BA History of Art

Year of entry: 2023

Course unit details:
Cultural and Creative Industries

Course unit fact file
Unit code SALC10402
Credit rating 20
Unit level Level 1
Teaching period(s) Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit? Yes

Overview

This course unit will introduce students to concepts and practices in Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) from the perspective of social development. Through a study of the key theories and relevant contemporary examples, the course will provide students with a critical understanding of the cultural, social and economic value and ecology of different CCIs, nationally and internationally.  

 

The course unit will focus on the relationship between artistic and socio-economic values. This will include studies on public-private relationships, accessibility, well-being, intellectual property, diversity, inclusion, equality, popular and high-culture, fair-trade, capital, digital culture, technology, power, and labour conditions. It will enable students to understand the intersection between Cultural and Creative Industries markets and politics, economy, and human and social development. 

 

The course unit consists of three parts:  

 

Part I: Cultural Value and Cultural Industries: theoretical references on cultural value and critical studies in Cultural Industries;  

 

Part II: Culture and Economic Development: an overview of the theoretical framework on Economic Development (and its possible dialogues with cultural and artistic value); 

 

Part III: Policies in contemporary themes on Cultural and Creative Industries and Multidimensional Development: including Culture and Urban Development; Culture and Human Development (Wellbeing); Culture and Diversity: Gender, Race and Ethnicity; Cultural Wars; Cultural Rights; Culture, Identity and Globalisation. 

Aims

  • Develop knowledge of the theoretical framework surrounding the field of Cultural and Creative Industries and Economic Development.  

  • Establish a critical ability to read and interpret the historical debates and critically assess the different interpretations of the impact of the Cultural and Creative Industries on artistic and socio-economic development. 

  • Develop tools of theoretical knowledge and contextual analysis so as to be able to actively participate in current debates relating to cultural value and multidimensional socio-economic development. 

Teaching and learning methods

 Weekly one-hour lecture/two hour seminars with directed learning and presentations to be prepared from week to week, including presentations by guest lecturers.  

 

The course will have a Blackboard site with all elements of the minimum specification including: 

1. Aims, Objectives, Timetable and Mode of Assessment 

2. Course Materials 

3. Reading lists 

4. Guidance on assessment 

5. Group project discussion board 

Knowledge and understanding

  • Comprehension of the fundamentals of Cultural Industries and economic development studies.  

  • Understanding the application of the basic economic thought to the arts, cultural and creative industries, from an interdisciplinary perspective.   

  • Demonstrating an ability to engage with contemporary debates on how culture can lead a strategy for socio-economic and human development.  

Intellectual skills

  • Gain an understanding of how the multidisciplinary view the socio-economic development can be related to artistic value (and how to communicate it through a written piece). 

  • Apply skills and ideas learned during the course unit to interpret the role of the Arts in a social context as well as its implications in policies while remaining aware of the complexity of the issues. 

Practical skills

Write essays and literature reviews that demonstrate a BA level 1 competence in the organization of evidence and argument. 

Transferable skills and personal qualities

  • Retrieve, select and critically evaluate information from a variety of sources, including libraries, archives, and the internet.  

  • Communicate information and ideas effectively in a professional, as well as an academic, environment. 

  • Demonstrate independent learning ability suitable for continuing study and professional development. 

Employability skills

Analytical skills
Articulate clearly key historic and contemporary debates on Creative Industries policies
Group/team working
Work independently, and collaboratively
Innovation/creativity
Generate ideas and think laterally
Other
Manage time and deadlines efficiently

Assessment methods

Assessment Task Formative or Summative Weighting within unit
Critical Literature Review Summative 50%
Essay Plan with indicative bibliography Formative 0%
Essay Summative 50%

 

Feedback methods

Feedback method  

Formative or Summative 

Written feedback on literature review 

Summative 

Written feedback on essay 

Summative 

One-to-one feedback during consultation hour/by appointment 

Formative 

Recommended reading

Belfiore, Eleonora., and Oliver. Bennett. The Social Impact of the Arts :  An Intellectual History. 1st edition. 2008. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2008 

Bourdieu, Pierre, Richard Nice, and Tony Bennett . Distinction: a Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste . Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2010. 

Brook, Orian, Dave O’Brien, and Mark Taylor. Culture Is Bad for You : Inequality in the Cultural and Creative Industries. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press, 2020 

Crossik, G., & Kaszynska, P. Understanding the value of arts & culture: The AHRC Cultural Value Project. Arts and humanities research council, 2016 

Mazzucato, Mariana (2018). The Value of Everything. London: Penguin, 

Oakley, Kate., and Justin. O’Connor. The Routledge Companion to the Cultural Industries. London ;: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015 

Throsby, D. (2001). Economics and Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  

Sen, Amartya (2001). Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  
 

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 11
Seminars 22
Independent study hours
Independent study 167

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Leandro Valiati Unit coordinator

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