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Transmissions & Connections - HOA00012C

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  • Department: History of Art
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Richard McClary
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: C
  • Academic year of delivery: 2021-22

Module summary

This module focuses on processes of transmission, using eight pairs of culturally complex artworks as case-studies. Transmission is widely defined to encompass the history of ideas, motifs, materials, people and objects, including changes in the function and reception of individual works over time. 

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching cycle
A Spring Term 2021-22

Module aims

This module focuses on processes of transmission, using eight pairs of culturally complex artworks as case-studies. Transmission is widely defined to encompass the history of ideas, motifs, materials, people and objects, including changes in the function and reception of individual works over time. While the emphasis is on European art and architecture, a significant number of case-studies were made elsewhere or have histories that reach across other parts of the globe. The module will introduce some of the major publications and debates around those objects, and also reflect on the extent to which these publications are tied to the time and place of the scholars creating them. While the case-studies are organized chronologically, covering the sixth to the twenty-first centuries, the module will challenge period divisions and linearity, and will also critically engage with concepts relevant to the study of transmission, such as global history, networks, ‘appropriation’, ‘reception’, ‘influence’, and provenance.

Module learning outcomes

  •     A sense of historical perspective, acquired through a study of case studies
  •     An ability to explore links between works of art and architecture across space and time
  •     An in-depth understanding of selected objects and their cultural complexity
  •     A critical understanding of key concepts regarding processes of transmission
  •     Be able to work in a group

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay: Individual Reflective Component (1500 words)		 N/A 50
Groupwork
Group Project Presentation on Poster		 N/A 50

Special assessment rules

None

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Reassessment Essay		 N/A 100

Module feedback

Feedback on formative assessment within one week.

Feedback on summative assessment within 20 working days.

Indicative reading

  • Michael Baxandall, Patterns of Intention: On the Historical Explanation of Pictures, New Haven 1985
  • James Elkins, Is art history global? New York, 2007
  • Isabelle Graw, High Price. Art Between the Market and Celebrity Culture. Cologne 2008
  • A. Nagel, Medieval Modern. Art out of Time, London 2012
  • Avinoam Shalem, ‘Dangerous claims: on the “othering” of Islamic art history and how it operates within global art history’, in: Kritische Berichte: Zeitschrift für Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften 40.2 (2012), pp. 69-86
  • G. Feigenbaum and I. Reist (eds), Provenance. An Alternative History of Art, Los Angeles, 2012
  • Maxine Berg (ed.), Writing the History of the Global. Challenges for the 21st Century, Oxford, 2013, pp. 1-18
  • Diana Newall (ed.), Art and its global histories: a Reader, Manchester 2017


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.