University of St Andrews

Key information

SCOTCAT credits : 30

ECTS credits : 15

Level : SCQF level 10

Semester: 2

Availability restrictions: Not automatically available to General degree students

Planned timetable: 3.00 pm - 5.00pm Thurs (lecture) and either 11.00 am or 12 noon Fri (seminar)

First emerging as an epidemic in New York City at the beginning of the 1980s, HIV/AIDS directly affected the art world in an unprecedented manner. We will look at how the epidemic gave rise to robust activist movements that employed theatrical direct action techniques, video and graphic design to challenge prejudice and change government policy. Many HIV-positive artists and writers used photography to map the changes in their bodies caused by the virus. Often melancholic and personal in nature, such works could be criticised as a-political and individualistic in comparison with activist art. We will look at these debates in detail along with a variety of media and contexts. The module looks at how performance confronted HIV/AIDS with visceral directness while film took a more allegorical approach. We will also look at various theoretical approaches to the place of the virus in cultural memory today, as a chronic and manageable condition with a traumatic past.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisite(s): Before taking this module you must pass AH2001 and pass AH2002 and ( pass AH1001 or pass AH1003 )

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact: One 2-hour lecture (x 11 weeks) and One 1-hour seminar (x 11 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours: 33

Guided independent study hours: 280

Assessment pattern

As used by St Andrews: Coursework = 70%, Take-home Written Examination = 30%

As defined by QAA
Written examinations : 30%
Practical examinations : 0%
Coursework: 70%

Re-assessment: Coursework = 100%

Personnel

Module coordinator: Dr N Macdonald
Module teaching staff: Dr N MacDonald