Skip to main content
Unit outline_

ARHT1001: Style and Substance: Introducing Art History

Semester 1, 2021 [Normal day] - Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney

Taking a diverse, global view of art making from the Ancient to the Modern world, ARHT1001 will introduce students to key philosophical and methodological approaches in the field of Art History. As our experiences are increasingly mediated through a variety of visual platforms, this course will help students develop critical perspectives on visual communication. The development of professional skill sets will be a key focus. As such, the course serves as an essential introduction to Art History for those considering a career in the arts, education, or the museum and design sectors.

Unit details and rules

Academic unit Art History
Credit points 6
Prerequisites
? 
None
Corequisites
? 
None
Prohibitions
? 
None
Assumed knowledge
? 

None

Available to study abroad and exchange students

Yes

Teaching staff

Coordinator Mark De Vitis, mark.devitis@sydney.edu.au
Lecturer(s) Mark De Vitis, mark.devitis@sydney.edu.au
Tutor(s) Alanna Irwin, alanna.irwin@sydney.edu.au
Ekaterina Heath, ekaterina.abramova@sydney.edu.au
Stuart Cottle, stuart.cottle@sydney.edu.au
Tama Woodbury, tama.woodbury@sydney.edu.au
Type Description Weight Due Length
Participation Tutorial participation
Full details and resources provided on CANVAS
10% Ongoing Weekly, in tutorial classes
Outcomes assessed: LO3 LO6 LO4
Assignment Object analysis
Full details and resources provided on CANVAS
20% Week 05
Due date: 29 Mar 2021 at 23:59
1000 words
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Assignment Research essay plan
Full details and resources provided on CANVAS
10% Week 09
Due date: 03 May 2021 at 23:59
750 words
Outcomes assessed: LO3 LO4 LO6 LO7
Assignment Comparative analysis
Full details and resources provided on CANVAS
20% Week 13
Due date: 31 May 2021 at 23:59
1000 words
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO5 LO4 LO3 LO2
Assignment Research essay
Full details and resources provided on CANVAS
40% Week 13
Due date: 06 Jun 2021 at 23:59
1750 words
Outcomes assessed: LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO6 LO7

Assessment summary

Detailed information for each assessment can be found on Canvas.

Assessment criteria

The University awards common result grades, set out in the Coursework Policy 2014 (Schedule 1).

As a general guide, a High distinction indicates work of an exceptional standard, a Distinction a very high standard, a credit a good standard, and a pass an acceptable standard.

Result name

Mark range

Description

High distinction

85 - 100

 

Distinction

75 - 84

 

Credit

65 - 74

 

Pass

50 - 64

 

Fail

0 - 49

When you don’t meet the learning outcomes of the unit to a satisfactory standard.

 

.

For more information see guide to grades.

Late submission

In accordance with University policy, these penalties apply when written work is submitted after 11:59pm on the due date:

  • Deduction of 5% of the maximum mark for each calendar day after the due date.
  • After ten calendar days late, a mark of zero will be awarded.

Academic integrity

The Current Student website provides information on academic integrity and the resources available to all students. The University expects students and staff to act ethically and honestly and will treat all allegations of academic integrity breaches seriously.

We use similarity detection software to detect potential instances of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breach. If such matches indicate evidence of plagiarism or other forms of academic integrity breaches, your teacher is required to report your work for further investigation.

Use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and automated writing tools

You may only use generative AI and automated writing tools in assessment tasks if you are permitted to by your unit coordinator. If you do use these tools, you must acknowledge this in your work, either in a footnote or an acknowledgement section. The assessment instructions or unit outline will give guidance of the types of tools that are permitted and how the tools should be used.

Your final submitted work must be your own, original work. You must acknowledge any use of generative AI tools that have been used in the assessment, and any material that forms part of your submission must be appropriately referenced. For guidance on how to acknowledge the use of AI, please refer to the AI in Education Canvas site.

The unapproved use of these tools or unacknowledged use will be considered a breach of the Academic Integrity Policy and penalties may apply.

Studiosity is permitted unless otherwise indicated by the unit coordinator. The use of this service must be acknowledged in your submission as detailed on the Learning Hub’s Canvas page.

Outside assessment tasks, generative AI tools may be used to support your learning. The AI in Education Canvas site contains a number of productive ways that students are using AI to improve their learning.

