Eighteenth-century Britain was marked by social change, economic growth, global expansion, and new ways of thinking. This course will consider the art world in the context of the cultural, social and intellectual developments that were taking place. The main topics to be covered are new spaces for art; portraiture; social comment; classicism; romanticism; the Enlightenment; travel; and print culture. The course will encompass a range of items including paintings, printed material, decorative arts, architecture and gardens.
Course aim
To consider a range of works of art from the period, linking them to their social, political and historical contexts, and investigating their role in recording and shaping contemporary debates.
Do I need any particular skills or experience?
- You will need your own personal email address so that you’re able to login to the WEA’s digital learning platform: WEA Canvas. You will need to be able to understand how to follow URL links to pages on the internet. If you want to understand more about Canvas please visit: http://bit.ly/WEAonline
- You will need to be able to follow links to join our WEA live video learning platform: WEA Zoom. If you’d like to understand more about our video learning platform, Zoom please visit: http://bit.ly/WEAonline and http://bit.ly/ZoomSpec
- This course is for a group of around 15 students studying in a live video-learning platform conference and an online digital learning environment platform from the comfort of your own home.
- This is a live lecture delivered by a subject specialist in an online webinar video learning platform. You will need to be able to access the internet on a device with speakers or earphones. There will be opportunities to take part in discussions and chats. If you’d like to know how to use Zoom please visit: http://bit.ly/ZoomSpec
- No skills or experience needed
By the end of the course I should be able to:
- think critically about and discuss cultural artefacts from the period within a broader historical context.
- discuss some of the ways in which art objects shed light on and shaped social attitudes of the period.
- look at examples of art from this period and comment on them.
How will I be taught?
- The WEA’s digital learning platform, Canvas will be used to provide resources or to support lessons, enable assessment, provide learner feedback and for other activities for individuals away from the course. If you want to understand more about our digital learning platform please visit: http://bit.ly/WEAonline
- The WEA tutor will use a range of different teaching and learning methods and encourage you and the group to be actively involved in your learning
What kind of feedback can I expect?
- Verbally in response to questions and discussions in class.
What else do I need to know?
- What you need: You will need an internet connection, speakers, a microphone and a webcam so that you can use our video learning platform, Zoom. If you’d like to understand more Zoom please visit: http://bit.ly/ZoomSpec
- You will also need access to the internet outside of your sessions. You could do this using a smart phone, tablet, laptop or a desktop computer (at home or through a library etc.).
- You will need a personal email address to join the WEA’s digital learning platform, Canvas so that you can receive resources, record your progress and achievement and to work with others and share ideas. If you want to understand more about our digital learning platform please visit: http://bit.ly/WEAonline
- Nothing else is needed
Pre-course work, reading and information sources
- No preparatory reading is required. Some initial suggestions for general reading include: William Vaughan, British Painting: The Golden Age (1999) Jeremy Black, Culture in Eighteenth-Century England: A Subject for Taste (2006)
What can I do next?
- Progress to another WEA course
- Progress to a course with another provider
Download full course information sheet
