HIST46830: Visual Culture in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages ca. 500-1000 CE

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• To enable students to develop their skills in using visual evidence in historical research
• To gain an advanced understanding of the development of visual culture of Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, including its nature, themes, debates and media
• To enable students to analyse visual evidence from the period in its historical, cultural and material contexts

• During Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages (c. 500-1000 CE) images played an important role in intellectual and religious culture and their purposes, functions and significance were heavily debated. This module introduces students to approaches to the use of visual evidence in historical research through the study of a formative period of European visual culture, and enables them to develop their skills in using visual culture as a source for historical research.
• It examines key intellectual debates about the place of visual images in late antique and early medieval belief and culture and explores the theoretical frameworks which can be used to analyse, interpret and contextualise visual culture effectively. Each seminar will be structured around a different theme and focused on representative images and texts. Themes may include: iconoclasm and iconolatry in Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages; attitudes to images across religions (e.g., Christianity, Judaism, Islam) and in different parts of Europe (e.g. the Carolingian Empire, Iberia, Byzantium); materials and methods of image production; the craftspeople who produced late antique and early medieval visual culture; and the study of different media such as wall painting, mosaics and illuminated manuscripts.
• Drawing on these topics, students will be able to develop their own independent research questions for summative coursework and will be expected to engage fully in discussions during the seminars. By the end of the module students will understand the challenges and opportunities involved in using visual culture as a source for historical research, and will be well placed to incorporate visual culture into their future research (e.g. for dissertations).

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• To gain knowledge of the evolving historical, cultural, and material contexts in which late antique and early medieval visual sources were produced and received
• To gain knowledge of critical debates involving the use of images in the period and of the historiography on the topic
• To help students acquire comparative understanding of late antique and early medieval visual culture within different historical contexts across a wide geographical area (Europe and the Mediterranean)
• To understand the differences between the study of visual culture and art history

Subject-specific Skills:

• To gain an ability to interrogate and understand visual evidence preserved in a range of media and to deploy it as part of historical research

Key Skills:

• an advanced ability to analyse critically
• an independence of thought and judgement, and an ability to assess the critical ideas of others
• sophisticated skills in critical reasoning
• an advanced ability to interpret complex information of diverse kinds
• professional organisation and time-management skills

• The module comprises ten 2-hour seminars; students will meet weekly during Epiphany term.
• Student learning is facilitated by a range of teaching methods, privileging experiential learning where appropriate. Seminars will focus on discussion and analysis of images and texts; there may be a field trip to a relevant collection
• Seminar structure may vary slightly according to theme, but they will invariably include primary source analysis (visual and textual), group discussion of scholarship, and methodological reflections. Seminars will provide a forum to assess and comment critically on the findings of others, defend their conclusions in a reasoned setting, and advance their knowledge and understanding of the history and significance of late antique and early medieval visual culture
• Assessment is by means of a 5000-word essay which requires the acquisition and application of advanced knowledge and understanding of an aspect of the history of visual culture of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, with a particular focus on the Mediterranean world and parts of Continental Europe. Essays require a sustained and coherent argument in defence of a hypothesis, and must be presented in a clearly written and structured form, and with appropriate apparatus

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