University of the West of England

    MODULE SPECIFICATION

    Code: UA1AD8-20-1

    Title: Creative Cultures 1

    Version: 6

    Level: 1

    UWE credit rating: 20

    ECTS credit rating: 10

    Module type: Project

    Owning Faculty: FCA

    Field: Visual Culture

    Field Leader: A Partington

    Faculty Committee Approval: Q & S Committee

    Date: Chairs action – 17/9/10

       

    Valid from: Sept 2010

    Discontinued from:

    Contributes towards:

    FdA Creative Practices

    Pre-requisites:

    Co-requisites:

    Excluded combinations:

    Learning outcomes:

    On completion of the module students will have demonstrated:

    Knowledge and Understanding

    i) Initial identification of some of the key theories and issues underlying ongoing debates around creative practices;

    ii) Aspects of the historical development of creative practices in art, media and design;

    iii) the contexts of production and consumption for art, media and design;

    Intellectual Skills

    iv) development of analytical skills;

    v) development of critical skills

    Subject/Practical Skills

    vi) development of library skills and methods of research;

    vii) observation, description and contextualisation;

    viii) development of essay writing skills;

    Transferable Skills

    ix) ability to communicate and document research findings, through written work and through the use of visual material;

    x) ability to communicate information and articulate an argument to an audience in a professional presentation format;

    xi) ability to work to a deadline, in stages.

    .

Syllabus content:

    The central theme of the lectures is the range of different contexts within which creative practice takes place and the different impact these contexts have on the production and consumption of work within art, media and design. The emphasis will be on significant developments during the C20th. The importance of having knowledge and understanding of the contexts in which practice takes place and becomes meaningful will be emphasised throughout all of the lectures, as well as in the research tasks that will be set throughout the module. The importance of historical precedents will also be emphasised through the use of examples from specific areas of practice. The lectures will be designed to address the five following modes of contextualisation, introducing the key issues and debates which continue to surround creative practices:

    1. Historical context: the value of historical precedence; the relationships between technological and aesthetic developments, the tensions between innovation and conservation; the relationships between Modernism and ‘tradition’.

    2. Theoretical context: ideas and concepts which have informed the ways in whjch creative practices are discussed, such as theories of autonomous art from romanticism to avant-gardism; aesthetic models of creative practice from psychoanalysis to critical theory; the ideology of the aesthetic and the critique of “aestheticism” (art-for-art’s-sake).

    3. Industrial Contexts: the relationships between technologies of production and cultures of consumption, the rise and decline of a cultural hierarchy, the convergence of art, design and media in the ‘creative industries’.

    4. Cultural context: art, media, and design as ‘representation’, relationships between aesthetic and ideological developments, constructions and deconstructions of identity

    5. Methodological context: methodologies of reading and interpreting visual texts; the role of the viewer/consumer in constructing/negotiating (rather than decoding) meaning; interventionist readings/interpretations

    Each lecture will be accompanied by a short piece of set reading, and followed by a discussion session allowing students to raise issues with the lecturer, clarify some of the ideas presented and begin making links with their specific practices.

    Integrated with the lectures are workshops enabling the student to research an area of interest relevant to their own practice; each one focusing on specific tasks which support the development of the skills required to achieve the learning outcomes (). The research tasks will be closely linked to the content of the lectures and requirements for assessment and will enable students to engage in small-scale projects which draw upon material, ideas, and practices from their own pathway as an active way of engaging with the ideas presented.

    The list of research tasks is open to continual review but will include a verbal presentation of research in progress, and cound include an annotated bibliography, maintaining a blog, an essay marking exercise, exercises to develop skills in writing (to describe, contextualise and analyze) and in understanding texts.

    Students will be requested to look carefully at the essay questions and gather together the basic material necessary to signal how each could be approached. Material might include a list of names (theorists, practitioners, movements, organisations, products), key ideas and/or concepts, indicative book or article titles, relevant web addresses, appropriate visual material, relationship to student’s own work and concerns. A short account (100 words) of how and why the student chose which question to attempt should be submitted along with supporting notes from lectures and developmental work for the essay and presentation required for assessment.

