BA History of Art

Based around the three broad themes of Religion, Trade and Empire, this module examines a series of individual objects in context from across Asia and Africa to explore the role of material and visual culture in understanding the history of global connectivity. Each case-study will demonstrate the transmission of ideas, motifs, materials, objects and people within Asia and Africa and in interaction with Europe, over around 1500 years from the 2nd-3rd to the 18th centuries CE.

Building upon Global Arts: connected histories (to 1800)(Term 1), this module develops an understanding of the arts of Asia and Africa from the 19th century to the present, encompassing the period when many regions were impacted first by European colonialism and later by nationalist and postcolonial movements.

This module introduces the scope, aims and methods of art history as a discipline from its Eurocentric origins through to contemporary approaches to art and its histories in a global era. In conjunction with Theories of Art, this module establishes the methodological and theoretical foundations for further art historical study. In Objects of Art History, approaches to objects and their histories will be explored with a focus on key concepts, such as art, artefact, style, form and media, artists and makers.

Alongside studying individual objects, art historians also examine the spaces, locations, institutions and contexts within which they may be seen and evaluated. This module will introduce the many contexts of use for objects, including the religious, social and material circumstances in which a 'work of art' was created and used.

This module examines a range of key art historical concepts and theories in more detail. Seminar discussions will examine how these theories, issues and concepts may be evaluated in relation to the study of Asian and African art.

As a vital means of communication with diverse audiences, writing serves a practical purpose across professions, but also enables deeper thinking through processes of reflection and revision. This module introduces first-year students to ways of writing across the arts and creative industries, teaching them to recognize and value the creativity, independent thinking, and intellectual risk-taking involved in effective academic and professional writing. Activities and assessments will not only help students develop skills in interpretative analysis and critical argumentation, but also encourage an aptitude for different styles of writing in response to the arts. These skills are exercised through in-class activities and short assessments, culminating in a more substantial piece of critical writing shaped through incremental processes of revision. This module will equip students with a necessary toolkit for writing at the university level and in their subsequent careers, with interdisciplinary and practical application in Art History, Music, Creative Arts, Film Studies and beyond.

Based around the three broad themes of Religion, Trade and Empire, this module examines a series of individual objects in context from across Asia and Africa to explore the role of material and visual culture in understanding the history of global connectivity. Each case-study will demonstrate the transmission of ideas, motifs, materials, objects and people within Asia and Africa and in interaction with Europe, over around 1500 years from the 2nd-3rd to the 18th centuries CE.

Building upon Global Arts: connected histories (to 1800)(Term 1), this module develops an understanding of the arts of Asia and Africa from the 19th century to the present, encompassing the period when many regions were impacted first by European colonialism and later by nationalist and postcolonial movements.

This module introduces the scope, aims and methods of art history as a discipline from its Eurocentric origins through to contemporary approaches to art and its histories in a global era. In conjunction with Theories of Art, this module establishes the methodological and theoretical foundations for further art historical study. In Objects of Art History, approaches to objects and their histories will be explored with a focus on key concepts, such as art, artefact, style, form and media, artists and makers.

Alongside studying individual objects, art historians also examine the spaces, locations, institutions and contexts within which they may be seen and evaluated. This module will introduce the many contexts of use for objects, including the religious, social and material circumstances in which a 'work of art' was created and used.

This module examines a range of key art historical concepts and theories in more detail. Seminar discussions will examine how these theories, issues and concepts may be evaluated in relation to the study of Asian and African art.

In this module, students will begin their studies of the areas of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The module will use the city-spaces and urban life of London to begin to engage with cultures from these regions as they are transported and transformed as they find roots in this post-imperial centre.

This module introduces some of the major musical cultures of selected regions in Asia, Africa and the Middle East through a focus on musical instruments. We explore what instruments can tell us about society, class, and gender; symbolic systems related to music; the histories of musicians and performers; creativity and the imagination; and the transformation of “traditional” musical systems in contemporary societies and global industries.

This course introduces selected popular music cultures of the world, examining case studies from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, as well as diasporic and globalised styles. Each lecture will introduce: representative musical styles with their characteristic sounds, instruments and forms; the cultural contexts within which they have developed; relationships between music and global and local forces including political power structures, gender, nationalism, tourism and globalisation; the roles of musicians and those working in music industries; circumstances surrounding musical performance, recording and dissemination of music.

