AH5167 Writing on the Visual

Academic year

2025 to 2026 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 11

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Module description

This module examines verbal responses to the visual, from the origins of art criticism as a literary genre, to contemporary modes of art writing. It will explore varieties of ekphrasis, including poetic and fictional responses to works of art, as well as works of art that incorporate text. We will also address moments of 'crisis' in which the operations of criticism are called into question, and will consider the contributions that artists have made, both in resisting and in contributing to writing on art.

Assessment pattern

Coursework = 100%

Re-assessment

An essay of 3,000 words

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1.5-hour seminar (x 11 weeks) and occasional fieldwork

Scheduled learning hours

17

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

285

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • familiase themselves with a range of methodological tools with which to analyse of the relationship between art and the visual
  • asses the various forms in which writing on the visual has taken historically, as well as of the key academic literature on these
  • understand the range of options available for writing on the visual in the present day, including possibilities and constraints in the present-day discipline of art history
  • develop an increased awareness of their own practice as a writer on visual art
  • analyse visual material and to think critically about the ways it constructs cultural meanings
  • develop a coherent and convincing argument, either to a group in the form of a presentation or discussion, or in writing