Festivals of various art forms have become global phenomena and play an increasingly pivotal role in the creative industries economy. The course offers a historical, theoretical and critical context for the study of festivals. Festivals are examined from critical and historical perspectives but also through detailed consideration of specific examples, both contemporary and local and historical and 'remote' and cover a broad range of cultural forms including film, music, theatre and art. 

10 x 1hr lecture

10 x 1hr seminar

None

None

One annotated bibliography, 1500 words (30%)

One research proposal, 3500 words (70%)

This course aims to:

■ place festivals in a historical and theoretical framework of study.

■ consider festivals in a broad range of different cultural forms and practices.

■ consider specific case studies of festivals across a range of cultural forms and practices.

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

■ use historical and critical frameworks in the study of festivals as cultural and social events.

■ conceptualise and critically evaluate the differences and similarities between festivals across a range of cultural forms and practices.

■ advance individual research informed by in-depth knowledge of specific case studies of festivals.

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