Art history

Commemorative Art: Images, Monuments, Memory

Module code: V4112
Level 6
30 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Media, Dissertation

In this module, you deal with a theme - commemorative art - which you explore in a variety of different contexts and over an extended period.

Your studies move freely between cultures and periods, working towards the final dissertation and the assessed presentation for this module - and responding to your own individual interests and to the availability of primary and secondary material. You're encouraged to consider the many and varied resources in these subject areas that are available in local and national collections.

In this module, you consider the relationship of monuments and memory from a number of perspectives, such as:

  • genres and hierarchies within art-historical discourse
  • the roles of mourning and commemoration within the contexts of theology and sociology
  • varied anthropological accounts.

Module learning outcomes

  • Demonstrate detailed and coherent critical evaluation of specific visual culture relating to this subject and understanding of the significance of this theme to wider thematic debates in art history.
  • Undertake sustained independent written research and develop in-depth argument taking into account a variety of scholarly perspectives.
  • Synthesize complex scholarly information and independent research coherently in the form of oral presentation.
  • Demonstrate critical understanding of some of the differing approaches of current art-historical scholarship about this subject and how specific examples relate to the overall issues of the topic.