Course Syllabus

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Garden Art in European Culture A

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Semester & Location:

Fall 2024 - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:

Elective Course - 3 credits
Major Disciplines:

Art History, Landscape Architecture
Prerequisite(s):

None
Faculty Member:

Toby Musgrave (Current students contact through DIS email - toby.musgrave@dis.dk)
Time & Place:

Mondays & Thursdays 11.40-13.00

Classroom V23-301

Course Description

Ornamental gardens are complex, three-dimensional, organic art forms that for over 4,000 years have also acted as cultural barometers.  Down the millennia and across the continent every European civilisation and nation has developed its own garden styles.  Over time and place, these styles have evolved in tune with changes in the cultural, artistic, social, economic, technological and political landscapes.  From peristyle courtyards of Roman villas to ascetic Mediæval monastic gardens to erotic and sensuous Moorish paradises; from Baroque opulence to Arts and Crafts artisanship to ultra-Modern functionality. 

Garden art and European culture have always been and continue to be profoundly interactive.  Each simultaneously shapes the other.  Garden art is therefore an intrinsic, integral and influential (albeit often overlooked) component of the zeitgeist.  For example, one of the influences on the Italian Renaissance garden was the wider investigation into the relationship between Man, God and Nature.  Garden Art in European Culture therefore takes an interdisciplinary approach and simultaneously sets garden art within the zeitgeist, deconstructs real gardens to explore their artistic expression and examines garden art forms within the wider context of their art history.

Course Instructor

Dr. Toby Musgrave

Ph.D. Garden History, Reading University, UK, 1996.

B.Sc. Horticulture, Reading University, UK, 1990.

Since 1994 Dr. Musgrave has been an independent scholar and lecturer focusing on the subjects of garden and plant history.  Dr. Musgrave is author of more than 15 books and numerous magazine and newspaper articles on the subjects of garden and plant history, and garden design.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course students will:

  • Know and understand European cultural, social and artistic history as the  framework within which garden styles were developed and expressed.
  • Know and understand the evolution of the European garden as an art form.
  • Be able to artistically ‘read’ garden styles: to deconstruct and understand specific styles - their form, design, content and purpose.
  • Be able to draw correlations and comparison between them, and know their influences.
  • Know how and why European gardens impacted on its zeitgeist and vice versa, and understand the outcomes of these interactions.

Approach to Teaching

The topics are arranged within the course in such a way that their stories build on one another in order to develop a cohesive and comprehensive analysis of interaction which will reveal the web of historic and contemporary interconnections between arts, culture and garden art.

Using a diversity of pedagogical and didactic tools, each class will be based on and build from the assigned reading which will be reviewed and reflected upon as a group in class. The methods used to cover class material include lectures accompanied by PowerPoint presentations, film and video, class discussions, individual and group presentations. Periodically we will split up into smaller groups to review and analyse the material more thoroughly.

Students will be expected to bring to class ideas, thoughts and reflections from everyday life and link these experiences with theory and research taught in class.

There will be a strong emphasis on students to engage one another in discussion to address the multifarious but often overlooked aspects of garden history.

See below for the Course Summary but please note that the Schedule is subject to change if necessary and with as much notice as possible.

Field Studies

Frederiksborg Palace Garden, Hillerød

Detached from the Palace by means of the lake is the formal Baroque garden.  With its parterres and water cascade, this is a small but detailed example of a garden style that became especially popular in Denmark in the 18th century.  The garden as seen today is a 1996 recreation of the 1725 garden designed by by J. C.  Krieger and follows his original plans exactly.  In groups we will explore the Baroque garden and the adjacent yet very different informally landscaped gardens that surrounds while working through a questionnaire.  

Copenhagen Greenspace Urban Exercise

To start with the contemporary, this walking tour of the Fortification Parks will provide first-hand understanding of the different forms of urban greenspace provision form, both historic and contemporary. We will investigate the various methods and forms of public greenspace provision, the diverse ways in which greenspace is used in the 21st century by the residents of, and visitors to Copenhagen alike. And we will gain insight into the diverse ways in which use of public greenspace can positively impact the user.

