamic metalwork with Christian imagery, hybrid Italo-Byzantine icons, Italian artworks with Islamic themes, and the migration of Islamic and Byzantine imagery beyond the Mediterranean, to places like Mexico and Ethiopia. The multifaceted nature of "Mediterranean" artworks will be explored through concepts such as identity, hybridity, translation, portability, transculturation, eclecticism, and connectivity.

Timetable

10 x 1hr lecture

10 x 1hr seminar over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus

Requirements of Entry

Standard entry to Masters at College Level

Excluded Courses

None

Co-requisites

None

Assessment

Essay (3000 words) - 60%

Article or book review (1000 words) - 30%

10-minute presentation - 10%

Main Assessment In: April/May

Course Aims

This course aims to:

■ analyse the diversity and richness of Mediterranean visual cultures. 

■ develop a clear understanding of current critical debates on cross-cultural artistic exchanges between "East" and "West."

■ critically explore well-known and less-studied visual cultures falling under the blanket term "Mediterranean."

■ critically evaluate regional artworks and place them within wider Mediterranean and global cultural contexts.

■ analyse comparatively Italian, Islamic, Byzantine, and Jewish visual and material cultures.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

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

■ express themselves coherently and persuasively both orally and writing.

■ develop skills of visual analysis and apply them to different types of visual culture

■ conduct independent research and incorporate findings from primary and secondary sources into a broader analysis.

■ understand and critically use key concepts from cultural theory in their study of Mediterranean art.

■ further develop their teamwork and presentation skills.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

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