Simple extensions

If you encounter a problem submitting your work on time, you may be able to apply for an extension of five calendar days through a simple extension.  The application process will be different depending on the type of assessment and extensions cannot be granted for some assessment types like exams.

Special consideration

If exceptional circumstances mean you can’t complete an assessment, you need consideration for a longer period of time, or if you have essential commitments which impact your performance in an assessment, you may be eligible for special consideration or special arrangements.

Special consideration applications will not be affected by a simple extension application.

Using AI responsibly

Co-created with students, AI in Education includes lots of helpful examples of how students use generative AI tools to support their learning. It explains how generative AI works, the different tools available and how to use them responsibly and productively.

WK Topic Learning activity Learning outcomes
Week 01 Monday Lecture - Welcome + Orientation - What is Art History and What Do Art History Students Need to Learn? Lecture (1 hr) LO1
Tuesday Lecture - Key Skills in Art History - How to undertake a close study of a work of art Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2
Week 02 Monday Lecture - Art in Context: Museums and Galleries - What are the consequences of the way we may choose to display objects in an art gallery? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO7
Tuesday Lecture - Anonymous or Unknown? The Ancient City of Teotihuacán - Why do people make art? How do we discuss art cultures when we have no documentary evidence? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
The First Tutorial - Welcome to Art History and developing visual literacy Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Week 03 Monday Lecture - The Classical Style and the Canon of Art History - What is a style? Why is the Classical style so important to art history? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Tuesday Lecture - Classicism and the legacy of a style - What happens to the value of a style that has longevity over time? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Tutorial - Key Skills in Art History - Producing Visual Analysis - How might we approach writing a single object analysis? Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 04 Monday Lecture - The Art of Renaissance Italy - The Classical reborn? - What are the implications of reviving a style? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Tuesday Lecture Art in Renaissance Italy and the Revolution of Perspective - What is the relationship between the fictive world of the artwork and the way we receive it as a spectator? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Visit to the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO7
Week 05 Monday Lecture: Substance - Oil Paint and the Northern Renaissance - What is the relationship between materials and visual understanding? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Tuesday Lecture - China’s White Gold: Porcelain, Aesthetics and Functional art - What is the relationship between materials and visual understanding? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Tutorial: Key Skills in Art History - Writing an Object Analysis - Write your own object analysis Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6
Week 06 Monday Lecture - Defining the 'High' Renaissance - Why are some periods of art making so revered? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Tuesday Lecture - Mannerism: Challenging Art History's Master Narratives - Why are some periods of art making so reviled? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Tutorial: Key Skills in Art History - Writing a comparative analysis - What is a comparative Analysis? Why is it important and how do we write one? Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 07 Monday Lecture - Key Skills in Art History - Preparing for the Art Gallery of New South Wales Workshops Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6 LO7
Tuesday Lecture - Key Skills in Art History - The Art Gallery of New South Wales Workshops (The lecture will be replaced with the AGNSW workshop) Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6 LO7
Tutorials - Key Skills in Art History - The Art Gallery of New South Wales Workshops (The tutorials will be replaced with the AGNSW workshops) Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6 LO7
Week 08 Monday Lecture - Icons and Iconoclasm: Art of Islamic Worlds - To understand why art is destroyed, we must first understand why art is made Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Tuesday Lecture - Ottoman Art and Architecture: Materialising Empire - What role does art play within political regimes and teh mechanisms of empire? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Tutorial Comparative Analysis - Key Skills in Art History - Comparing two similar processes/works but made in different cultures, what do we learn? Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 LO6
Week 09 Monday Lecture - Innovation or Iconoclasm?: Depicting Holy Figures in Rome during the Counter-Reformation Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Tuesday Lecture - The Consequences of Looking at the Art of the Past in the Present Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Tutorial - Thinking and Feeling: Art, belief and innovation Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4
Week 10 Monday Lecture - Understanding the Art Museum - What do we need to know of the history of the art museum to understand our present moment? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO7
Tuesday Lecture - Contemporary Issues in Museology - What are the key issues in contemporary art museums? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO7
Tutorial - Visit to the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO4 LO7
Week 11 Monday Lecture - Issues in Art History - Women and Art Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Monday Lecture - Issues in Art History - Women and Art Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5 LO7
Art History Debates: Women Artists Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Week 12 Monday Lecture - Approaching the Visual in the Indigenous Cultures of Australia Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Tuesday Lecture - Round-table on Indigenous Arts Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3
Art History Debates - Appropriation and Indigenous Visual Cultures Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Week 13 Monday Lecture - Art and Technology: A Rococo Case Study - What is the Rococo? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO5
Tuesday Lecture - Art and Technology: A Rococo Case Study - What are the implications of the digital as a way of seeing? Lecture (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO6
Key Skills in Art History: The Comparative Analysis Tutorial (1 hr) LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO6

