Key facts

Type	Oxford Qualification - Part-time
Start date	Sep 2013
Subject area(s)	History of Art
Fees	Fees for 2013-2014 are £1,950 (EU students) and £3,675 (Non-EU students).
Application status	Applications being accepted
Application deadline	Fri 28 June 2013
Course contact	If you have any questions about this course, please email ppaward@conted.ox.ac.uk.

Overview

This is a two-year, part-time modular course equivalent to one year full-time undergraduate degree study at second-year level. Upon successful completion of two different modules (within a five-year period) students will be granted the award of the Oxford University Undergraduate Diploma in the History of Art.

There are four modules offered with two being available each year on a rotating basis. The modules will focus on four periods with each syllabus immersing you in a specialist period of the History of Art:

• Module 1: The Late Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance;
• Module 2: The High Renaissance and Baroque;
• Module 3: Revolution to Modernity: 1848-1914;
• Module 4: Modern Art and Contemporary Visual Culture.

A panel of tutors will do the bulk of the weekly teaching with specialist guest speakers for the Saturday workshops. The weekly seminars will be illustrated, and the Saturday workshops will provide a special opportunity to analyse original works of art and buildings in Oxford and further afield. You will be expected to undertake the necessary background reading from the lists supplied, using the resources of the Oxford University reference libraries and online academic journals and to complete essays, an oral presentation and a research project to the required standard. There will be a written examination at the end of the year comprised of photograph papers and essay questions.

The course reflects Oxford’s exceptional richness in works of art. You will be offered a rare chance to gain first-hand experience of the visual arts on a regular basis, an option not often possible elsewhere. The programme has been arranged to allow for this kind of opportunity in the five Saturday workshops. Experts will be invited to conduct these classes on site wherever possible. The topics have been selected so that the art and architecture of Oxford, Oxfordshire and London can be used to augment and illuminate the syllabus in a way which is both stimulating and relevant.

Open Events

All those who have an interest in studying the history of art are invited to come to our Open Evening where the Course Director (Dr Claire O’Mahony) will give an introductory talk at 5pm and again at 6pm on Thursday 9 May 2013 at Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford. This Open Evening offers a chance to see the Department, meet the Course Director and discuss the course. Please RSVP with Kristine MacMichael by 8 May 2013 by emailing: kristine.macmichael@conted.ox.ac.uk or telephone 01865 280154.

We held an online open day event for both the Certificate and Diploma programmes on Monday 23rd April 2012 which is now available for you to view. This hour-long presentation is a great opportunity to see the course directors discuss both programmes and answer questions. Please see: www.conted.ox.ac.uk/historyartopenday

Description

Structure of the Course

In 2013-2014

Module 2: The High Renaissance and the Baroque will be taught in Ewert House on Tuesday afternoons from 2-4pm.
Module 4: Modern Art and Contemporary Visual Culturewill be taught in Rewley House on Thursday afternoons from 2-4pm.

In 2014-2015

Module 1: The Late Middle Ages to the Early Renaissance will be taught at Ewert House on Tuesday afternoons from 2-4pm.
Module 3: Revolution to Modernity: 1848-1914 will be taught at Rewley House on Thursdays between 2-4pm.

The weekly class sessions are conducted as seminars (combining lecture presentation with opportunities for group discussion). There will also be four additonal group tutorials from 4-5pm in the fourth and eighth week of each term devoted to primary sources, research methods and essay writing classes to develop art historical skills.

Saturday Workshops
Each module has four Saturday workshops looking at artworks, design and architecture in situ. The fifth Saturday in May of each year is a forum where students present their research projects. The Saturday workshops focus on developing skills in close visual analysis through direct individual observation and group discussion led by the tutor. We will explore orginal artworks and the built environment of Oxford in depth as well as London’s temporary exhibitions and permanent collections.

Examination
There will be a three-hour examination comprised of photographs, primary sources and essay questions held in June of each year.

