Study information

Global Art and Empire, 1850-1950

Module titleGlobal Art and Empire, 1850-1950
Module codeAHV2011
Academic year2022/3
Credits15
Module staff

Dr Sabrina Rahman (Lecturer)

Duration: Term123
Duration: Weeks

11

Number students taking module (anticipated)

30

Module description

How did modern art help shape and resist global empires from 1850 to 1950? How do aesthetics and popular culture intersect with political dynamics? In exploring these questions, this module will examine artistic production in a wide range of cultural and geopolitical contexts, including the Americas, Great Britain, Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia. It will also engage with critical theories and debates in art history and visual culture, particularly those surrounding hybridity, postcolonialism, and global exchange. Lectures and seminars will consider the interplay of art, architecture and design, as well as the politics of making, exhibiting and collecting.

Module aims - intentions of the module

In this module you will explore practices of art in the context of modern global imperialism, paying particular attention to artists’ engagement with nationalism and internationalism from the late nineteenth century through the Second World War. Using the reception of the 1851 Great Exhibition as our starting point, we will consider discourses of (post)colonialism and urbanism through an analysis of a wide range of visual and material culture, including examples architecture, design, painting, photography, and sculpture. Lectures and assigned readings will address how modern artists, architects and designers were influenced by the visual traditions of Africa, India, Japan, and Latin America, and will examine the critical legacy of these cultural exchanges. Seminars will give you the opportunity to discuss art in relation to the emergence of modern cities, popular culture and identities, considering the distinctions and parallels that shaped empires and their industrial consequences throughout the world. There will be a strong emphasis on object-based research, art historiography and criticism throughout the module; this will provide you with the tools necessary to approach art history and visual culture in diverse contexts, and to hone your analytical skills for further studies. 

The module delivery is primarily through lectures and seminars, and will include a study visit to RAMM. You will be encouraged to conduct object-based research with RAMM’s significant collections of visual and material culture produced and displayed in the context of global imperialism. 

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 1. Critically evaluate selected works of modern art, architecture and design in relation to writings on cultural history and post-colonial theory
  • 2. Situate works of art and visual/material culture in a global context, and relate them to major historical currents from 1850-1950
  • 3. Articulate your own critical position relative to recent and current debates on global art, imperialism and post-colonialism

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 4. Independently research, present and critically evaluate examples of art and visual/material culture in relation to wider cultural, intellectual and socio-political discourses
  • 5. Apply a variety of methodologies and theoretical approaches to the interpretation of visual and material culture, including object-based research and discourse analysis
  • 6. Critically engage with relevant scholarly texts and historical documents, and relate them to a range of artistic practices

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

  • 7. Demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographic skills, and construct a coherent, substantiated argument based on visual analysis and scholarly literature
  • 8. Demonstrate proficiency in information retrieval and analysis
  • 9. Develop confidence in verbal communication
  • 10. Develop appropriate time-management skills for private study, and work collaboratively with peers

Syllabus plan

Lectures will be structured around specific cultural contexts, and will address the intersection of art history, visual culture, historiography, and critical theory. Topics that will be discussed include:

  • Aesthetics and global exchange
  • The emergence of modern urbanism
  • Nationalism and internationalism in the arts
  • Postcolonial practices in visual culture

Seminars will serve to analyse and discuss critical readings relative to global art history and the cultural politics of empire. Engagement with RAMM collections will focus on the major themes of the module, and consider their applications to objects of visual and material culture in the collections.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
221280

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled learning and teaching10Lectures (10 x 1 hour)
Scheduled learning and teaching10Seminars (5 x 2 hour)
Scheduled learning and teaching2Trip to museum collections or virtual field study
Guided independent study 128Independent study including reading, research, preparation for seminars and assessments

Formative assessment

Form of assessmentSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Short essay750 words 1-10Written feedback and tutorial
Oral Presentation15 minutes1-10Written feedback and tutorial

Summative assessment (% of credit)

CourseworkWritten examsPractical exams
10000

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment% of creditSize of the assessment (eg length / duration)ILOs assessedFeedback method
Essay902500 words1-10Written feedback and tutorial
Participation & Engagement 105 short (250-300 word) reflective pieces 1-10Oral

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessmentForm of re-assessmentILOs re-assessedTimescale for re-assessment
EssayEssay1-10Referral/deferral period

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to redo the assessment(s) as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

  • Aynsley, Jeremy. Designing Modern Germany. London: Reaktion, 2009. 

  • Barringer, Tim and Tom Flynn, eds. Colonialism and the Object: Empire, Material Culture and the Museum. London: Routledge, 1998. 

  • Ã?ªelik, Zeynep. Urban Forms and Colonial Confrontations: Algiers under French Rule. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. 

  • Chakrabarty, Dipesh. Provincializing Europe: Postcolonial thought and historical difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2000. 

  • Gough, Maria. The Artist as Producer: Russian Constructivism in Revolution. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995. 

  • Hobsbawm, Eric. The Age of Empire: 1875-1914. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1987.  

  • Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara. Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums and Heritage. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. 

  • Mitter, Partha. The Triumph of Modernism: India’s Artists and the Avant-Garde, 1922-1947. London: Reaktion, 2007.

  • Qureshi, Sadiah. Peoples on Parade: Exhibitions, Empire and Anthropology in Nineteenth-Century Britain. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011. 

  • Said, Edward. Culture and Imperialism. New York: Vintage Books, 1994. 

  • Schorske, Carl E. Fin-de-siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture. New York: Vintage, 1980. 

  • Wright, Gwendolyn. The Politics of Design in French Colonial Urbanism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991. 

 

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

Key words search

Global, art, postcolonial, museums, exchange

Credit value15
Module ECTS

7.5

Module pre-requisites

None

Module co-requisites

None

NQF level (module)

5

Available as distance learning?

No

Origin date

01/11/2015

Last revision date

22/07/2020