Unit name | Picturing the Twentieth Century |
---|---|
Unit code | HIST30114 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
Unit director | Professor. McLellan |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit explores the history of the twentieth century through its visual artefacts. What can art, photographs, political posters, cartoons, documentaries and feature films tell us about this turbulent century? Does looking at visual sources reveal new or unexpected insights into histories that may seem familiar?
The unit begins by introducing students to a range of analytical approaches to visual sources. What use are visual sources to the historian, and how are they different to written or oral sources? How can we read these images, and what tools and frameworks do we need to make sense of them?
We will then engage with a series of visual case studies, in which we will use visual sources to explore some of the big themes of twentieth-century history: democracy, fascism, capitalism and communism, migration, globalisation, changes in the family, gender and sexuality, the birth of new social movements, humans’ relationship with the environment and nature. We might, for example, think about Nazism by examining the films of Leni Riefenstahl, or approach poverty post-1945 through the lens of documentary photographers. What can Hollywood film tell us about the rise of consumerism, or newspaper cartoons about changing attitudes towards the LGBT+ community? Students will have the opportunity to engage in-depth with visual history collections, and to significantly expand both their visual analysis skills and their knowledge of twentieth century history.
Unit Aims:
By the end of this unit, successful students will be able to:
Classes will involve a combination of long- and short-form lectures, class discussion, investigative activities, and practical activities. Students will be expected to engage with readings and participate on a weekly basis. This will be further supported with drop-in sessions and self-directed exercises with tutor and peer feedback.
1 x Individual Presentation (25%) [ILOs 1-4]
1 x Timed Assessment (75%) [ILOs 1-4]
Roberta Bivens, ‘Picturing Race in the British National Health Service, 1948-1988', Twentieth' Century British History, Vol 28, 1, (March 2017) P. Burke, Eyewitnessing': the uses of images as historical evidence (London, 2001)
Ludmilla Jordanova, ‘Approaching Visual Materials’ in Simon Gunn and Lucy Faire (eds), Research Methods for History (Edinburgh, 2011), pp. 30-47.
Carlo Ginzburg, '”Your Country Needs You”’: A Case Study in Political Iconography History Workshop Journal, No. 52 (Autumn, 2001),
Gillian Rose, Visual Methodologies (London, 2016)