While a research paper is still the most common assignment in upper level university art history classes, there are many many other ways students can still display the the rigor and analytical complexity of a traditional paper or exhibition. Liz Lastra and I discuss some of them in our “Can COVID-19 Reinvigorate our Teaching? Employing Digital Tools for Spatial Learning,” on Art History Teaching Resources and I delve into the powerful multimedia ArcGIS StoryMaps tool in my user guide page (also downloadable below) and in the video on Middle Ages for Educators. Below, I have both the description of a research paper and a list of many other options beyond what we talk about in that post (in “version b”).
On the Middle Ages for Educators site I’m focusing on one example of visualizing that research to demonstrate the visual and pedagogical motivations for building a project using the powerful multimedia ArcGIS StoryMaps tool. By walking through a step-by-step example, I make clear the useful and simple nature of the free software. I show student work as well as my own to illustrate the range of possible research and visual analysis all showcased in a professional format. Once published you can share it with just a url link, or you can also embed it into a website. Including a map to spatialize your work is entirely optional.
version a) A research paper for which you will hand in a thesis and bibliography, as well as an optional rough and required final draft during the course of the semester. This paper may focus on a specific object, monument, location, or on a broader concept (such as specific examples of “construction methods,” “women’s patronage,” or “cultural exchange,” for instance). Please see a fuller list below. The final draft should be ___ pages in length (not including images) and properly cited using a standard source such as The Chicago Manual of Style. I prefer footnotes to endnotes and a full bibliography and images (or links) should accompany your paper.
You must use a variety of sources (at least 5), including journal articles and books, as well as more generic sources such as Oxford Art Online (listed under our library’s databases page). The inclusion of both primary and secondary sources is the sign of a well-developed paper. Sometimes finding sources requires creative searching, so please take advantage of the fact that, in addition to me, ___ and ____ of the library specialize in art historical materials. Stop by and make an appointment with either of them if you are having trouble. Colleagues have compiled a great deal of research help in the form of Library Guides such as the Art History one (UR website).
All online sources must be approved in advance as there is a great deal of questionable material floating around on the web. Searching for sources has become far easier in the last few years with the advent of JSTOR, Project Muse, and EBSCO (all full-text databases that are available to you via the library website (usually linked). Also take advantage of FirstSearch/WorldCat as a source of a vast majority of books and essay collections ever published (both primary and secondary sources) and available here in the US. You can fill in the Inter Library Loan form directly from this database, saving you a great deal of time and energy, and it will also tell you if VCU owns a copy of the book. Once you have consulted these sources, taken ideas you have gleaned from them, you must then note any idea not originally yours. Either quote or paraphrase (use your own words), relying far more on the latter than the former. I know that it can be difficult to convey a point to me in your own words when the author seems to have said it so perfectly, but in almost any career you choose this skill will be required, so start practicing. And I repeat, in either scenario of quotation or paraphrase, you must cite your source. Finally, please attach appropriate images and a bibliography with your paper.
Possible topics include:
Any period or monument we have studied or will study.
Additionally, there are many subtopics that can be drawn from the larger topics listed below.
(This was for a class on the Late Antique Mediterranean)
- Urban Space in Ancient Cities
- A Pilgrimage Road or Site
- Cult of the Relics and/or Cult of the Saints
- Art of the Roman Home
- the Ancient Mediterranean
- comparison of a image or building type between periods or empires
- The Ancient Temple
- Pompeii or any similar site
- Narratives and Iconographies in Ancient Art
- the art of any religion we study
- the Iconoclast Debate
- Women’s Patronage
- The Ancient Tomb
- The Donor or Portrait in Ancient Art
- Palmyra
- The Relationship between the Greeks and the Romans, or the the Persians or Sassinids
- Ancient Artistic Techniques: construction methods, manuscripts, stained glass, metalwork, etc.
- Gendered Themes in Ancient Art
- Misogyny and/or Racism in Ancient Art
version b) Alternatively, you could engage with software that allows you to create a Virtual Exhibition that connects the works that we have studied throughout the semester. Think of this as a research paper that plays out in a virtual “three-dimensional space.”
The goal of your Virtual Exhibition is to put the objects “in conversation” with each other by thematically connecting them with a focus or thesis. This could constitute works by the same artist(s), works that depict similar subjects, works using the same materials, the sky’s the limit.
The Augmented Reality assignment can be included in your Final Project.
While your project will revolve around the images you choose, you will also include
- A title at the opening of the exhibit
- An introductory text explaining the thesis of your exhibit and the historical research (both primary and secondary) that is the basis for your inspiration and process
- 15 high-resolution coherently-curated images
- A full amount of label copy (written text related to the images, at least 100 words) for each of your 15 images
- Please justify within each label how the work fits into your exhibit.
- You should consult at least four additional sources beyond your textbook.
- The sources of both images and texts must be properly cited using a brief citation in each label and then fully cited in a style of your choice in a Works Cited “object” at some place in your exhibit.
The Final Project should be accompanied by a short (1-2 page) essay that includes your introduction and label copy, links to your images, and citations in the style of your choice. You will want to include examples of objects or places we have studied in class and our readings, as well as additional ones you have discovered through your research. They can be from more than one time period or one region, but must be from the chronological and geographical parameters of the class.
The kinds of projects students have completed in the past include:
- a virtual map of a pilgrimage route
- 3D renderings of destroyed or newly designed monuments given more detail through the inclusion of relevant objects on the interior and exterior (something along the lines of a palace or temple or forum with their furnishings including metalwork, stone sculpture, or paintings). More recently these have been mostly digital, but, in the past, they had often also been physical objects too.
- A virtual exhibition based on a patron’s belongings and collection – this is just one example, there are a multitude of others that could be the exhibition’s focus
- An animation using a topic and style appropriate to a time or artist
- A magazine to promote travel to and exploration of the material relevant to this course (people, places, monuments, etc.)
- A book, album, or movie based on a theme relevant to class
Some formats for the Virtual Exhibition include:
ArtSteps is the online tool that most closely replicates an exhibit space that can also be modified to your liking (please see user guide). You can also create collections in Google Arts and Culture or Artsy, although in those last two you will need to create label copy in another program.
Esri’s StoryMaps is another excellent exhibit option (and currently my favorite) where you may choose to use a map, but a map is not required to make a robust exhibit (please see the linked guide and examples with a map and without).
Equally so your exhibit can include software like Northwestern University’s Knightlab’s Story Map, Scene, Juxtapose, Soundcite, or Timeline which allow you to create robust spatio-temporal and aural exhibits.
Thinglink is another program that allows you to link into an image you have scanned in. Here is a great example of how that can work.
Zines are another popular option students have taken in the past.
3D modeling such as Google SketchUp or AutoCAD, design software such as Adobe Illustrator, animation, iMovie, gaming, etc. are also allowed as content in the Virtual Exhibition.
You can also create a web or mobile device app, such as with Adobe XD or a prototype of one through a program like proto.io. See below for two examples that might give you some ideas.
Don’t forget to look to the Digital Toolbox for ideas. Also, feel free to suggest any findings you come across or ideas you have.