URL study guide
https://studiegids.vu.nl/en/courses/2024-2025/L_KNMAKGS010Course Objective
Students in this course will: 1) train their critical and writing skills by writing a number of reviews in English, and discuss their own and others’ texts. 2) engage with current developments in contemporary art and culture through the medium of review writing. 3) analyse key aspects of the history and theory of art criticism.Course Content
The students write reviews that will be discussed in class. As the aim is to write well-argued reviews of contemporary art exhibitions, the discussions will focus on form as well as on content; on the craft of writing as well as on the cogency of the observations and value judgements in these texts. Additionally, there are sessions on the history and current state of art criticism that will help the student to situate themselves and contextualize their own work. The focus is on visual art, but contemporary visual art is inter- or postmedial in nature, which means that art criticism too cannot be content with conventional definitions of what constitutes visual art.
Teaching Methods
SeminarMethod of Assessment
The writing assignments will not be graded individually in order to encourage everybody to see the course as a whole; to engage in the process of writing and discussing without regarding every assignment as a separate hurdle that needs to be passed. Students get feedback on each assignment that will allow them to identify points they need to work on. At the end, the teacher re-reads all the assignments and assesses the entirety of the reviews based on the students' ability to present a compelling critical perspective on art/exhibitions in a well-written and well-structured text, taking into account the overall level but also the growth curve during the course. This composes 80% of the grade. Participation in the discussions (the review discussion as well as the historical/theoretical sessions) makes up the remaining 20%. Matching of course objectives and assessment Objective 1: Reviews (80%), and discussion (20%) Objective 2: Reviews Objective 3: DiscussionsLiterature
Will be announced via CANVASTarget Audience
MA students art history (CAH, KMC), CAMS, Critical Studies in Art and Culture, Curating Art and Cultures, Design CulturesRecommended background knowledge
BA art history or equivalentLanguage of Tuition
- English
Study type
- Master