Unit information: Approaching the Object in 2019/20

Unit name	Approaching the Object
Unit code	HART10007
Credit points	20
Level of study	C/4
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Ann Matchette
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of History of Art (Historical Studies)
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

In this unit we will be introducing you to some of the key skills that will carry you through your degree. The most important aim of the unit is to encourage you to read, write and think as an art historian and to introduce you to the challenges and the excitement of actually exploring the discipline yourself. This unit will be taught by a series of lectures and seminars. Everyone attends the 20 hours of lectures which include a large number of field trips within Bristol. You are then divided into smaller groups for the accompanying seminars. By the end of the unit you should have acquired key skills in visual analysis and an understanding of the core concepts used by art historians. You should understand what is distinctive about the study of art history and understand why art historians study their subject in the ways they do. You should also be able to reflect upon the complex relationship between evidence and interpretation, and to think about the nature of academic debate.

Intended Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:

1. demonstrate an understanding of different approaches to the history of art, and be able to reflect critically upon these different approaches;
2. utilise iconographical skills and conduct visual analysis;
3. avoid plagiarism in their own work;
4. demonstrate good presentation skills, appropriate to level 4.

Teaching Information

One x 2-hour lecture/site visit per week

One x 1-hour seminar per week.

Assessment Information

Plagiarism test (students are required to pass this in order to complete the unit) [ILO 3]

One 2000-word reflective site visit journal (50%) [ILOs 1, 2]

One 10-minute presentation (50%) [ILOs 1, 2, 4]

Reading and References

Robert S. Nelson and Richard Shiff (eds.), Critical Terms for Art History (2nd ed., University of Chicago Press, 2003)

Donald Preziosi and Claire Farago, Grasping the World: the Idea of the Museum (Ashgate, 2003)

Tony Bennett, 'Civic Seeing: Museums and the Organization of Vision', in A Companion to Museum Studies, edited by Sharon Macdonald (Oxford, 2006)

Carol Duncan, Civilizing Rituals: inside public art museums (London, 1995)

Marcia Pointon (ed.), Art Apart: Art Institutions and Ideology across England and North America