Art History in the World

Subject AHIS30019 (2010)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2010.

Credit Points:

12.50

Level:

3 (Undergraduate)

Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

Semester 2, Parkville - Taught on campus.

Pre-teaching Period Start	not applicable
Teaching Period	not applicable
Assessment Period End	not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol	not applicable
Census Date	not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail	not applicable

On Campus

Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.

Time Commitment:

Contact Hours: 2.5 A 1-hour lecture and a 1.5-hour tutorial per week
Total Time Commitment: 102 hours

Prerequisites:

Completion of 37.5 points of level two subjects in Art History and enrolment in the Bachelor of Arts or Graduate Diploma in Arts. Bachelor of Arts students should endeavour to take the cpastone in their final semester of study after completion of 25 points at third year.

Corequisites:

N/A

Recommended Background Knowledge:

N/A

Non Allowed Subjects:

None

Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the 3Disability Liaison Unit website: 4http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Coordinator

Assoc Prof Charles Green

Contact

Charles Green

email: c.green@unimelb.edu.au

Subject Overview:	This subject will involve students in the research and interpretation of works of art encountered in Melbourne's collections, institutions, museums and civic spaces; and through encounters with specialists whose job it is to conserve, collect and display these objects. The subject develops a broad understanding of the historical and aesthetic characteristics of artworks produced during selected artistic periods and locations, both Western and Non-Western (eg Renaissance; Edo; Contemporary). The subject also draw attention to the varying contexts informing works of art, including the relationship between art and its methods of production and preservation; its engagement with society and installation in museum settings; and the different ways in which viewers respond to art and interpret the meanings and messages which it conveys. The subject provides students with a fundamental grounding in the methodologies of the discipline of history, and in the broader critical and analytical skills necessary for the study of art at higher levels. This subject is team taught by the art history staff, drawing upon their experience in art historical research, publishing and curating. It will focus on the work of art through the distinctive approaches adopted by the program's art historians, and will also examine the skills necessary for those who practice art hstory as a profession.
Objectives:	Students who complete this subject will: be able to research in art history through the experience of data collection, data collation and the interpretation of work of art housed or located in Melbourne through the distinctive methodologies and problems that art historians have separately adopted, as specialists in different periods of art history, to approach the works of different periods; encounter art in Melbourne collections, institutions, museums and civic spaces, and encounter specialists whose job it is to conserve, collect and display these objects; develop a broad understanding of the historical and aesthetic characteristics of artworks produced during selected artistic periods (for example High Renaissance, baroque, rococo, neoclassical, contemporary art); understand the varying contexts informing works of art, including the relationship between art and its methods of production and preservation, its engagement with society and installation in museum settings, and the different ways in which viewers respond to art and interpret the meanings and messages which it conveys; develop a range of approaches to understanding art, from issues of censorship and art, to gender and sexual identity in art, and art and politics; achieve a fundamental grounding in the methodologies of the discipline of history, and in the broader critical and analytical skills necessary for the study of art at higher levels; be able to research through the competent use of the library and other information sources, and be able to define areas of inquiry and methods of research in the preparation of essays; be able to conceptualise theoretical problems, form judgements and arguments and communicate critically, creatively and theoretically through essay writing, tutorial discussion and presentations; be able to communicate knowledge intelligibly and economically through essay writing and tutorial discussion; be able to manage and organise workloads for recommended reading, the completion of essays and assignments and examination revision; be able to participate in team work through involvement in syndicate groups and group discussions.
Assessment:	A 2000 word exercise 50% (due during the semester) and a 2000 word research essay 50% (due during the examination period). A minimum 75% attendance at tutorials is also expected as a hurdle requirement in order to pass the subject.
Prescribed Texts:	A subject reader will be available
Recommended Texts:	Cramer, Lorinda and Sullivan, Lisa. Sculpture on campus: University of Melbourne, Parkville campus Parkville, Vic.: Cultural and Community Relations Committee, The University of Melbourne, 2003. Crow, Thomas E. The intelligence of art, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999. D'Alleva, Anne. Methods & theories of art history, London: Laurence King Pub., 2005. Day, Charlotte. A short ride in a fast machine: Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces 1985-2005, Fitzroy, Vic.: Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces, 2005. Dwyer, Tessa (ed.). Good thinking: words and pictures on contemporary Melbourne art, Fitzroy, Vic.: 1st Floor Artists and Writers Space, 2000. Elkins, James, Master narratives and their discontents, London: Routledge, 2005. Elkins, James, What happened to art criticism? Chicago, Ill.: Prickly Paradigm Press . Bristol: University Presses Marketing, 2003. Freeland, Cynthia A. But is it art?: an introduction to art theory, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001. Galbally, Ann. The collections of the National Gallery of Victoria Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1987. Goad Phillip et al. Heide: the architecture of Heide Museum of Modern Art, Balmain, NSW: Pesaro Publishing, 2002. Goad, Philip. Melbourne architecture, Balmain, N.S.W.: The Watermark Press, 1999. Goad, Philip. The building: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2003. Green, Charles and Smith, Jason (eds.). Fieldwork: Australian art 1968 & 2002, Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2002. Hoff, Ursula, The National Gallery of Victoria, London: Thames and Hudson, c1973. McAuliffe, Chris and Yule, Peter (eds.). Treasures: highlights of the cultural collections of the University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic.: Melbourne University Publishing, 2003. Museum of Victoria. Bunjilaka: the Aboriginal Centre at Melbourne Museum, Melbourne: Museum Victoria, 2000. Museum Victoria. Treasures of Museum Victoria, Melbourne: Museum Victoria, 2004. National Gallery of Victoria. The collection, Melbourne: The National Gallery of Victoria, 2003. Nicholls, Lara. In a new light: the art collection of Trinity College, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic.: Trinity College, The University of Melbourne, 2001. Presland, Gary. Aboriginal Melbourne: the lost land of the Kulin people, Ringwood, Vic.: Penguin Books, 1998.
Breadth Options:	This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information:	Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:	Students who successfully complete this subject will: be able, through the competent use of the library and other information sources, be able to define areas of inquiry and methods of research in the preparation of essays; be able to conceptualise theoretical problems, form judgements and arguments and communicate critically, creatively and theoretically through essay writing, tutorial discussion and presentations; be able to communicate knowledge intelligibly and economically through essay writing and tutorial discussion; be able to manage and organise workloads for recommended reading, the completion of essays and asssignments and examination revision; be able to participate in team work through involvement in syndicate groups and group discussions.
Notes:	This capstone subject is compulsory and only available to students undertaking a major in Art History
Related Course(s):	Bachelor of Arts
Related Majors/Minors/Specialisations:	Art History Art History Art History Major

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