SHEFFIELD HALLAM UNIVERSITY

HISTORY OF ART & DESIGN

SCHOOL OF CULTURAL STUDIES

BA Hons History of Art, Design and Film

Darcy White and Rose Cooper

TRANSCULTURATION

Student Evaluation

Year 2 semester 2 – 2003

My overall experience of the Transculturation module is very positive. However, I thought the first sessions could have progressed in a higher speed, although I realise that there were some eligible reasons for this rather slow pace. Our first visit to the Sheffield Museum, Western Park, to view the Inuit collection was maybe not what I had expected, seeing I had in mind to work with an object one might classify as art. After the visit I soon realised that this surely must have been a tactic move from the course leader to make one question what art really is and what kinds of objects that should have the right to be classified as art. The research therefor quickly took a different turn for me and suddenly it made a lot of sense to work with the snowshoes I had picked, in terms of my understanding of the term and module Transculturation.

To cover enough material to gain some kind of understanding of the term Transculturation, the module has to include a broad spectrum of lectures. This might furthermore lead to some confusion, but seeing one of the assessments is based on the keeping of a journal one is forced to after each session think things through, read texts and write down notes and thoughts. This way one clear out definitions and structure one’s thoughts, which is a rather productive way of learning.

Unfortunately I missed the study visit to London with the rest of the group, which would have been useful in terms of discussions, but later on went there on my own to visit the British Museum and look at their African gallery, Mexican Gallery and their North American Gallery. This visit was very useful in terms of comparing the curators rather different approaches and to realise the impact the approach have on one’s understanding of the different cultures and therefor the importance of the role of the curator.

Mentioning this makes me realise the width of this module and its capacity to touch on various important issues, which today are absolutely necessary topics to discuss. The module’s outline is great and makes one reflect on and engage in the different topics and furthermore working fairly close with a museum/gallery is a very good way of encouraging students to keep up with their work. So for next year I recommend the course leader to stick with the current structure and also keep all the study visits, which are very useful for one’s work in progress.