New Postgraduate Courses: Supporting Information
Guidance for the Course Organiser (Proposer) |
New Level 11 courses must be approved by the ECA Postgraduate Board of Studies. Provided this Board
is quorate and scrutinises new courses using UoE/CHSS criteria, there is no longer a requirement to
approve courses at Level 2 (CHSS). To ensure the sustainability of PG programmes (CHSS criteria),
unless the new course forms part of a new programme, it should normally replace an existing Level 11
course.
http://www.docs.sasg.ed.ac.uk/AcademicServices/Policies/Prog_Course_Design.pdf
https://www.wiki.ed.ac.uk/display/PCIM/Home
Timing |
1.
Complete this form as far in advance as possible and email it to ECA PG Office for initial review
and feedback. You should also arrange to discuss the new course at this stage with PGO to assist in
marketing it within UoE.
2. Following feedback from the ECA PG Director, submit your course using CCAM (accessed via
EUCLID) at least two weeks before ECA Postgraduate Board of Studies meets. This allows the
paperwork to go out to all five ECA Subject Areas for review and feedback from PGT Directors (this
is a key requirement of the Board of Studies).
3. Your course proposal will be placed on the Agenda for approval by ECA Postgraduate Board of
Studies.
4. Approval is subject to any amendments recommended by the ECA PG Board of Studies.
Please note:
• New courses should normally be proposed in Semester 2 to run in the following academic session.
• The final PG Board of Studies before the following academic session will take place in May
Guidelines |
Please make sure you read and follow these guidelines carefully as they include the latest UoE
criteria for new course design. If you need any assistance, please contact ECA PGO:
Writing Learning Outcomes:
https://www.wiki.ed.ac.uk/pages/viewpage.action?title=Writing+Learning+Outcomes&spaceKey=E
CATO
Writing Statement of Assessment:
https://www.wiki.ed.ac.uk/display/ECATO/Statement+of+Assessment
CCAM Guidelines:
www.studentsystems.ed.ac.uk/staff/Support/User_Guides/CCAM/index.html
To be completed by the Course Organiser (Proposer):
Key Information |
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History of Art
ECA PG Office
Feb 2015; updated Nov 2015
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Other Subject Areas (in ECA | non-ECA): ECA: 19th-21th-century art and visual culture, Non
ECA: courses on post-colonialism in Literature and History
Course Title: The Aesthetics of Difference: Post-colonial Perspectives
Programme(s) / DTP(s): Taught MSc Option course, relevant to MSc History of Art, Theory
and Display, Msc in Modern and Contemporary Art
Course Organiser (Proposer): Dr Claudia Hopkins
Programme Director(s): Professor Viccy Coltman
SCOTCAT Credits: 40
Level 11 Course(s) new course replaces: Title/Code (if relevant) n/a. This is a new course,
designed to grow capacity in History of Art, expand the ‘global’ in History of Art, and links
across HSS.
Resources shared with UG course(s)?: There is a related UG course “Orientalism in Visual
Culture” (focusing on 19th-century representations of the Middle East) in History of Art. This
enables resources to be shared across the area, particularly in the way of books and
research tools. In addition, there are regular and extra-curricular activities in HoA, ESALA
and History to which the students are alerted. This course will also be available to MSc
students in all other CHSS MSc programmes, as relevant.
Academic and Commercial Rationale for the new course |
Detail where the rationale has arisen from, where the idea has been discussed and provide evidence to
support it (e.g. External Examiner’s Report, Subject Area PG Committee, Student Demand, Financial
forecast, etc.).
This is a new course in History of art. It is aimed at postgraduate students interested (cross-)
cultural encounters between the West, the Middle East, and Africa, from the nineteenth to
the twenty-first century. The course will create links with local and national institutions.
There are important research collections in the National Library of Scotland, the National
Museum of Scotland, and University Collections. HoA has longstanding relations with these
institutions for both research and teaching. The course
will appeal to MSc students in History
of Art as well as other disciplines, eg. History, Literature, Sociology, Islamic and African
Studies.
This is the only dedicated course on Postcolonial Perspectives at MSc level in
History of Art at the UoE.
Fit with existing Programme(s) |
How does the new course compliment existing programme(s) it is included in and what is the overall
effect of this course on the programme(s)?
The course makes a unique contribution to the ‘global’ profile of History of Art. HoA has a
proven track record in teaching non-Western art (Chinese, Islamic, Japanese). The
department also hosts the journal Art in Translation (edited by the course organiser), which is
committed to a ‘global’ history of art. There is currently no other course on the MSc programme that explicitly focuses on issues of
cultural translation in the arts, exploring post-colonial theory.
It uniquely enhances the current offering in the MSc History of Art, Theory and Display, and
MSc in Modern and Contemporay Art.
ECA PG Office
Feb 2015; updated Nov 2015
Internal Competition / Potential |
Does the course overlap or compete with any other UoE courses viewable on path.is.ed.ac.uk? Are there
any other UoE programmes that it might benefit and, if so, have the programme directors been
approached?
There are courses in History dealing with Post-colonialism ( Politics and Power in Postcolonial Africa, level 10) and in Literature (Post-colonial Writing, level 10).
In History of Art, as mentioned above, there is a UG course on ‘Orientalism and Visual
Culture’, but the overlap is limited as this UG course focuses on nineteenth-century
Orientalism in relation to the Middle East and North Africa. It does not deal with
contemporary issues, nor with sub-Saharan Africa.
