Masaryk University
Faculty of Arts
Department of Art History
Spring Semester 2022
Image, Object, Text: Theories and Methods in Art History and Visual Studies
Code: DU1905 Credits: 8
Course Assessment
The course will be assessed on the basis of an essay of between 15 and 20 A4 pages (1800
characters per page). The essay should be accompanied with a bibliography of sources consulted.
The deadline for submission will be Friday 10 June.
For the essay your task is as follows:
Choose one or two works of art / architecture and identify the questions that have been raised by the
task of undertaking an art historical interpretation of them. You might wish to discuss, for example,
iconological or formal interpretations. Or you might wish to discuss them in relation to their place in
the art historical canon, or also, in the case of non-European artworks, the importance of debates
about global art.
You will be expected to discuss relevant academic publications on it / them (or on the artist /
architect) – recent, historical, or a combination of the two - and analyse the methodological debates
that your chosen work/s generates.
Consider the ways in which the debates relate to the topics we have discussed in the course. Are
there any alternative interpretations and methods you think might be valuable and why?
The essay will be assessed on the following basis:
1. Research: is the essay well researched and are its claims based on appropriate use of sources?
2. Understanding: does the essay display a good level of understanding of the materials / ideas it
discusses?
3. Analysis: does the essay undertake an appropriate critical appraisal of the written primary and
secondary source material?
4. Argument: does the essay present a clearly constructed argument, with a conclusion?
5. Relevance: are the material selected and the arguments used relevant to the topic of the essay
question and to the course as a whole?
6. Language: is the essay written in clear and correct English?
Time will be set aside on the sessions for 5 May and 19 May to discuss the essay requirements. You
will also have a one-to-one tutorial meeting with me to talk about your ideas for the essay.
Matthew Rampley
7 April 2020