Art History At Work: Unlocking Primary Sources (873V4)

30 credits, Level 7 (Masters)

Autumn teaching

You’ll gain a sophisticated understanding of how primary material is used in Art History.

You’ll have the opportunity to handle original archival materials and primary sources held in local and regional collections. For example, those at The Keep, Jubilee Library Special Collections, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, The Angelica Garnett Gift at Charleston and Pallant House Library.

Each session will focus on a particular type of primary source, including:

  • oral history recordings
  • objects and artworks
  • photographic collections
  • diaries and letters
  • inventories and wills
  • little magazines and periodicals
  • rare prints and books.

Members of faculty will share how they’ve interrogated primary sources in their own research. They’ll also facilitate critical reflection on the strengths and limitations of hands-on primary research.

Teaching

100%: Seminar

Assessment

100%: Coursework (Essay)

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 300 hours of work. This breaks down into about 22 hours of contact time and about 278 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2023/24. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.