Resource Implications |
Fully detail the resource implications that will result from the validation of the new course (e.g.
technical workshops, estates, learning and teaching, admin, IS, and ECA support departments).
This is a straightforward seminar-based course on the standard CHSS model. There are
no additional requirements. Additional classes and activities will be incorporated but
these are low or no cost, local partnerships with the external bodies mentioned above.
Teaching cost per student |
Based on the proposed contact time, calculate the basic cost of teaching the course to one student. (1hr
of staff teaching costs £100; this is a CHSS sustainability review requirement.)
Not relevant
EU fees for Programme hosting the proposed course |
Please provide the full-time EU fees for the next academic session.
Min/Max Student Population |
Estimate the minimum and maximum number of students that the course can accommodate. Will the
course be taught in more than one class/more than one tutor? (If there is no max. limit, please state so.)
Minimum – History of Art MSc courses run on an ideal minimum of 6 students. Sometimes
this is lower because certain students come to study with us to take specific subjects. These
students are high-value as they are most likely to go on and do PhD study with us. Lower
student numbers on a course are balanced by higher numbers on others. This changes from
one year to the next, and is in part dependent on activities outwith the control of ECA/HoA.
Therefore in HoA we aim for a mean student cohort across MSc option courses. In some cases
courses will be taken off last minute but only where this does not cause significant problems
for managing student expectation and for reallocation of teaching staff to alternative
teaching duties. This is often neither possible nor desirable.
Minimum 3; maximum 12, though this often rises to 15 even though it is not ideal at this
level. Seminar room size across ECA/HSS limits group size to 15, even when capacity is
advertised to be 20 or 24.
SCQF Level |
Explain how the course Learning Outcomes satisfy SCQF Level 11 Descriptors scqf.org.uk/theframework/scqf-levels
ECA PG Office
Feb 2015; updated Nov 2015
Knowledge and Understanding will be addressed by LO1:
LO1 Demonstrate a specialist and integrated knowledge of post-colonial theory
and visual representations of otherness, ranging from European Orientalist
traditions in the nineteenth century to responses to racial and cultural
difference in the modern and contemporary period.
Practice: Applied Knowledge and Understanding will be addressed
by LO2:
LO2. Demonstrate skills in visual and theoretical analysis in relation to key works and visual
displays that relate to (cross-) cultural encounters between the West, the Middle East, and
Africa, from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. Students will apply their knowledge
and theoretical understanding through the choice of examples and case studies they select
for class discussion and for formative and summative assessment activity. The summative
assignment in particular will enable them to execute a significant project of research through
which they will be expected to demonstrate originality, creativity and critical/questioning of
core case studies and values that underlie this subject, history and politics.
Generic Cognitive Skills will be addressed by LO3:
LO3. Apply skills of critical reflection, synthesis and evaluation towards complex translational
processes that are at work in visual representations of cultural and racial difference. In
classes, and in peer and expert interaction, students will test and apply their critical analysis,
synthesis and evaluation of historical and theoretical knowledge.
Communication, ICT and numeracy
Students will communicate to a range of audiences – peer and expert – in class presentations,
essays, and interaction with professionals on class visits to the National Library of Scotland
and the National Museum of Scotland. The research necessary for successful independent
study, class presentation and research demands high level literacy and research skills.
Autonomy, accountability and working with others
Students on their course (and indeed all MSc programmes in HoA) join a learning community
of peers, and the learning community of HoA in ECA. In addition to class and programme
activities, students attend weekly research seminars. Peer learning groups and class sessions
demand critical reflection, self-awareness and interaction. This is especially relevant in this
course as it deals with social, historical and political issues (racism, colonialism and its
legacies) which are highly significant within our society.
Assessment Rationale |
Please explain the rationale for Assessment (‘how’ and ’why’).
The course will be assessed through the essay (standard practice throughout the History of Art
department). Students will negotiate knowledge and find their own research question with the
ECA PG Office
Feb 2015; updated Nov 2015
support of the course organiser. They will prepare a bibliography together with a formal abstract,
including detailed information on the proposed topic, research methodologies and essay
structure. One-to-one 30-minute feed-forward sessions will be arranged for each student to
review progress and offer advice. The construction of a longer piece of work (4,000 words) is a key
stage towards the longer narrative (15,000 words) demanded in the MSc dissertation. It is a
greater word length than most MSc students are used to, especially those who come to us from
outside the UK HEI sector.
Alignment of LOs & Assignments |
Please explain how the Learning Outcomes will be aligned with Assignments.
One 4,000-word essay. The essay will allow students to exercise all elements of the learning
outcomes in line with SCQF 11 requirements. In addition to the course-specific learning
outcomes, the assignment activities align with the generic Los embedded in the University of
Edinburgh’s Common Marking Scheme (4).
Weighting of LOs & Assignments |
Please explain your rationale for the weighting of Learning Outcomes and/or related Assignments
based on learning hours attributed to student workload.
100% weighting of the 4,000-word essay using the University Common Marking Scheme 4
(standard HoA practice).
VLE |
Please state which VLE will host and support the course (e.g. LEARN, PebblePad, Course WordPress,
etc).
LEARN
Level 1 Ethical Approval |
For courses of 40 credits or less, please confirm that the mandatory course assignments do not require
research that exceeds Level 1 Ethical Review. The course proposer should tick this box to confirm that they
have used the Audit Checklist for this purpose. X☐
ECA PG Office
Feb 2015; updated Nov 2015