Download Core Research Skills for Postgraduates

Core Research Skills for Postgraduates
The Sociological Imagination
The independent artist and intellectual are among the few
remaining personalities equipped to resist and to fight the
stereotyping and consequent death of genuinely lively things.
Fresh perception now involves the capacity continually to
unmask and to smash stereotypes of vision and intellect with
which modern communications swamp us.
C. Wright Mills (1963) ‘The Social Role of the Intellectual.’
Course tutor: William Clark
T: 07850 339298
E: [email protected]
Tutorials by appointment 1
Generic course descriptor
Course title: The Sociological Imagination
Tutor: William Clark
Pre-requisite: None
Co-requisite: None
Rationale
This
course
introduces
students
to:
Teaching in a
range of core
research skills
using the models
of the classic
tradition in social
theory and
contemporary
sources.
Aims
The
course
aims to:
Provide students
with valid
research tools
and an archive
that is useful and
relevant across a
range of PG
study and
beyond.
Learning
Outcomes Use and
effectively
By the end understand the
of the
range of
course
resources and
students
methodologies
should be provided for the
able to:
student.
Ways to
develop
these skills
using taught
examples of
research
questions,
abstracts,
essay
structure,
theory
construction.
Examine a
range of
texts in
crossdisciplinary
thought and
explore the
practical
connections
via
comparative
analysis.
The
importance of
research for
artistic
practice and
illuminates
this through a
range of set
models and
themes.
Understand
the principles
underpinning
research
expected at
PG level.
Demonstrate
an
understanding
of the
relationship
between
research and
practice.
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Enable the
management
and conduct
of PG
research in a
helpful and
creative
environment.
An
emphasis on
the idea of
practice as
research
and art as a
social
critique and
how to
utilize
written
sources.
Interrogate
the relation
between
research,
theory,
methodology
and practice
in relation to
the students’
own
research
projects.
Organise
and carrying
out an
effective and
efficient
research
project.
Rationale, Aims and Learning outcomes
This course introduces students taking taught postgraduate programmes at
the Glasgow School of Art to a range of core research skills, from formulating
research questions to methods of utilizing written sources. Central to the
course is the importance of research for practitioners, and the notion of
practice as a form of research.
Duration (with indicative student effort hours)
The course will be delivered throughout Stage 1 of the taught postgraduate
programmes. The course will comprise of 16 hours of direct contact time. A
flexible approach to delivery will be used and the module will be structured
around a series of lectures in which the core material is presented and
discussed. Through the provision of reading material and guided independent
study students are given the opportunity to explore issues more fully.
Indicative content



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Defining the relevance of the classic tradition in social theory as
the basis for thinking on what art is, or its connection to social
movements, ways of living and the legitimisation or delegitimisation of authority.
Social Theory across the disciplinary boundaries of Cultural
Studies, Sociology and the Philosophy of Social Science.
Understanding the history of ideas.
The course encompasses: Philosophical, Sociological (extending
into Social Psychology, the Sociology of Knowledge and
Phenomenology), Aesthetics, and Comparative Analysis elements,
but the emphasis is on breaking down barriers to learning, even if
these are academic specialties.
Developing, structuring and managing a project of research.
Learning and teaching
This course will be delivered through a series of lectures, seminars, and group
discussions drawing from a range of provided material. Rather than a
prepared reading list key texts are interpreted and discussed with a view to
increasing the student’s understanding and promoting future research. All of
the necessary reading is provided for the student and the course also include
elements involving research methodologies and essay writing, largely in terms
of heuristics, forms of analysis and structure to assist the student with their
essay writing.
Assessment methods
For this course, students will be required to produce and submit one
assignment. This will take the form of a written submission in the form of an
essay of 2500-3000 words, correctly presented and referenced, relating to a
topic pertinent to the course. Students should have the topic approved in
advance by the course tutor.
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Assessment criteria
Students on this course will be assessed on their ability to:
 Conceptualise and present research problems.
 Utilize appropriate methods and tools when conducting a project of
research and practice.
 Situate their projects of research and practice within relevant
contexts.
 Critically reflect on the success and effectiveness of their own
projects of practice and research.
 Demonstrate a level of depth in the analysis of works,
practitioners, ideas and/or debates appropriate to postgraduate
level.
Course descriptor
Electronic and historical resources
How can creative practitioners work with electronic and historical resources as
a source of inspiration and long-term value? This course introduces students
to the theoretical debates surrounding social theory to encourage an in-depth
understanding of its theoretical perspectives and research methodologies. By
providing an archive of key texts dedicated to enabling a critical
understanding it promotes awareness and discussion of historical and
contemporary forms of cultural activity and aims to create an environment that
stimulates the sociological imagination.
This course introduces students to a range of different ways of thinking about
and using historical resources. It will explore some of the following topics:

