View Specification DocumentART AND POLITICS IN WEIMAR GERMANY (1918-1933) HISTART4006
- Academic Session: 2026-27
- School: School of Culture and Creative Arts
- Credits: 40
- Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
- Typically Offered: Runs Throughout Semesters 1 and 2
- Available to Visiting Students: Yes
- Collaborative Online International Learning: No
- Curriculum For Life: No
Short Description
To develop critical understanding of the key artistic groups, cultural movements, historical events and theoretical debates of the period.
- To encourage an inter-disciplinary approach to the period in which painting, graphic art, sculpture, architecture and design are considered in relation to selected aspects of Weimar theory and criticism, literature, film, photography, mass media, theatre and music.
- To examine visual culture in Weimar in the context of key political developments during the period: chiefly political and theoretical movements in radical (revolutionary) Communism, Social Democracy and the rise of Fascism.
- To relate these developments to wider thematic issues: the social-revolutionary aims of artistic groups, concepts of the 'avant garde', critical/theoretical frameworks of the period and the tension between modernity and anti-modernity, revolution and reaction.
- To introduce students to key texts, sources and methodological approaches for the study of the period.
Timetable
This course will be taught in two one-hour sessions each week: a lecture and a seminar, with an oral presentation and follow-up discussion in the seminar. Some additional time may be designated as needed for, eg, film screenings.
Requirements of Entry
Entry into Honours will be subject to normal departmental requirements. Single Junior Honours is a prerequisite for Single Senior Honours and Joint Junior Honours is a prerequisite for Joint Senior Honours.(103H /103F).
Main Assessment In: April/May
Course Aims
To develop critical understanding of the key artistic groups, cultural movements, historical events and theoretical debates of the period.
- To encourage an inter-disciplinary approach to the period in which painting, graphic art, sculpture, architecture and design are considered in relation to selected aspects of Weimar theory and criticism, literature, film, photography, mass media, theatre and music.
- To examine visual culture in Weimar in the context of key political developments during the period: chiefly political and theoretical movements in radical (revolutionary) Communism, Social Democracy and the rise of Fascism.
- To relate these developments to wider thematic issues: the social-revolutionary aims of artistic groups, concepts of the 'avant garde', critical/theoretical frameworks of the period and the tension between modernity and anti-modernity, revolution and reaction.
- To introduce students to key texts, sources and methodological approaches for the study of the period.
Intended Learning Outcomes of Course
By the end of the course, students should be able, in oral presentations, essays and examination answers, to demonstrate their knowledge and skills by:
- Demonstrating familiarity with and critical understanding of the historical scope and development of the arts of the Weimar period.
- Showing detailed knowledge and understanding of the key concepts and thematic preoccupations of the major groups, movements and individuals studied and broader familiarity with a wide range of cultural production in Weimar Germany.
- Evaluating and accounting for how these concepts and preoccupations are interrelated with the wider historical events and social and political movements of the period.
- Engaging critically with and assessing aspects of Weimar theory / criticism and recent critical accounts of the period.
- Organising, evaluating, synthesising and effectively presenting knowledge and understanding within a coherent argument in both written and oral work.