This module builds on the students’ understanding of British Art, developed through the Semester 1 module, ‘What is British Art?’. Birmingham provides a centre of gravity for exploring and applying key issues and debates in urban space and in British art through particular case studies. Birmingham played a pivotal role in the industrial revolution and the British empire, and the module will consider those industrial and imperial histories, and their continuing legacy in Britain’s second city. Birmingham, and the Midlands more broadly, hold internationally significant collections of British art, notably the Pre-Raphaelite collection at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery; 20th century collections at Wolverhampton Museum and Art Gallery and The Herbert Museum and Art Gallery, Coventry; photographic collections at Birmingham Library and the University of Birmingham. Using these collections, the module will consider the ways in which the arts were made, exhibited, experienced, conceptualised and contested in Birmingham. Topics might include: art and industry; artist’s societies (RBSA); Pre-Raphaelites; Arts and Crafts; Pop Art; Black British art; photography; centre/periphery; local/global; art and empire; art and religion; architecture; and art and urban regeneration. Through the formative assessment, the student will exhibit advanced proficiency in oral skills.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
Demonstrate a detailed and comprehensive knowledge of the module’s taught content and of the approaches taken in related scholarship;
Analyse and evaluate relationships between relevant art object and architecture and the cultural and social environment of Birmingham and the Midlands;
Identify and critically analyse key examples of relevant art objects and architecture produced in Birmingham and the Midlands;
Identify and critically evaluate relevant primary source material and secondary sources relating to art objects and architecture produced in Birmingham and the Midlands;
exhibit advanced proficiency in writing skills.
Assessment
37017-01 : Research portfolio 4,000 words : Coursework (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions
Assessment: One research portfolio focused on an object produced in the Midlands, comprising a 2,000 word essay, annotated bibliography, and a selection of annotated visual and contextual sources (100%).
Reassessment: One research portfolio focused on an object produced in the Midlands, comprising a 2,000 word essay, annotated bibliography, and a selection of annotated visual and contextual sources.