    Choosing from a list of set questions, students will be required to write a 1,500 word essay, supported by advice and guidance through tutorials. Students will also be required to make a presentation of their work to their peer group, describing the research process that they have used to develop their written work and an overview of the argument developed through the written assignment (supported by audio-visual resources as appropriate). Students may use any appropriate format to present their work, but are not being assessed on their proficiency in the use of presentation technologies. Presentation notes should be submitted to the tutor at the end of the presentation.

    Together with research tasks appropriate to the cphort of students, the essay and presentation will be seen as a portfolio of work to be marked against the learning outcomes.

    Teaching and learning methods:

    Students will be taught through a combination of lectures, lecture discussions, workshops and tutorials. With the lecture series presenting the main bulk of the course material, the workshops will be devoted to particular research tasks that relate the lecture material to different areas of creative practice. They will require students to work independently on tasks as well as in small groups during the presentation and discussion of research findings. Group tutorials specifically concerned with support for the essay and presentation will also form part of these sessions. The research conducted during or as a consequence of the workshops is documented through a series of written notes submitted for assessment together with the essay and presentation notes.

    During the first four weeks of the module students will be introduced to the library through a series of workshops that introduce the facilities and research skills in using the library data base, finding and extracting visual and textual information, and using the slide and video library. These sessions relate closely to the skills required to successfully complete the research tasks.

    A programme of study skills lectures and workshops will also be provided accompanied by study skills material designed to support research, essay preparation and writing-up final work.

    The module handbook provides a timetable, all work briefs and a reading list for each essay question.

    Reading Strategy

    A reading pack including preparatory reading for the lectures will be distributed at the first session. (These texts will also be available online.) Further reading will be listed in the module handbook, where recommended texts will be linked to each of the essay questions. Advice and guidance on reading will be given during tutorials, and the library skills sessions (see above) will also enable the students to use these lists effectively, and to find additional relevant material.

    Assessment criteria:

    Students are assessed according to their fulfilment of the learning outcomes in respect of the following criteria:

    Criteria

    Relates to Learning Outcomes

    Source of Evidence

    i) Clarity of objectives, understanding and addressing the question;

    i), ii), iii) x)

    Research tasks, Essay, Presentation and notes

    ii) Structure and coherence of discussion/argument;

    i), viii), ix) x)

    Research tasks ,

    Essay Presentation and notes

    iii) Critical evaluation and/or analysis;

    iv), v, vii) x)

    Research tasks ,

    Essay, Presentation and notes

    iv) Research (breadth, depth, relevance, use of);

    vi), ix) x)

    Research tasks ,

    Essay, Presentation and notes

    v) Writing and presentation (articulation, accuracy, referencing, bibliography.

    viii), ix), x) xi)

    Research task ,

    Essay, Presentation and notes

    Indicative sources:

    General

    Barthes R. (1977)

    Image Music Text

    London: Fontana

    Dormer P. (1990)

    The Meanings of Modern Design

    London:Thames & Hudson

    Forty A. (1986)

    Objects of Desire: Design and Society since 1750

    London:Thames & Hudson

    Greenhalgh, P. (2002)

    The Persistence of Craft

    A & C Black Publishers Ltd

    Hawkes T. (1977)

    Structuralism and Semiotics

    London: Methuen

    Held D. (1980)

    Introduction to Critical Theory

    London: Hutchinson

    Sparke P. (1986)

    Introduction to Design & Culture

    London: Allen & Unwin

    Strinati, D. (1995)

    An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture

    London: Routledge

    Walker J. & Chaplin S. (1997)

    Visual Culture: an Introduction

    Manchester: Manchester University Press

    Woodham,J. (1997)

    C20th Design

    Oxford University Press,

    Cahoone, L (2002)

    Modernism to Postmodernism

    London: Blackwell

    Lister, M. et al (2003)

