University of Central England 2

The department already has a strong base to build on. However, the main obstacles to the department extending this base are resources: staff, slides and IT provision. A continuing problem facing the department is securing specialist lecturers, to take courses or give guest lectures, who are willing to travel to Birmingham. They are also unable to find the specialists locally. The department's expert on Chinese and Japanese art and design has also recently retired. While the first of these continues to be a problem, the GLAADH project aims to overcome the second, and build up resources and IT provision. Jonathan Day and Mike Harrison have been developing existing courses and modes of presentation, building more museum visits into courses, and extending their research and collecting material to feed into a new course on Chinese and Japanese art and design.

During the summer (2002) Mike Harrison visited Singapore and Japan collecting resources and conducting research. From this, he has put together ten boxes of slides and other resources such as books and journals etc. Jonathan Day has also been collecting resources and both will feed their research and resources into their teaching. Both Jonathan Day and Mike Harrison are extending their research areas, but continue to build on their own particular areas of expertise: Mike Harrison is exploring Chinese and Japanese architecture, city spaces and design. Jonathan Day is developing his research into Chinese and Japanese works on paper, moving images and multi-media. The revised second year course began in Feb 2003 and is a student seminar based programme. The course had been designed so that Harrison and Day take sessions that fall within their subject expertise. However, timetabling has proved more difficult than anticipated which has resulted in both members of staff taking some sessions and supervising students on subjects that fall outside their subject specialisms. Nonetheless, both feel confident that they have the experience to provide suitable support for students at this level.

The level 1 Introduction to Non-Western Art (which may later to be changed to 'World Art') has been modified to include more Japanese and Chinese art, which it is estimated will amount to about one third of the lectures. A large proportion of the course already focuses on world art and methodology and historiography are taught in a dedicated and focused course. The first year course provides a taster or introduction to those students who might want to take up the Chinese and Japanese art and design course in the second year. At level 3 there are no taught courses on Chinese or Japanese art and design, nor any other 'world' art subjects. However, students are encouraged to take up these topics in their dissertations and have done so with confidence in the past, to the notice of external examiners. The drive to build on the cultural diversity of the curriculum has come largely from the staff although students have responded very positively to this. Take-up rates on 'non-European' courses are very high and a cap of 28 students per course has had to be implemented.

The second strand of the project is also developing steadily. Jonathan Day has been working to pull together material, previously presented through a range of technologies: OHP, video, slide projector etc., onto computer. He will then be able to design multi-media presentations using Power Point or Flash. It is intended that this more sophisticated mode of presentation will meet student expectations and dispel any impressions that art from traditions and areas beyond the 'west' is out of touch with the contemporary environment. This method of presentation will also provide a seamless interweaving of various media. Jonathan Day will also have more control over his material in terms of including and editing moving images and focusing on details of still images. The multi-media presentations will be up and running by the Autumn term 2003.

While the University has provided some additional funding on top of the GLAADH funding, both members of staff have had to buy vital resources at their own expense, such as books and a scanner. This material has been purchased as teaching resources rather than student resources. Copyright issues also exclude the possibility that the multi-media presentations will be available to a wider community, although Jonathan Day would be happy to give a demonstration presentation at the concluding GLAADH conference. Support from GLAADH has also provided a valuable opportunity for staff development, which is rare in a financially stretched department.