Art History in the World

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2013:

On Campus

Total expected time commitment is 102-hours across the semester, including class time.

Completion of 37.5 pts of level two subjects in Art History and enrolment in the Bachelor of Arts or Graduate Diploma in Arts (Art History). Bachelor of Arts students should endeavour to take the capstone subject in their final semester of study after completion of 25 pts of 3rd year.

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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 Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

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.

On completion of the subject students should have:

• the ability 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;
• encountered art in Melbourne collections, institutions, museums and civic spaces, and encounter specialists whose job it is to conserve, collect and display these objects;
• developed 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);
• an understanding of 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;
• developed a range of approaches to understanding art, from issues of censorship and art, to gender and sexual identity in art, and art and politics;
• achieved 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;
• the ability 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;
• the ability to conceptualise theoretical problems, form judgements and arguments and communicate critically, creatively and theoretically through essay writing, tutorial discussion and presentations;
• the ability to communicate knowledge intelligibly and economically through essay writing and tutorial discussion;
• the ability to manage and organise workloads for recommended reading, the completion of essays and assignments and examination revision;
• the ability to participate in team work through involvement in syndicate groups and group discussions.

A 2000 word exercise 50% (due during the semester) and a 2000 word take-home examination 50% (due during the examination period). This subject has a minimum hurdle requirement of 75% attendance and regular participation in tutorials. Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

A subject reader will be available

• Cramer, Lorinda and Sullivan, Lisa. 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. Trinity College, The University of Melbourne, 2001.
• Presland, Gary. Aboriginal Melbourne: the lost land of the Kulin people, Ringwood, Vic.: Penguin Books, 1998.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

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.

This capstone subject is compulsory and only available to students undertaking a major in Art History or the Graduate Diploma in Art (Art History).