Attendance and class requirements

  • Attendance: According to Faculty Board Resolutions, students in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences are expected to attend 90% of their classes. If you attend less than 50% of classes, regardless of the reasons, you may be referred to the Examiner’s Board. The Examiner’s Board will decide whether you should pass or fail the unit of study if your attendance falls below this threshold.

  • Lecture recording: Most lectures (in recording-equipped venues) will be recorded and may be made available to students on the LMS. However, you should not rely on lecture recording to substitute your classroom learning experience.

  • Preparation: Students should commit to spend approximately three hours’ preparation time (reading, studying, homework, essays, etc.) for every hour of scheduled instruction.

Study commitment

Typically, there is a minimum expectation of 1.5-2 hours of student effort per week per credit point for units of study offered over a full semester. For a 6 credit point unit, this equates to roughly 120-150 hours of student effort in total.

Required readings

All required reading in this unit of study is available electronically through our CANVAS course site.

Learning outcomes are what students know, understand and are able to do on completion of a unit of study. They are aligned with the University's graduate qualities and are assessed as part of the curriculum.

At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:

  • LO1. develop an understanding of key practices and methods of the discipline of art history
  • LO2. develop skills of visual literacy - the ability to analyse a work of visual art
  • LO3. develop new skills of critical thinking, problem solving and information literacy
  • LO4. develop academic and professional writing and communication skills
  • LO5. learn about the traditions of a wide variety of cultural groups
  • LO6. build confidence and resilience working with others and on self-managed projects
  • LO7. engage with leading organisations beyond the university and learn about their professional practices.

Graduate qualities

The graduate qualities are the qualities and skills that all University of Sydney graduates must demonstrate on successful completion of an award course. As a future Sydney graduate, the set of qualities have been designed to equip you for the contemporary world.

GQ1 Depth of disciplinary expertise

Deep disciplinary expertise is the ability to integrate and rigorously apply knowledge, understanding and skills of a recognised discipline defined by scholarly activity, as well as familiarity with evolving practice of the discipline.

GQ2 Critical thinking and problem solving

Critical thinking and problem solving are the questioning of ideas, evidence and assumptions in order to propose and evaluate hypotheses or alternative arguments before formulating a conclusion or a solution to an identified problem.

GQ3 Oral and written communication

Effective communication, in both oral and written form, is the clear exchange of meaning in a manner that is appropriate to audience and context.

GQ4 Information and digital literacy

Information and digital literacy is the ability to locate, interpret, evaluate, manage, adapt, integrate, create and convey information using appropriate resources, tools and strategies.

GQ5 Inventiveness

Generating novel ideas and solutions.

GQ6 Cultural competence

Cultural Competence is the ability to actively, ethically, respectfully, and successfully engage across and between cultures. In the Australian context, this includes and celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, knowledge systems, and a mature understanding of contemporary issues.

GQ7 Interdisciplinary effectiveness

Interdisciplinary effectiveness is the integration and synthesis of multiple viewpoints and practices, working effectively across disciplinary boundaries.

GQ8 Integrated professional, ethical, and personal identity

An integrated professional, ethical and personal identity is understanding the interaction between one’s personal and professional selves in an ethical context.

GQ9 Influence

Engaging others in a process, idea or vision.

Outcome map

Learning outcomes Graduate qualities
GQ1 GQ2 GQ3 GQ4 GQ5 GQ6 GQ7 GQ8 GQ9

This section outlines changes made to this unit following staff and student reviews.

Feedback from students has allowed for more effective consultations regarding assessment tasks - particularly through the further development of workshops held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

Additional costs

Students are required to purchase course notes. If this presents any concerns, please contact Dr. Mark De Vitis (unit coordinator)

Disclaimer

The University reserves the right to amend units of study or no longer offer certain units, including where there are low enrolment numbers.

To help you understand common terms that we use at the University, we offer an online glossary.