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

The models needed for the attainment of highly developed
research and interpretation skills that can enable students to
comprehend the historical development of art and social theory.
The selection processes involved in directed reading.
How to evaluate the way in which differing principles inform and
guide research and theorising within contemporary art.
Skills related to how to produce a literature review that is
analytically structured and focussed.
Exploring historical sources to gain understanding of their
philosophical ramifications using a critical awareness of how ideas
influence and shape culture and how to identify and apply relevant
social theory to artistic practice.
The evaluation of theories and models relating to social theory in a
sophisticated and coherent manner to critically compare and
contrast different theoretical schools of thought.
Throughout the course the emphasis will be placed on the use of analytical
skills to evaluate the way in which differing principles inform and guide
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research and theorising within contemporary art. During the eight seminars
the students will be encouraged to understand and demonstrate a critical
awareness of how ideas influence and shape culture and gain the skills
needed to identify and apply relevant social theory to artistic practice.
Assessment methods
On completion of the course the Student should be able to prove a deep
understanding of the classic tradition in social theory, based on knowledge of
a range of peer-reviewed journal articles, and achieve a high level of
analytical thinking and the ability to work independently. The student will be
required to produce a well-conceived, empirically researched theoretical
argument in an essay of 2500-3000 words complete with footnotes and
bibliography using the Harvard referencing system. The assignment should
demonstrate the learning outcomes outlined above.
Submission deadline: TBC
This is an innovative course in that the source material is provided and
encapsulated for the students. In the first part of the seminar the ideas of the
classic sociologists are explained in depth to orientate the students towards
various models of looking at social realities. These are eight specific texts
that are attempts to state the general historical trend of modern society and
these form the primary texts that are described below. The second part of the
session gives the students the chance to discuss a set of themes that relate to
a range of journal articles that have been selected because of their
interpretive relation to the key thinkers and art and culture. The third aspect is
aimed to contextualise more general themes such as Art History or the Avantgarde with a view to informing the student on core research skills.
All the texts are contained on a memory stick archive that is provided as part
of the course. This has been assembled over the space of a year and it is
envisaged that the students will retain this to inform their future practice and
also comment on and develop its usefulness.
Tutor: William Clark
Location: Barnes Building Round Room
Time: 11am -1pm
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Course Breakdown

Session 1 — Required reading: ‘The world outside and the pictures
in our heads’ (Walter Lippmann).
1a — Discussion Themes: The Concept of the Stereotype | Public
Opinion | Berger & Luckman—the social constructedness of reality |
The Cold War | Henri Bergson
1b — General Theme: Phenomenology.

Session 2 — Required reading: ‘On anomie’ (Emilie Durkheim).
2a — Discussion Themes: Social Facts | Anomie | Consciousness
Collectives | Representation Collectives | Durkheim’s Methodological
Approach | Bataille & Tel Quel; Duchamp; The Paris Commune
2b — General Theme: The Avant Garde.

Session 3 — Required reading: ‘Bureaucracy’ (Max Weber).
3a — Positive and Interpretative Social Sciences | Critical Theory |
Objectivity | Subjective meaning and verstehen | Blaue Reiter | Jacob
Burkhardt
3b — General Theme: Art Education.

Session 4 — Required reading: ‘On class’ (Karl Marx & Friedrich
Engels).
4a—The Frankfurt School | Lewis Coser & Dissent | Linda Nochlin |
Walter Benjamin | Plekhanov
4b — General Theme: Art Criticism.

Session 5 — Required reading: ‘Types of rationality and organized
insecurity’ (Karl Mannheim)
5a — Erwin Panofsky | Picasso | Abstract Expressionism
5b — General Theme: The Sociology of Knowledge.

Session 6 — Required reading: ‘Vico’ (Isaiah Berlin)
6a — Fantasia: the reconstructive imagination | Isaiah Berlin and the
history of ideas | Jacob Bronowski | Sturm and Drang
6b — General Theme: Art Theory.

Session 7 — Required reading: ‘The Cultural Apparatus’ (C. Wright
Mills)
7a — The Sociological Imagination | the cultural apparatus | the fourth
epoch | counter culture | Alvin Gouldner | Irving Lois Horowitz
7b — General Theme: Art History.

Session 8 — Required reading: ‘The Crisis of Culture and the State’
(Cornelius Castoriadis)
8a — The Internationale | Ways of Seeing | The Pre-Socratic
8b — General Theme: Phronesis.
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