AH3137 Contemporary Art and Resilience in the Arab World

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 1

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

TBC

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

Module coordinator

Dr J C Gerschultz

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

Module Staff

Dr Jessica Gerschultz

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 examines contemporary art of the Arab world through the thread of resilience. Artists use their creative practice to craft gender, sexual, and cultural identities; address social injustices and conflict; and express forms of support and solidarity in the midst of turbulence, division, and change. This module asks how art-making may be imagined as a form of resilience within various political, social, and environmental contexts spanning the 20th and 21st centuries. As artists experience historic events, migrations, and violence, they recover artistic lineages and traditions while generating new visions for the future. With attention to regional and transnational connections, we analyse art practices in relation to care, regeneration, and power. The module draws from primary sources and recent scholarship to explore facets of art-making and collaboration. It introduces methods for analyzing art in the Arab world, including tending to its absences, erasures, and silences.

Assessment pattern

Coursework - 100%

Re-assessment

Coursework - 100%

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 lecture (x 10 weeks), 2 seminar (x 10 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours

30

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

Guided independent study hours

267

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

Intended learning outcomes

  • Name contemporary artists from the Arab world and discuss their creative practices and artwork
  • Describe how art-making may be a form of resilience in specific social and political contexts
  • Discuss the concept of socially committed art and give examples
  • Acquire skills to critically approach contemporary Arab art from local, regional, and transnational perspectives
  • Conduct independent research through the use of library resources, the study of artworks and sources, and other forms of art historical investigation
  • Participate in constructive group discussion and activities and present their ideas to others