Who may apply and what are we looking for?
Formal qualifications are not essential, though some previous experience in the study of the History of Art at ‘A’ level or first-year undergraduate level is naturally likely to be an advantage. What is required is evidence of enthusiasm and a high level of commitment to the subject, critical analysis and writing.. The willingness and interest to discuss visual experience analytically and historical aspects of the subject will be looked for, and evidence of recent written work may be required. Above all, we are looking for the capacity for intellectual growth and development. Admission will be based on information provided in the application form and at interview. The final decision on admission to the course rests with OUDCE.

Student support
Academic advice and support will be provided by the Director of Studies, Dr Catherine Oakes, the University Lecturer, Dr Claire O'Mahony, and the other tutors on the courses. In addition, the Department runs a programme of Study Skills workshops designed to enable you to develop and improve the skills needed for effective study. For full details of the Study Skills programme, please contact 01865 280892. For advice on educational opportunities, credit transfer, special needs facilities and sources of funding, please contact the Registry on 01865 280355.

Programme details

Lecture Programme

Module 2: The Late Renaissance and the Baroque
Tuesday afternoons from 2-4pm at Ewert House.

The creative temperaments of Piero della Francesca, Palladio and Poussin, all flourished in this extraordinary period which is best understood through its visual arts and buildings. This course explores the technical innovations, Humanist ideals and new patrons underpinning these cultural flowerings in epicentres across Europe, from Italy and its re-imagining of Antiquity to northern Europe with its realist traditions forged amidst the upheavals of the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation.

MICHAELMAS TERM 2013
Tuesdays 24 September to 3 December 2013

Unit One: The Italian High Renaissance: Florence and Rome
October Saturday visit: Renaissance Painting, National Gallery, London

Unit Two: The Northern Renaissance
November Saturday visit: Ashmolean Museum; Renaissance and Baroque architecture of Oxford’s colleges
Early December 2013: first essay due (3,000 words)

HILARY TERM 2014
Tuesdays 7 January to 11 March 2014

Unit Three: Holbein to Wren: Early Modern Britian
January Saturday visit: National Portrait Gallery and Wren’s London Churches

Unit Four: Baroque Painting: Venetian Colourists and Mannerism
Mid March 2014: second essay due (3,000 words)

TRINITY TERM 2014
Tuesdays 18 March to 10 June 2014

Unit Five: Baroque Sculpture and Architecture: Italy, Spain and France
March Saturday visit: Reniassance and Baroque Sculpture, V&A Museum London

Unit Six: The Dutch Golden Age
May Saturday Workshop: Student Research Project Presentations and Exam Skills Workshop

Mid-June 2014: Research project due (8,000 words)

Late June 2014: 3-hour examination

Preliminary Reading List, Module 2:

• Baxandall, M, Painting and Experience in Fifteenth-century Italy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988)
• Burckhardt, J, The architecture of the Italian Renaissance(London: Secker & Warburg, 1985)
• Girouard, M, Elizabethan Architecture: Its Rise and Fall, 1540-1640 (Yale University Press, 2009)
• Hearn, K, ed., Dynasties: Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530-1630 (Tate Publishing, 1995)
• Johnson, G, Renaissance art: a very short introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005)
• Murray, L, The High Renaissance and Mannerism: Italy, the North and Spain (London: Thames and Hudson, 1977)
• Nash, S, Northern Renaissance Art (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2008)
• Olson, T, Poussin and France. painting, humanism, and the politics of style (London: Yale University Press, 2002)
• Richardson, C, K Woods and M Franklin, eds., Renaissance art reconsidered: an anthology of primary sources (Oxford: Blackwell, 2007)
• Richardson, C, ed., Locating Renaissance art (London: Yale University Press, 2007)
• Riegl, A, The origins of Baroque art in Rome (Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2010)
• Schama, S, The Embarrassment of Riches: an interpretation of Dutch culture in the Golden Age (London: Fontana, 1988)
• Snodin, M, and Llewellyn, N, eds., Baroque 1620-1800 : style in the age of magnificence (London: V & A Publishing, 2009)
• Summerson, J, Architecture in Britain 1530–1830 (London: Yale University Press, 1993)
• Wilde, J, Venetian Art from Bellini to Titian (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1981)
• Woods, K, ed., Making Renaissance art (London: Yale University Press, 2007)
• Woods, K, C Richardson. and A Lymberopoulou, eds., Viewing Renaissance art (London: Yale University Press, 2007)

Module 4: Modern Art and Contemporary Visual Culture
Thursday afternoons from 2-4pm at Rewley House.