This module provides a critical introduction to the film and screen cultures of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Approaching film in terms of cultural identity and self-expression, this module will place screened films within a general framework of national tradition and identity and provide a platform for students to reflect on the unity and diversity of the human condition across different regions. A selection of 21st century films will be explored within their cultural, social and political context of production, exhibition and reception, and students will be guided to reflect on different functions of cinema.

Why is it so crucial to talk about “digital” technology, and what is important or distinctive about it? This is the standard first-year theory module that sets the tone for the course and frame other modules. It will enable students to cultivate a critical distance from digital technologies while appreciating and identifying the aspects of the digital world that they find most interesting as budding scholars and professionals.

Why is there so much hype afforded to new technologies? Who develops these technologies and who stands to gain from them? What kinds of value do they produce for users and developers alike? What is the implication of using a technology developed in one cultural context, in another? This module considers the development of new and emergent digital technologies, such as virtual and extended realities, varied forms of artificial intelligence and algorithms, cryptocurrencies and blockchains - in a global context. It examines the life cycle of new digital technologies, from the ideation and innovation process, venture capital, state sponsorship, development, manufacturing, advertising, cultural meaning, actual uses, and eventual obsolescence.

This module is primarily designed to introduce students who have no background in Film Studies, or in analysing cinema, to the vocabularies used to understand and analyse film language. The module will thus focus on the close reading of specific films – from the early days of cinema, just after its invention in 1895, to the present – so as to deconstruct and analyse their technical, visual, aural and spatial features. While it will be inevitable that we look at certain European and North American films – particularly when analysing ‘mainstream’ film language – we will put the emphasis on our regional film expertise to introduce students to important films from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and also the Soviet Union and Latin America.

The course is designed to equip students with a broad range of theoretical and practical approaches to the study of museums. It examines the strategies and practices by which museums interpret, organise and display objects – especially non-Western objects – within diverse cultural contexts.

The module will comprise four thematic blocks, the themes of which will vary each year but may include, for example: Situating the Discipline; Perspectives on Art History; Art and Perception; and Art and Interpretation. Lecture topics include: Material Culture, Architecture and Space, Context and Value, Museology, Yoruba Aesthetics, Art History in China, Gender, Interpreting Archaeology, Semiotics, Phenomenology, Hermeneutics and Deconstruction and others.

This School of Arts unit combines curatorial training with an exploration of key debates in the theory, history and practice of curating art, music and media in a global context. The course includes a series of off-site visits in galleries and arts institutions during which students will meet curators and engage with current perspectives on curating in London. Students will study the histories and debates of curating through a close reading of seminal exhibitions, manifestos and texts, and will cover themes including collecting and display, postcolonial exhibition practice, representation and the ‘other’, curatorial initiatives in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, curating sound and music, and the use of archives and digital technologies in curating. Throughout the course, students will work on group projects to develop practical and conceptual skills for curatorial research, and will end the course by producing an exhibition proposal. The course will appeal especially to students interested in pursuing a career in the arts sector.

This module provides theoretical, practical and historical training in decolonising the study of the arts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It equips students with decolonising tools and perspectives needed to establish and articulate their intellectual position within the study of the arts.

The module will comprise four thematic blocks, the themes of which will vary each year but may include, for example: Situating the Discipline; Perspectives on Art History; Art and Perception; and Art and Interpretation. Lecture topics include: Material Culture, Architecture and Space, Context and Value, Museology, Yoruba Aesthetics, Art History in China, Gender, Interpreting Archaeology, Semiotics, Phenomenology, Hermeneutics and Deconstruction and others.

This module provides theoretical, practical and historical training in decolonising the study of the arts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. It equips students with decolonising tools and perspectives needed to establish and articulate their intellectual position within the study of the arts.

The course is designed to equip students with a broad range of theoretical and practical approaches to the study of museums. It examines the strategies and practices by which museums interpret, organise and display objects – especially non-Western objects – within diverse cultural contexts.

In this module we will explore the central debates of contemporary art through a series of thematic case studies. Students will engage with artworks, exhibitions, art criticism and art theory to gain critical understanding of the key issues and concepts of contemporary art in its global scope.

