In-depth topics in the History of Art
Objectives
1. To recognize the transversal character of some art historical themes that are decisive in the development of the fieldof knowledge and paramount in current historiographic debates.
2. To articulate an in-depth analysis on the relation between the topics approached and artistic and historiographicproduction.
3. To encourage students to participate in the different sessions, in which guest lecturers and specialists debate themost recent contributions in the field of Art History. To foster, in this sense, students’ critical skills and the capacity to discuss ideas.
4. To develop research skills by becoming acquainted with critical tools that are appropriate for academic writing.
5. To articulate reflection and practice through the production of a research assignment that is presented in public and in written form.
General characterization
Code
73206101
Credits
10.0
Responsible teacher
Joana Esteves da Cunha Leal
Hours
Weekly - 2
Total - 280
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
N/A
Bibliography
- N. Pevsner. “Perpendicular England.” in Idem. The Englishness of English Art. Nova Iorque: Frederick A. Praeger, 1955:81–116.
- E. Panofsky. “The ideological antecedents of the Rolls-Royce radiator.” Proceedings of the American PhilosophicalSociety, vol. 107, no. 4, 1963: 273–88.
- D. Cannadine. “The context, performance and meaning of ritual: the British monarchy and the ‘invention of tradition’, c.1820-1977.” in Eric Hobsbawm e Terence Ranger, eds. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1983: 101-164.
- H. Belting. “Resistance to the Modern Movement in Germany.” in Idem. The Germans and Their Art. A TroublesomeRelationship. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1998: 61–68.
- C. Bruzelius. “A rose by any other name: the ‘not gothic enough’ architecture of Italy (again).” in Matthew M. Reeve, ed.Reading Gothic Architecture. Turnhout: Brepols, 2008: 93–109.
- F. Vlachou. “Why spatial? Time and the periphery.” Visual Resources, vol. 32, n. 1-2, 2016: 1–16.
Teaching method
The calendar of sessions and their titles are announced at the beginning of the semester, when a set of recommendedr eadings is also made available. Sessions consist of a presentation by the guest speaker followed by debate. A set of final sessions is reserved for student presentations, also followed by debate. The ensuing result contributes to the written version of the students’ work.
Evaluation method
Continuous assessment - Participation in in-class discussions, on their oral presentation and on the written version of their assignment.(100%)
Subject matter
This course’s syllabus depends on the theme selected for discussion each year. In 2020/21 the selected topic was “the nationality of art”. Students reflected on the problems resulting from the national inscription of historiographic practices (the writing of a history of “Portuguese art”) in itself as well as in comparison with the global aspirations tha trun across the various fields of the Humanities. One of the great challenges (the greatest?) faced by art historians today (in academia, museums, or other such institutions) is that of the internationalization of one’s work and the multiplicity of audiences one must contemplate. Such task cannot be accomplished without a critical reflection that brings to light the risks as well as the potential of the national circumscription of the topics students chose for their dissertations.