The twentieth century was a moment of dramatic innovation in art and social mores. Painting and sculpture redefined themselves and new media such as photography, cinema and installation entered the gallery. The ruptures of the two world wars triggered the utopian and exuberant aspirations of Modernist and Art Deco architecture and design. Abstraction and realism in painting reflected the rivalries between Europe and New York in the 1950s. The impact of consumer culture sparked the playfulness of Pop Art and the ensuing dissent of the 1968 uprisings. By exploring both famed artists such as Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock or Anthony Gormley as well as forgotten and new voices from the 1914 to the contemporary art world around us we will grapple with the thrills and perils of modernity and its representation.

MICHAELMAS TERM 2013
Thursdays 26 September to 5 December 2013

Unit One: Art and the First World War
October Saturday visit: Imperial War Museum & Hyde Park War Memorials London

Unit Two: ‘Breadlines and streamlines’: The Jazz Age
November Saturday visit: Twentieth-century Design, V&A Museum London

Early December 2013: first essay due (3,000 words)

HILARY TERM 2014
Thursdays 9 January to 13 March 2014

Unit Three: Surrealist Dreams and Fascist Nightmares
January Saturday visit: Modernist Paintings and Sculpture: Tate Modern London

Unit Four: Abstract vs. Realism: Painting and Sculpture after 1945

Mid-March 2014: second essay due (3,000 words)

TRINITY TERM 2014
Thursdays 20 March to 12 June 2014

Unit Five: Pop Art to the ruptures of 1968
March Saturday visit: Contemporary Architecture and Galleries, London

Unit Six: Art Now? Contemporary Visual Culture
May Saturday Workshop: Student Research Project Presentations and Exam Skills Workshop

Mid-June 2014: Research project due (8,000 words)

Late June 2014: 3-hour examination

Preliminary Reading List, Module 4:

• Colquhoun, A, Modern Architecture (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002)
• Crow, T, The Rise of the Sixties: American and European art in the era of dissent (London: Laurence King, 1996)
• Curtis, P, Sculpture 1900-1945: after Rodin (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999)
• Foster, H, Art since 1900: modernism, antimodernism, postmodernism (London: Thames & Hudson, 2004)
• Gaiger, J, Frameworks for Modern Art (London: Yale University Press, 2004)
• Green, C, Art in France, 1900-1940 (London: Yale University Press, 2000)
• Harrison, C and P Wood, eds., Art in Theory 1900-2000 an anthology of changing ideas (Oxford : Blackwell, 2003)
• Hatt, M, Art History: A Critical Introduction (London and New York: Routledge, 2001)
• Jones, A, A Companion to Contemporary Art since 1945 (Oxford : Blackwell, 2006)
• Lindey, C., Art in the Cold War: from Vladivostok to Kalamazoo 1945-1962 (London: Herbert, 1990)
• Meecham, P and J Sheldon, Modern art: a critical introduction (London: Routledge, 2005)
• Nelson, R and R Shiff, Critical terms for Art History (Chicago, University of Chicago, 2003)
• Wilk, C, Modernism: Designing a New World (London: V& A publications, 2006)
• Wood, P, Varieties of Modernism (London: Yale University Press, 2004)

Modules that will run in 2014-2015

Module 1: The Late Middle Ages to the Early Renaissance
Tuesdays 2-4pm Ewert House

This course will centre on these themes:
• Objects of Devotion
• The English Parish Church
• The Gothic and Universal church
• Painted Page and Panel
• Merchants and Mendicants
• Quattrocentro Italy

Saturday visits: National Gallery, London and Baroque Oxford

Module 3: Revolution to Modernity: 1848-1914
Thursdays 2-4pm Rewley House

This course will centre on these themes:
• Revolutionary Realists
• Impressionist Paris
• Symbolist Art
• Fin-de-siècle Interiors
• The Birth of Modernism
• Expression and Abstraction

