First Year Core Modules

First Year Short Modules

HA1B1: Photography - taught in the Autumn term

Introducing a wide range of historical and theoretical debates in the history of photography this module also deals with the history of photographic processes--from daguerrotypes to digital images--in relation to other visual media. Students will discuss central theoretical questions such as: the role of photographs as documents; the public and private uses of photographs; photographs as instruments of colonial power; and the ethics of photographic production and reproduction. Seminars will emphasise the visual analysis of images from a wide range of genres and ask students to interrogate the social resonances of photographic imagery.

 HA1B2: Contemporary Art - taught in the Autumn term

This module introduces students to key movements and themes in contemporary art since c. 1960 and explores transformations in the media, institutions, and themes of art, from performance and video to conceptual and participatory practices. Themes include the artist’s body, process art, conceptual practices, installation art, participation and performance, as well as photography, film, video and the internet. The module focuses on understanding the processes behind making works of art as well as close study of artworks and critical texts. Student will gain skills in visual analysis and critical thinking, and begin to develop an ability to analyse artworks independently and critically.

 HA1B4: Painting Techniques - taught in the Autumn term

A broad knowledge of artistic media and practices through the ages is necessary if we are to recognise and understand how artists have produced their works, how some of these were considered innovative, and how choices of materials and techniques contribute to the meaning of works of art. This module aims to introduce first year history of art students to some of the media and techniques used by artists over the centuries, and to some of the debates among artists and scholars around issues of artistic practice. It will help students learn to identify the reasons why artists choose certain technical approaches and materials, and the effects they achieve with them

HA1A3 - Architecture-taught in the Spring Term

This module intends to provide students with a basic knowledge of the ways in which architecture (as design, planning, and ideology) became one of the delegated fields in which a social, political, or cultural idea of the future could be articulated and implemented from the age of Industrial Revolution to the present day. The module will show how the ideas of theorists and visionaries ended up influencing the form of the everyday built environment around the world. The course will start by exploring the way that rapid urbanisation and industrialisation led many to seek alternative ways of living, whether by looking towards an idealised often-rural past. The module will cover many of the most influential and radical urban theorists of the last 200 years, and will show how their ideas informed the creation of new communities around the globe. It will end by asking how useful Utopian ideas are for solving the many challenges that face urban populations today.

HA1B9 - Crafts and the Popular Arts - taught in the Spring Term

This module will introduce students to the history, traditions, and forms of craft and popular arts in Britain from the industrial revolution to the current day. It will familiarise students to debates about hierarchies between different Arts, and encourage students to deploy art historical methods of visual analysis on more everyday objects and cultural practices. The first half of the course will look at various influences on the way everyday objects have been made and conceptualised, from the Arts and Crafts Movement to the way folk art has been used to help construct a sociology of the past. The second half will look at a number of material practices, and show how they often allowed otherwise marginalised groups to express themselves.

Second Year Long View Modules