Evaluation

Assignment

Percent
Participation

10%

Definition of 'Garden'

10%
Quizzes

25%
Interpretive Garden Guide

25%
Final Paper

30%

In-class Participation: 10% of Final Grade

Participation covers:

  • Attendance of, and active participation in, all classes and field studies.
  • Completing, before class, the non-graded quizzes. 
  • Level of preparation (readings) and ability to answer questions asked in class.
  • Involvement and engagement in class and group discussions as well as group work.
  • I expect that you be prepared, engaged and actively participate.

Reflection-Paper: 10% of Final Grade

One reflection-paper will be written in answer to the question ‘My Definition of a Garden’ which will encourage the student’s reflection and analysis.

The reflection-paper should be a maximum of 1500 words and the content should be a mix of personal reflection and analysis, and demonstrate a level of reading around the subject/definition.    

Quizzes: 25 % of Final Grade        

For each of the Reading there is a short quiz that is to be completed before the class. The quizzes are to be found on the Calendar and in Quizzes.

Interpretive Garden Guide: 25% of Final Grade  

Information to be provided in class.

Final Paper: 30% of Final Grade  

Min. 6 and max. 8 pages double spaced, the paper will engage the student to reflect on and expand on garden style(s) and/or social, artistic, cultural influence(s) studied in class in order to develop a more in-depth and holistic understanding of the topic.  There will be an option for students to develop their own topic inspired by independent travels or by a destination explored as part of a long study tour.

Each paper will be accompanied by the grading rubric, but I expect that the papers will have a clear, precise, well-defined thesis supported by evidence, that the analysis of the evidence display critical thinking, and that the content be structured and flow logically. 

To be eligible for a passing grade in this class you must complete all assigned work and deliver it on time.

Required Readings

In order to reduce the paper impact of this course the readings will be found online in Canvas.

The download link to the required reading for each  class is to be found in that class entry on the Calendar. 

Richard Bisgrove. The National Trust Book of the English Garden. (1990). 
Jane Brown. The Modern Garden. (2004). 
Brent Elliott. Victorian Gardens. (1986).
Linda Farrar.  Ancient Roman Gardens. (1998).
Marie-Luise Gothein. History of Garden Art. (1929).
John Harvey. The Mediæval Garden. (1982).
Penelope Hobhouse. The Story of Gardening. (2002).
Martin Hoyles. The Story of Gardening. (1991).
David Jacques. Georgian Gardens. (1984).
Geoffrey Jellicoe et al. The Oxford Companion to Gardens. (1986).
Sylvia Landsberg. The Medieval Garden. (1998). 
Claudia Lazarro. The Italian Renaissance Garden. (1990). 
Timothy Mowl. William Kent. (2014).
Elizabeth B. Moynihan.  Paradise as a Garden. (1979).
Toby Musgrave. The Head Gardeners. (2007).
Toby Musgrave. Paradise Gardens. (2015).
David Ottewill. The Edwardian Garden. (1989).
Marvin Perry et al. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society.  (10th ed, 2012).
Elizabeth Rogers. Landscape Design. (2001).
Roger Turner. Capability Brown. (2014).
Alix Wilkinson.  The Garden in Ancient Egypt. (1998).
Peter Willis. Charles Bridgeman and the English Landscape Garden. (2002).

Supplementary texts are also available in electronic form on Canvas and text books are held in Reference section of the Library.

Attendance Policy

You are expected to arrive on time for class.  Students who arrive more than 5 minutes late to class, mitigating circumstance excepted, will be fined 1 point of the Participation Grade on each and every occasion. 

Email Policy

You are welcome to contact me at any time by email, but please note:

  • Send emails to me at my DIS email address and not via Canvas.
  • I will only reply during work hours, that is to say 08.30 to 17.30 Monday through Friday. Note, therefore that I will not reply to emails sent on weekends until the following Monday morning.

Late Paper Policy 

Late papers  WILL NOT be accepted.

Make-up Assignments 

Make-up assignments/papers WILL NOT be offered should a student achieve a lower than expected grade. 

Policy for Use of Laptops and Phones in Class

Cellphones to be switched off during class.  If a phone rings or a student is seen texting etc. via a smartphone, the culprit will be fined one grade point of the Participation Grade.

Laptops and tablets etc. are not allowed in class.  If a student is seen using any such device, the culprit will be fined one grade point of the Participation Grade.

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on: 

 

DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org

 

Course Summary:

Date Details Due