Expressing art and its history. Workshops for young researchers, art critics and creative writers.

This course focuses on writing skills essential for expressing individual interpretation of art and sharing with others critical views on art historical matters. It is not a survey course or a study of specific periods, but a workshop aimed at improving international visibility of young scholars and writers about art.

Each session will be divided into two parts: visual and textual. In the visual part an emphasis will be placed on critical thinking and responsiveness without assumed prior knowledge of artistic objects or artists. Students will discuss visual material presented to them, thus developing the skills of commenting and assessing without being expected to give detailed background information. This part will aim at improving the articulation of visual response and independent observation. In the textual part an emphasis will be placed on articulation of an independent position in relation to set texts and/or concurrent discussions held during the seminars. As a result of dealing with texts not necessarily strictly connected to their main area of interest students will develop broader awareness of historiographic and methodological framework. Each students will also be given an opportunity to prepare a synopsis of his/her MA thesis in English.

Alpers S., Art of Describing, 1984.

Baxandall M., Painting and Experience,1972.

Berger J., Ways of Seeing, 1972.

Foster H., Krauss R., Bois Y-A, Buchloh B., Art Since 1900: Modernism, Anti-Modernism and Post-Modernism, 2004.

Gage J., Colour and Culture, 1993.

Gombrich E., Norm and Form, 1985.

Greenberg C., Art and Culture. Critical Essays, 1972.

Nochlin L., Realism, 1971.

Panofsky E., Studies in Iconology, 1962.

The main emphasis will be placed on developing written and spoken skills in English at the B2+ level. Upon successful completion of the course students should be able to prepare a logically structured piece of written work, to develop an independent argument using visual and textual materials, to question arguments proposed by other students and/or scholars, to actively participate in verbal or written debates using art historical terminology. Students will be able to find keywords in highly specialized art historical texts and present written or spoken summaries of various scholarly publications. Students will also be prepared to submit their future publications to international journals, with accurately formatted footnotes and bibliography.

During the term each student will be expected to write one formally assessed essay. All written work will be discussed individually, to ensure full understanding of weak and strong aspects of submitted essays. Each student will also have to prepare one oral presentation demonstrating an independently devised argument.