Arts of the African Diaspora addresses an important and, in many ways, an emerging field of study, long forsaken in chronicles of (art) history but now critical to its understanding, as well as those legacies borne of Atlantic slavery, turmoil, and global migration. Taking the twentieth century as its primary focus and spanning the Americas, Europe, the Caribbean and the African continent, this module considers the enduring impact and influence such histories have had on artistic practices assembled here under the rubric Arts of the African Diaspora.

The course is designed to explore themes – around the emergence of the cultural industries, the commodification of art and culture and the potentialities of digital culture – that are relevant across Media, Music and Arts and Archaeology, and to bring together expertise from each department in a team-taught course. It will give students an overview of the history and scale of the global cultural industries and how they intersect with politics, the economy, and ideas of the self and of community. It will use case studies drawn from across SOAS regions to ground the course in specific examples that address transnational and localised framings.

The module focuses upon objects that represent outstanding achievements of the arts of the Islamic lands of the pre-modern and early modern periods, within the theoretical framework of the study of objects and material culture. Artefacts in different media from different times and regions will be studied in depth, developing critical understanding and knowledge. The agency and consumption of these objects will form an integral part of the study in this module, with consideration given variably to artists, artistic practices, patrons, and/or viewers. Another important art historical aspect that may be explored is the artistic interactions between the Islamic Middle East and neighbouring cultures, including Europe, including the circulation of objects and their transculturation, to be critically discussed through a decolonising lens.

This module examines the art and culture of premodern East Asia through a range of thematic lectures, that may adopt a pan-East Asian approach or may hone in on a specific region (China, Korea or Japan). Drawing on visual material, including (but not limited to) paintings, ceramics, tomb furnishings and textiles, the module seeks to present an overview of key developments in East Asian art from early times to the 1800s. The topics considered include artists, artworks, producers, consumers, materials and design approaches.

This module examines key themes in the study of Buddhist art, visual and material culture in South Asia, Southeast Asia and/or Tibet and the Himalayas. Central issues addressed include the figure of the ‘historical’ Buddha in theory and practice, relics, reliquaries and the stupa, and iconography, aesthetics and Buddhist imagery.

The course is designed to equip students with a broad range of theoretical and practical approaches to the study of museums. It examines the strategies and practices by which museums interpret, organise and display objects – especially non-Western objects – within diverse cultural contexts.

The course is designed to explore themes – around the emergence of the cultural industries, the commodification of art and culture and the potentialities of digital culture – that are relevant across Media, Music and Arts and Archaeology, and to bring together expertise from each department in a team-taught course. It will give students an overview of the history and scale of the global cultural industries and how they intersect with politics, the economy, and ideas of the self and of community. It will use case studies drawn from across SOAS regions to ground the course in specific examples that address transnational and localised framings.

This module comprises an essay of 8,000 words on an archaeological or art historical topic to be supervised by a teacher of the Department.

This module allows students to synthesise their learning in a single project that demonstrates their fulfilment of the programme’s learning outcomes. It integrates their academic knowledge with experiences beyond the classroom and combines their developing knowledge, skills, and personal interests. The project is conceived, designed, and carried out independently, with support and supervision.

This School of Arts unit combines curatorial training with an exploration of key debates in the theory, history and practice of curating art, music and media in a global context. The course includes a series of off-site visits in galleries and arts institutions during which students will meet curators and engage with current perspectives on curating in London. Students will study the histories and debates of curating through a close reading of seminal exhibitions, manifestos and texts, and will cover themes including collecting and display, postcolonial exhibition practice, representation and the ‘other’, curatorial initiatives in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, curating sound and music, and the use of archives and digital technologies in curating. Throughout the course, students will work on group projects to develop practical and conceptual skills for curatorial research, and will end the course by producing an exhibition proposal. The course will appeal especially to students interested in pursuing a career in the arts sector.

The course is designed to equip students with a broad range of theoretical and practical approaches to the study of museums. It examines the strategies and practices by which museums interpret, organise and display objects – especially non-Western objects – within diverse cultural contexts.

In this module we will explore the central debates of contemporary art through a series of thematic case studies. Students will engage with artworks, exhibitions, art criticism and art theory to gain critical understanding of the key issues and concepts of contemporary art in its global scope.

