| Unit name | Global Modernism |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HART20040 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Maasri |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of History of Art (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
In this unit we examine the multiple unfoldings of modernity and modernism during the twentieth century across a range of key locations in the Global South. Focussing on art, design and visual culture, you will be invited to consider the ways in which modern visuality, cultural practices and aesthetic forms have taken shape in and – crucially – shaped, colonial and postcolonial historical conditions. You will be offered a wide range of recently emerging primary sources and new scholarship that are expanding the field of art history into previously neglected geographies and archives. In conjunction with empirical sources and studies, you will be introduced to key concepts, analytical tools and historiographic methods deriving from postcolonial and decolonial theory, transcultural and globalisation studies, which will enable you to ‘decolonise modernism’ and critically explore its multiple articulations beyond the West.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
Special Field seminars build on your previous units by allowing you to focus on a particular subject in greater depth. These seminars offer you the opportunity to study with an academic who is a specialist in this area of research. You will further your understanding of specific geographical and temporal contexts; hone your critical skills, including visual analysis; and develop greater confidence with primary sources and complex concepts to support your independent research.
An overview of content
The material is organised thematically in three sections that study colonial and postcolonial modernity comparatively across African, Asian and Latin American examples, with particular attention to cultural flows, transnational circuits and transcultural exchanges. The first theme is concerned with colonial circuits of modernity in and through which European modernism circulated, looking at key transnational conduits including art/design educational institutions, avant-garde art networks and the visual economies of print media. While critically examining modernity’s entanglement with colonial power, students are invited here to consider forms of agency in creative local adaptations and translations of modernism. The second theme offers insights into the ways in which artists and designers debated the role of art and engaged in the tumultuous processes of mid-twentieth-century decolonisation. Inspired by the anticolonial fervour of the moment and dreams of national self-determination, this crucial period in global modern art history saw widespread critical contentions with modernism. Reckoning with both the erosion of indigenous aesthetic traditions and desires to reclaim a sense of cultural identity triggered aesthetic experimentations that anxiously balanced between quests for heritage authenticity and modernity. Central here is how art, design and visual culture functioned as key sites for creative imaginings, political transformation and postcolonial worldmaking. The third theme builds on the previous two to examine the circulation of anticolonial art, images and related ideas, as well as the movement of artists/designers, in and through transnational networks of solidarity. Our focus will be on the anticolonial circuits that animated and connected the Global South, particularly the rise of Third World Biennials, Third Cinema and the visual politics of Tricontinental solidarity in print media.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
You will be taught in small-group settings that allow you to develop your knowledge and understanding through critical reading and extensive discussion that engages with current debates in art history. You will develop your analytical skills, building confidence and competencies that will help you in the approach to the assessments and provide a foundation for other specialist units in Year 3.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Classes will involve a combination of long- and short-form lectures, class discussion, investigative activities and practical activities, which include visual analysis. Students will be expected to engage with readings and participate on a weekly basis. This will be further supported with drop-in sessions and self-directed exercises with tutor and peer feedback
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
3,000-word essay (75%) [ILO 1-5].
Timed assessment (25%) [ILOs 1-5].
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the format or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are confirmed by the School/Centre shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. HART20040).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