    New Media: a Critical Introduction

    London: Routledge

    Darley, A. (2000)

    Visual Digital Culture

    London: Routledge

    Evans, J. & Hall, S. (1999)

    Visual Culture: the Reader

    London: Sage

    Hall, S (1997)

    Representation

    London: Sage

    Stangos, N. (1994)

    Concepts of Modern Art

    London: Thames and Hudson

    (eds.) Collins, Jim. et al (1993)

    Film Theory Goes to the Movies

    London: Routledge

    Melville, S. & Readings, B. (1995)

    Vision and Textuality

    London: Macmillan

    Lury, C. (1996)

    Consumer Culture

    London: Polity Press

    Fashion Design

    Ash, J. & Wilson, E. (1992)

    Chic Thrills

    London: Pandora

    Barnard,M. (1986)

    Fashion as Communication

    London: Routledge

    Breward, C. (1995)

    The Culture of Fashion

    Manchester: Manchester University Press

    Craik, J (1994)

    The Face of Fashion

    London: Routledge

    McRobbie, A. (1998)

    British Fashion Design

    London: Routledge

    Wilson, E. & Taylor, L. (1989)

    Through the Looking Glass

    London: BBC

    Wilson E. (1985)

    Adorned in Dreams: Fashion and Modernity

    London: Virago

    Fine Art

    Chipp, H.B. (1968)

    Theories of Modern Art

    Berkeley: University of California Press

    Crow, T. (1996)

    Modern Art in Common Culture

    New York: Yale University Press

    Frascina, F. & Harris, J. (1992)

    Art & Modern Culture

    London: Phaidon

    (ed.) Davies, S (1997)

    Art and its Messages

    Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University

    (eds.) Harrison, C. and Wood, P. (1992)

    Art in Theory 1900-1990

    London: Blackwell

    McEvilley, T. (1991)

    Art and its Discontents

    New York: McPherson and Co.

    (eds.) Smith, P. & Wilde, C.

    A Companion to Art Theory

    London: Blackwell

    Graphic Design

    Aynsley, Jeremy (2001)

    A Century of Graphic Design: Graphic Design Pioneers in the Twentieth Century

    London: Mitchell Beazle

    (eds.) Bierut M. et al (1994)

    Looking Closer

    New York: Allworth Press

    Heller S. (1988)

    Graphic Style from Victorian to post-modern

    London: Thames & Hudson

    Meggs, P.B. (2006)

    History of Graphic Design

    New York: John Wiley (4th Ed)

    Poynor, Rick (2003)

    No More Rules: Graphic Design and Postmodernism

    London: Laurence King

    Photography

    Barrett,T. (2000)

    Criticising Photographs

    New York: McGraw Hill

    Bright, Susan (2005)

    Art Photography Now

    London: Thames and Hudson

    (ed.) Campany, David (2003)

    Wells, Liz (2004)

    Art and Photography

    Photography: a critical introduction

    London: Phaidon

    London: Routledge

    (3rd rev edition)

    Clarke, G (1997)

    The Photograph: a Visual and Cultural History

    Oxford: Oxford University Press

    Applied Arts

    Fiell, Charlotte Designing the 20th Century London: Taschen

    & Peter (2001)

    Collins, Michael Towards Post-Modernism: British Museum Press

    (1994) Design since 1851

    De Waal, Edmund 20th Century Ceramics London: Thames and (2003) Hudson

    Rawson, Philip Ceramics Oxford: Oxford

    (1984) University Press

    (ed.) Dormer, Peter The Culture of Craft Manchester:

    (1997) Manchester Uni Press

    Dormer, Peter The New Ceramics London: Thames and (1995) Hudson

    Dormer, Peter The Art of the Maker: London: Thames and (1984) Skill and its meaning in Art, Craft and Hudson

    Design

    Assessment:

    Weighting between components A and B (standard modules at levels 0-3 only) A: B:

    ATTEMPT 1

    First Assessment Opportunity

    Component A

    Description of each element Element weighting

    1. Written essay (1,500 words)+ presentation and notes + preparatory/

    supporting work from the research tasks

    100%

    Second Assessment Opportunity (further attendance at taught classes is/is not required)

    Component A

    Description of each element Element weighting

    1. Written essay (1000 words)+ presentation and notes + preparatory/

    supporting work from the research tasks

    100%

    SECOND (OR SUBSEQUENT) ATTEMPT Attendance at taught classes is/is not required.

