Undergraduate Course: Orientalism and Visual Culture (HIAR10119)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course introduces students to topics associated with the dissemination and interpretation of Orientalist art in Europe, America, the Middle East and North Africa. Through the analysis of works of art, primary source material and the art markets, students will explore how each of these regions engaged differently with the arts and cultures of the so-called Orient. |
| Course description |
Coinciding with the Western colonisation of the so-called Orient (Middle East and North Africa), the transmission and dissemination of knowledge about these countries to Europe and America in the nineteenth century brought forth a new wave of cultural creativity. With a budding interest in the arts of the so-called Orient, the West responded with the creation of specialised language and educational material to guide the populace on approaching these new works. This surge of fascination from Western institutions was supported and enhanced by art dealers, artists and scholars from the ¿Orient¿ who portrayed alternative perspectives of their cultures. This course will examine the role both parties played in the development of Orientalist art in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Through group work, class discussions and digital exploration of primary sources, students will learn about works of art from America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. This interaction will then build into discussions on how, when and where knowledge about arts and cultures from the so-called Orient came to America and Europe and the people who facilitated this movement. From these developments, students will observe the impact Orientalism had on European and American art and culture, as well as how this, in turn, affected the arts and the perception of the West in the ¿Orient¿.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2023/24, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Formative Assessment Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 24,
Revision Session Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
150 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1 x 3-hour online examination paper (50%) and 1 x 2,000 word extended essay (50%) |
| Feedback |
Formative Assessment: Students submit a short essay mid-way through the semester. Students will be given written feedback on this within 15 days of the hand-in date. Students are expected to reflect on the given feedback and submit a paragraph with a list of intended action points.
Students will give one 10-minute presentation in the semester. They will be given verbal feedback on this in a meeting following the seminar.
Essay Feedback: Students submit a 2,500-word essay towards the end of the semester. They will be given written feedback on this within 15 days of the hand-in date.
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| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | 3-hour online exam | 3:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate a knowledge of the defining features of the cross-cultural transmission of Orientalist art and culture.
- Describe and explain the relationship between representations of the so-called Orient and issues of power relating to the Western colonisation of the Middle East and North Africa.
- Demonstrate a critical understanding of postcolonial theory and theories of cultural translation.
- Apply theoretical concepts to analyses of European and American representations of the ¿Orient¿ and the interrelationship between those representations and artworks by Middle Eastern and North African artists
- Communicate (verbally and in writing) issues surrounding American and European representations of the so-called Orient and the present-day impact of those representations.
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Reading List
Benjamin, R., Orientalist Aesthetics: Art, Colonialism, and French North Africa, 1880-1930 (Berkeley, 2003)
Said, E., Orientalism, edition with new preface (London, 2003)
Roberts, M., Istanbul Exchanges: Ottomans, Orientalists, and Nineteenth-Century Visual Culture (Oakland, 2015)
Celik, Zynep, Displaying the Orient: Architecture of Islam at Nineteenth-century World's Fairs (Berkeley; Oxford, 1992)
Lewis, R., Gendering Orientalism: Race, Femininity, and Representation (Abingdon, 1996) |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Hannah Halliwell
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Chloe Hancock
Tel: (0131 6)50 4124
Email: |
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