Newcastle University

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

This module examines how gender and sexuality have impacted art making and art history from the 1960s to the present. We will explore efforts to write feminist and queer histories of art, examine the ways in which women and sexual minorities have been excluded from mainstream art histories and consider ways of redressing this imbalance, and think about what it might mean to make art that is feminist or queer.

The module is structured so as to bring up questions of how traditional conceptions of gender and sexuality are formed and regulated. It will also encourage students to interrogate how and why identity categories, particularly those that seek to demarcate the ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal,’ were, and are, constructed and maintained through visual and cultural means. For us, gender will be understood not as static and ultimately knowable, but rather as shifting, contingent, and open to scrutiny and critique through the making of art.

Outline Of Syllabus

The module with begin by considering how political and cultural understandings of gender and sexuality have developed over time and how they have impacted art making and the development of art history. The lectures and seminars will explore topics such as art and the home, nudity, sex and censorship, consumerism and feminist art, gender and racism, contemporary colonialism and exile, trans* identities, institutional sexism, and queer theories of gender, memory, and history. Our study will incorporate a range of media, from painting, collage, photography, and film, to performance and sculpture, and art from countries including the UK, USA, Germany, South Africa, Poland, Iran, Morocco, and Japan.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

On completion of Gender and Contemporary Art, students should have knowledge of:

Different forms of visual responses and practices related to issues surrounding art and gender.

A critical understanding of the social and cultural construction of gender and sexuality.

Contextual factors – aesthetic, social, political, economic and institutional – that influence the creation of artworks, their exhibition and reception.

Key artists, theorists and their tenets.

A range of interpretational artworks.

Intended Skill Outcomes

On completion of Gender and Contemporary Art, students should have developed skills in:

Presenting information and ideas in a clear and engaging manner.

Researching a topic, making productive use of the library and appropriate online resources.

Engaging with interdisciplinary texts and evaluating appropriate material to inform relevant debates.

Evaluating information, ideas and theoretical and ideological points of view in order to reach independent conclusions.

Discussions within a group context.

Visual analysis.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The module will revolve around weekly lecture materials, delivered both in person (1-hr per week) and online (1-hr per week) via ReCAP. These will be supplemented by in-person seminars and asynchronous structured learning activities in order to foster group discussion and analysis.

Lectures: to allow definition of the scope of the syllabus, an introduction to a body of knowledge, and modelling of the level and nature of the analysis required.

Online lecture materials shared via ReCAP (including pre-recorded interviews, artist moving image work): to allow definition of the scope of the syllabus, an introduction to a body of knowledge, and modelling of the level and nature of the analysis required. These are broken down into smaller sections for ease of online digestion.

Seminars: to encourage interaction and the development of cognitive and key skills; to allow preparation and presentation of directed research on specific issues and case studies.

Asynchronous structured learning activities: to develop essay writing skills, close reading skills, visual analysis, and better encourage interaction between peers in their analysis and discussion of the course content.

Nb. In person lectures and seminars can move to synchronous and asynchronous online delivery as required in response to pandemic-related restrictions.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The essay affords the student the opportunity to conduct academic research into a topic relating to the course, from a selection of questions set by the course organiser. These questions will be oriented towards encouraging students to engage closely with the practices studied on the course. This assessment will be supported by discussions during seminars.

The case study analysis offers the chance to hone writing and analytical skills in advance of the essay in a formative and less pressurised context. The formative nature of the assessment will permit fast feedback, allowing the case study analysis to feed fully into the summative essay.

General Notes

N/A