    Specification confirmed by …………………………………Date …………………

    (Associate Dean/Programme Director)

Assessment: Profile of student achievement in relation to stated learning outcomes:

    Creative Cultures 1– UA1AD8-20-1

    Assessment Criteria:

    Students will be assessed according to their fulfillment of the learning outcomes in respect of the following criteria:

    Threshold standard

    (UG Level)

    i) Clarity of objectives, understanding and addressing the question;

    The essay question being attempted is clearly indicated and responded to in the work. There is demonstrated some understanding of the intention of the question and its relationship to the module.

    ii) Structure and coherence of discussion/argument;

    The discussion is focused, clearly laid out and demonstrates some ability in the formulation of a basic argument.

    iii) Critical evaluation and/or analysis;

    There is evidence of a basic level of analytical ability and some competences in evaluating the material presented.

    iv) Research (breadth, depth, relevance, use of);

    Research has been conducted at a satisfactory level with relevant texts being used to support the argument.

    v) Writing and presentation (articulation, accuracy, referencing, bibliography.

    The writing is grammatically correct and is accurately spelt. The writing is clear and of academic standard. The presentation demonstrates some understanding of the appropriate form an essay and makes use of accepted conventions of citation and bibliography.

    Levels of Achievement

    80% and above -

    the student has produced a substantial body of work demonstrating a very high level of critical and creative independence in the research, analysis, recording and presentation of contextual material. The student has made an outstanding contribution to the knowledge and understanding of their peers through their active participation in seminars. The work exceptionally exceeds the threshold profile in respect of all five criteria.

    70% - 79% -

    the student has produced a substantial body of work demonstrating a high level of innovation, critical and creative independence in the research, analysis, recording and presentation of contextual material. The student has made a considerable contribution to the knowledge and understanding of their peers through their active participation in seminars. The work exceeds the threshold profile in respect of all five criteria.

    60% - 69% -

    the student has produced a substantial body of work demonstrating innovation, critical and creative independence in the research, analysis, recording and presentation of contextual material. The student has made a considerable contribution to the knowledge and understanding of their peers through their active participation in seminars. The work meets the threshold profile in respect of all five criteria.

    50% - 59% -

    the student has produced a body of work demonstrating critical independence and creativity in the research, analysis, recording and presentation of contextual material. The student has made a significant contribution to the knowledge and understanding of their peers through their participation in seminars. The work meets the threshold profile in respect of all five criteria;

    40% - 49% -

    the student has produced a body of work demonstrating engagement with the programme of study. The student is competent in the researching, recording and organization of contextual material. The student has participated in seminar groups and contributed to the knowledge and understanding of the peer group. The work substantially meets the threshold profile in respect of all five criteria.

    30% - 39%

    the body of work is incomplete and demonstrates a lack of engagement with aspects of the programme of study. As a result the student lacks confidence in the researching, recording and organization of contextual material. Contribution to seminar groups has been erratic. The work substantially fails to meet the threshold profile in respect of all five criteria.

    20% - 29% -

    the body of work is substantially incomplete and demonstrates very poor engagement with the programme of study. The student has not acquired the core skills introduced in the module and has made an inadequate contribution to seminar groups. The work fails to meet the threshold profile in respect of all five criteria.

    0% - 19% -

    very little evidence of engagement with the module. No evidence of progression. The work fails to meet the threshold profile in respect of all five criteria.

    * for the purpose of assessment the level of achievement is measured against the overarching profile given through the five threshold statements.

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