AH3112 Women Artists and Autobiography

Academic year

2024 to 2025 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 9

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.

Planned timetable

To be confirmed

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Prof L J Goddard

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Prof Linda Goddard

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

This module introduces students to the work of women artists from the 1550s to the present, including Artemisia Gentileschi, Berthe Morisot, Yayoi Kusama, and many others. Instead of an exhaustive survey, the module focuses on artists who also wrote about their lives in letters, diaries, journals and memoirs. Students will gain insights, from the perspective of the artists themselves, into the conditions affecting women’s art production, including the tensions between family life and creativity. We explore how women used writing alongside self-portraiture to represent themselves and their work, reshaping existing myths of the artist in the process. We also study the increasingly complex crossovers between life and art in text-based art works and artists’ books. As well as addressing the gendered constraints on women artists’ careers, we analyse the category ‘woman artist’ critically, consider how some artists resisted gender norms, and explore the work of non-binary artists.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS AH1001 OR PASS AH1003 AND PASS AH2001 AND PASS AH2002

Assessment pattern

Coursework 100%

Re-assessment

Coursework 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 lecture (x11 weeks), 2 seminar (x11 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours

33

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

Guided independent study hours

270

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

Intended learning outcomes

  • Understand the relationship between artists’ writings and their work
  • Describe and identify key works by women artists from the sixteenth century to the present day
  • Understand key debates about life-writing, self-portraiture and feminist theories of representation
  • Conduct independent research through the use of library resources, the study of artworks and period sources, and other forms of art historical investigation
  • Participate in constructive group discussion and present their ideas to others
  • Work diligently under strict deadlines