Saturdayvisits: CourtauldGallery, TateModern, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Estorick Collection, London and Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Course aims

Aims and Learning Outcomes

The aim of the Diploma is to offer special subjects through which to examine key moments in the history of western art, architecture and design. Emphasis will be laid on setting works of art in an historical context and on looking at the art and architecture of Oxford in a relevant and imaginative way. This should enable you to achieve the following outcomes:

• To learn to look at painting, sculpture, architecture and design in a visually critical and analytical way.
• To acquire a critical understanding of how to relate art objects to the historical contexts in which they were created.
• To use the collections of works of art in Oxford, London and the region in order to appreciate the importance of contact with the actual objects themselves, rather than reproductions.
• To gain knowledge of different artistic material techniques and art historical terms.
• To be able to participate intelligently and critically in the discussion of the history of art.
• To study and to respond critically to both primary texts and secondary literature.
• To develop skills in writing about the history of art, structuring visual and textual evidence into your own effective argument.

Certification

Credit transfer scheme

Students who successfully complete the two-year course will gain 120 CATS points at FHEQ Level 5 in the Department’s Qualifications and Credit Framework. These credit points are widely recognised in terms of credit for transfer to other Higher Education institutions, including the Open University and modular universities such as Oxford Brookes University. Opportunities vary for the transfer of credit, so students who are considering taking this course in order to transfer credit are advised to discuss the possibilities with the Department’s Registry on 01865 280355.

Assessment methods

Summary of course requirements

Attendance: For each one-year module students must normally attend a minimum of 75% of 30 two-hour sessions plus compulsory Day Schools.

Time Limit for Course Completion: An Undergraduate Diploma will be awarded to each student who successfully completes two modules of the two-year course within five years.

Progress Review: A review of each candidate’s performance will be carried out at the end of the first year; candidates may not be permitted to continue if their performance is not deemed satisfactory.

Assessment: Students must complete three compulsory pieces of written work and an exam for each module. All assessed work must be submitted by the deadline indicated in the course handbook provided at the start of the course; failure to deliver an assignment on time without formal application for an extension may result in disqualification from completing the course. Students must complete three written assignments per module: two essays of 3,000 words and a research project of 8,000 words.

Students must pass the three-hour examination and gain an average of at least 40% across the continuous assessment element in order to pass a module overall. Students who achieve an overall pass rate of 70%+ will be awarded a distinction for individual modules.

Authorship: Course work assignments must be entirely students’ own work and must not be plagiarised. Plagiarism consists of substantial or verbatim quotation from an unacknowledged source. Plagiarised work will be discounted.

Teaching methods

Teaching Staff

Course Director: Dr Claire I R O'Mahony,
University Lecturer in the History of Art, OUDCE
Fellow of Kellogg College

Student Support

Much of the academic support will come from the Course Directors, who may be contacted at any time during office hours by students wishing to discuss matters relating to the course. In addition, the Department runs a programme of Study Skills workshops designed to enable you to develop and improve the skills needed for effective study. These workshops are free to students enrolled on the Foundation course. For full details of the programme please contact 01865 280892.

Contact Information

Course Director

If you would like an informal discussion on academic matters before making your application you may contact the following:

Dr Claire O'Mahony 01865 270299 claire.omahony@conted.ox.ac.uk

Award Programme Office 01865 280154 / 270369
For queries on applications and admissions ppaward@conted.ox.ac.uk

Student Advice 01865 280355
For general guidance and advice, credit transfer, special needs provision, residential category and sources of funding: registry@conted.ox.ac.uk

Study Skills 01865 280892
For information about Study Skills courses: studyskills@conted.ox.ac.uk

Day & Weekend School Office 01865 270368 / 270380
For information on day schools and weekend courses: dayweek@conted.ox.ac.uk

OUDCE Reception 01865 270360
For general enquiries about OUDCE or to leave messages if other staff are not available.

Apply for this course