Arts of the African Diaspora addresses an important and, in many ways, an emerging field of study, long forsaken in chronicles of (art) history but now critical to its understanding, as well as those legacies borne of Atlantic slavery, turmoil, and global migration. Taking the twentieth century as its primary focus and spanning the Americas, Europe, the Caribbean and the African continent, this module considers the enduring impact and influence such histories have had on artistic practices assembled here under the rubric Arts of the African Diaspora.

The course is designed to explore themes – around the emergence of the cultural industries, the commodification of art and culture and the potentialities of digital culture – that are relevant across Media, Music and Arts and Archaeology, and to bring together expertise from each department in a team-taught course. It will give students an overview of the history and scale of the global cultural industries and how they intersect with politics, the economy, and ideas of the self and of community. It will use case studies drawn from across SOAS regions to ground the course in specific examples that address transnational and localised framings.

The module focuses upon objects that represent outstanding achievements of the arts of the Islamic lands of the pre-modern and early modern periods, within the theoretical framework of the study of objects and material culture. Artefacts in different media from different times and regions will be studied in depth, developing critical understanding and knowledge. The agency and consumption of these objects will form an integral part of the study in this module, with consideration given variably to artists, artistic practices, patrons, and/or viewers. Another important art historical aspect that may be explored is the artistic interactions between the Islamic Middle East and neighbouring cultures, including Europe, including the circulation of objects and their transculturation, to be critically discussed through a decolonising lens.

This module examines the art and culture of premodern East Asia through a range of thematic lectures, that may adopt a pan-East Asian approach or may hone in on a specific region (China, Korea or Japan). Drawing on visual material, including (but not limited to) paintings, ceramics, tomb furnishings and textiles, the module seeks to present an overview of key developments in East Asian art from early times to the 1800s. The topics considered include artists, artworks, producers, consumers, materials and design approaches.

This module examines key themes in the study of Buddhist art, visual and material culture in South Asia, Southeast Asia and/or Tibet and the Himalayas. Central issues addressed include the figure of the ‘historical’ Buddha in theory and practice, relics, reliquaries and the stupa, and iconography, aesthetics and Buddhist imagery.

This module is about cultural and social change in Africa in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It covers the entire continent, north and south of the Sahara, as well as considering the cultures of the African diaspora. The aim to is explore African cultures and societies across the established divide in the continent's modern history between the era of colonial rule in the first half of the twentieth century and that of renewed African sovereignty from around the 1960s. A range of social changes are examined, but the focus will be on the history of popular and visual cultures, including artistic production in the fields of music, dance, theatre, film and plastic art. A central concern is to think about the historical processes that have shaped contemporary society and culture today.

This course will focus on urban musical practices and soundscapes, including theoretical approaches drawn from contemporary literature in ethnomusicology and associated disciplines, and will enable students to put classroom learning into practice via a guided individual field study.

This module examines literature in English about South East Asia and written by South East Asians, taking English as a South East Asian language. It explores issues such as diasporic identity, exile and belonging, linguistic choice, race and communal politics.

Focusing primarily on the Asia-Pacific War, this module critically explores the multiple ways in which memories have been created, circulated, and consumed in Japan, the Koreas, and the Sinophone area.

This module will consider the material and political reality of digital technologies from the perspective of geopolitics, political economy, physical resources, conflict, and climate. It will introduce students to a variety of concepts relevant to these questions as well as examining key current themes relating to the global political economy of digital technology such as: Server farms and energy, cryptocurrencies and fringe groups, technocolonialism (technology and intl. development), undersea cables, security, surveillance infrastructures, minerals like lithium, cobalt, and tantalum (coltan).

This team-taught module will bring together different scholars from across the arts and humanities to consider at an advanced level the impact of digital technologies, such as digitisation, translation or artificial intelligence, on various aspects of human life when they are digitised: language, translation, arts, memory, history and its preservation, authenticity and “fakeness”, religion, pilgrimage, archives, structures of knowledge and information management, and others. Drawing a strong humanities foundation, the module will enable students to consider the impact of digitality on the human in a sophisticated way, without reducing/overlooking the implications of digital transition or falling foul of digital exceptionalism.