SE2461: Introduction to Visual Culture

School English Literature
Department Code ENCAP
Module Code SE2461
External Subject Code 100319
Number of Credits 20
Level L6
Language of Delivery English
Module Leader Mr Thomas Harman
Semester Autumn Semester
Academic Year 2015/6

Outline Description of Module

The module will analyse the complex ways in which paintings and other visual art forms generate meanings and how they can be ‘read’ by the viewer.

 

On completion of the module a student should be able to

Analyse the meanings of a variety of images with reference to style, genre, materiality and cultural context; use the vocabulary necessary for this analysis; engage with a range of theoretical perspectives and critical ideas about visual culture.

 

How the module will be delivered

Timetabled sessions include lectures and discussion sessions where students have the opportunity to make presentations and/or lead discussion. Lectures are usually supplemented with handouts summarising content, which will be available on Learning Central in advance of the classes. Digitised images are used extensively.

 

There will be a two-hour weekly lecture supported by a one-hour seminar. The lectures, which will include small group discussion and support, aim to introduce students to different images and provide key knowledge about and critical perspectives on aspects of visual culture; the seminars provide the opportunity for students to employ the skills they have learnt in the lectures in order to discuss and give presentations on their own choice of visual material.

 

WHAT IS EXPECTED OF ME?

Students are expected to attend and participate in the lectures and seminars for all modules on which they are enrolled. Students with good cause to be absent should inform their module leaders, who will provide the necessary support. Students with extenuating circumstances should submit the Extenuating Circumstances Form in accordance with the School’s procedures.

 

The total number of hours which students are expected to devote to each 20-credit module is 200. Of these, 30 hours will be contact hours with staff (lectures and seminars); the remaining 170 hours should be spent on self-directed learning for that module (reading, preparation for seminars, research, reflection, formative writing, assessed work, exam revision).  There are also additional seminars and workshops that students are able to attend.

Skills that will be practised and developed

The particular skill of the module includes analysing and understanding how paintings and other art forms generate meanings. This requires close reading/viewing skills, an historical awareness, and knowledge of the different ways in which visual images signify. Employability skills include the ability to synthesise information, a critical awareness of visual culture, and participation in group-based discussion involving negotiating ideas and producing clear, informed arguments.

How the module will be assessed

The module is assessed by one piece of written work in which students will be expected to analyse paintings and other art forms in a critical and theoretically-informed way.

Essay (1200 words) = 30%
Approx date of assessment in November

Essay (2000 words) = 70%
Approx date of assessment in January

The module is assessed according to the Marking Criteria set out in the English Literature Student Handbook. There are otherwise no academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities.

Assessment Breakdown

Type % Title Duration(hrs)
Written Assessment 100 Essay 1 N/A

Syllabus content

The main reading material for this module is collected in a printed course reader. Students should contact the module leader as early as possible if they will require readings in an alternative format.

Art and culture

Perspective

Portraits

Landscape

Still Life

Photography

Narrative images

Word and image

Production and reproduction

 

Essential Reading and Resource List

Indicative reading

John Berger, Ways of Seeing (Penguin and BBC, 1972)

Norman Bryson, Looking at the Overlooked: Four Essays on Still Life Painting (Reaktion, 1990)

Richard Brilliant, Portraiture (Reaktion, 2001)

Stephen Melville and Bill Readings (eds), Vision and Textuality (Macmillan, 1995)

Jonathan Miller, On Reflection (National Gallery, 1998)

Linda Nochlin, Women, Art and Power and other Essays (Thames and Hudson, 1988)

Julia Thomas, Victorian Narrative Painting (London: Tate, 2000)

---, Pictorial Victorians: The Inscription of Values in Word and Image (Athens: Ohio UP, 2004)

Background Reading and Resource List

Indicative reading

John Berger, Ways of Seeing (Penguin and BBC, 1972)

Norman Bryson, Looking at the Overlooked: Four Essays on Still Life Painting (Reaktion, 1990)

Richard Brilliant, Portraiture (Reaktion, 2001)

Stephen Melville and Bill Readings (eds), Vision and Textuality (Macmillan, 1995)

Jonathan Miller, On Reflection (National Gallery, 1998)

Linda Nochlin, Women, Art and Power and other Essays (Thames and Hudson, 1988)

Julia Thomas, Victorian Narrative Painting (London: Tate, 2000)

---, Pictorial Victorians: The Inscription of Values in Word and Image (Athens: Ohio UP, 2004)


Copyright Cardiff University. Registered charity no. 1136855