Project Development March 2003

The History of Art, Design and Film (HADAF) is one of the BA degrees offered to students in School of Cultural Studies at Sheffield Hallam University. This interdisciplinary course aims to introduce students to both the history and theory of these related fields. All the HADAF modules are also available to art & design students. Rose Cooper, Course Leader for the BA, requested GLAADH funds to develop a new module titled Transculturation and the Visual Arts. The module was developed to respond to the recent changes in the field as well as the demand from students. During the last seven years, the Art & Design programmes at Sheffield Hallam have successfully attracted a more culturally diverse student population who have shown an interest in culturally sensitive topics. The module addresses the limited skills and knowledge about non-Western cultures, serving as a critical introduction to processes of appropriation and transculturation. Looking at case studies, and the merits and shortcomings of institutional practices, the module will also prepare students for new careers demands such as museum work and the need to understand concepts around cultural representation, display and difference.

The Transculturation module was developed during 2002 and approved by the University validation panel. The course is being offered as an option for students at Level 2. During the spring term 2003 the module ran as a pilot with 6 students. Rose Cooper enlisted the assistance and support from the staff at Sheffield Galleries and Museums' Trust, with whom the department has a longstanding relationship. Built on regular talks by the Trust's Head of Education to departmental students, the relationship was recently cemented by a conference organised by the University alongside 'Precious', the inaugural exhibition in the museum's new Millennium Gallery. Working relations between the University and the museum have been further facilitated by clarifying shared goals and benefits; the latter has been provided with copies of students' materials, and the students' privileged access is reciprocated by the contribution of their research towards the museum's resources, and, by implication, the expansion of its educational remit into higher education.

The Trust is currently re-installing its permanent collections. Students are working with the curators of archaeology and visual culture to study and research a group of Inuit objects that will be included in the new gallery displays. This collaboration offers students first hand experience of working with objects while assisting the Sheffield Galleries with the research and label text. Students on the module will reflect on terms of classifications, from 'art' to 'ethnic art', the 'authentic' and the 'vernacular'. They have also been encouraged to review different methodological approaches, from anthropology to design history to raise their awareness of the complexities entailed in the interpretation of objects. At the end of the module, students will be asked to write a case study on a selected object to be submitted as part of their written work.

This approach was selected to help both students and faculty become familiar with ethnographic materials and to provide a starting point for building up the collection of slides and visual resources in the department. An MA student has been appointed to assist with the research and purchase of new visual and text materials to be available at the Learning Centre Unit. The module will be offered once a year and will become a mandatory module for Film and Media Production students. At this later stage, the module will retain the visit and work in the Galleries but will need to be modified to accommodate a larger number of students.

While the central location of the museum makes access straightforward, the relatively small collection and fragility of materials constitute a restraint. Plans for the future, when student numbers will be higher, include dividing the group into smaller units and assigning each unit a case study. Not all students may have the opportunity of handling the objects but all will benefit from the research and experience of those who took part in the pilot. However, a further restraint to be negotiated is time, as the museum is scheduled to close for rebuilding. The University is therefore keen to photograph the collection, and issues of copyright are currently being explored. Access to different collections in the region are also being negotiated.

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