HONAAR9/101/2010

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

SCHOOL OF ARTS, EDUCATION, LANGUAGES AND

COMMUCATION

DEPARTMENT OF ART HISTORY, VISUAL ARTS AND

MUSICOLOGY

ART HISTORY

HONOURS 2010

PAPER: HONAAR9 RESEARCH ARTICLE

TUTORIAL LETTER 101/2010

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Dear Student

Welcome to this final Paper which forms part of the Art History Honours Programme

HONAAR9 Research article

Purpose: To guide students in the writing of an art historical research article, taking as
exemplary research articles currently published in accredited art historical journals.

Assignment 01 Research proposal

Assignment 02 Draft article
Assignment 03 Final article

Your research article is the culmination of your honours studies. We hope that you will
approach it with enthusiasm, seeing it as an opportunity to demonstrate the research and
writing skills you have acquired during the course of your studies.

Writing the article requires much more effort than any of the examined modules. You must
start working on your research as early as possible; delays can cause grave problems at the
end of the year, when your lecturers will most likely be engaged in undergraduate
examination work.

The honours course co-ordinator will co-ordinate the departmental handling of your article and
will also appoint a supervisor for you. If you indicate a specific member of staff you would like
appointed, the co-ordinator will be as accommodating as possible. Once your supervisor has
been appointed, it is up to you to make regular contact. Regarding the above time-frame you
must make contact with the honours co-ordinator before the end of March.

Please note: Assignment 01 is compulsory for all five Papers of the Honours
programme and should reach the department before 4 June 2010. In the case of this Paper
(HONAAR9), you must submit your Research Proposal, which will be your ‘compulsory
assignment’, before 4 June 2010. If you do not comply with this rule, the university
cannot prove that you are an active student and therefore cannot receive subsidy for
you. In this event your registration will be cancelled and you will not be allowed to
continue with the Honours Programme.

Year Mark

Since the Research Article does not require a formal written examination as is the case in
the other four papers, the year mark for the Research Article counts 100% of the final mark.
This year mark is earned by submitting the final article before or on 7 January 2011. Although
the Research proposal as well as the Draft article will not count any marks, it remains
imperative that you submit your proposal, which is compulsory, and the draft article on the
set dates, as the feedback and supervision of the lecturer are of utmost importance in
improving and finalising the final article. Please note that the final article will be examined by
both internal as well as external examiners.
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Library Information

The Librarian responsible for your library information needs is Mr Dawie Malan. You could
contact him at:
Tel: +27 12-4293212
Fax: +27 12 4292925
E-mail: malandj@unisa.ac.za

Library Catalogue

The Unisa Library Catalogue is called OASIS which stands for Online Access System
Information Service and is available at http://oasis.unisa.ac.za
You need to create your own Library PIN for most of your Library transactions. To create
your PIN or should you experience problems with your PIN, go to
http://oasis.unisa.ac.za = Create your PIN

Books

Library books may be requested by filling in book request cards, which should be mailed to:
Unisa Library
Request Services
PO Box 392
UNISA
0003

You may also copy the request cards and fax these to +27 12 4292925 or
by making a telephonic book request to +27 12 4293133 or
by using the online request function on the Oasis Library Catalogue.
Enquiries regarding books requested should be addressed to bib-circ@unisa.ac.za
whereas telephonic enquiries should be made at +27 12 4293210.

Journal articles

Journal articles may be requested by filling in journal article request cards, which should be
mailed to the Unisa Library request services. Please see full address above.
You may also copy the request cards and fax these to +27 12 4292925 or
By using the online request function on the Oasis Library Catalogue.
Enquiries regarding journal articles requested should be addressed to
bib-circ@unisa.ac.za
whereas telephonic enquiries should be made at +27 12 4293432

Some pointers to get you started

• Make a list of those art historical issues that interest you. During your undergraduate
years and in your first year of Honours, some essay topics, artworks by selected artists
or certain critical debates etc. must have interested you more than others. We will give
preference to article proposals dealing with Southern African material, but you need
not restrict your initial list of ‘original ideas’ to this area, especially if you do not live in
South Africa, or have travelled extensively. You should also list all your interests not
directly linked to the visual arts, e.g. music, Romantic poetry, the twentieth century
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novel, women in art and history, teaching autistic children, etc., as these might direct
your search to unexpected areas of visual research;

• Please also consult current local and international art historical journals, and note the
debates in these journals that you find particularly interesting;

• A next step would be to formulate a provisional title which will change as you
progress with your research;

• Make a list of all the art museums as well as other museums in your area, for example,
natural history, ethnology, etc., which are accessible to you. Visit these museums to
find out more about the collections and the collection policies. Pay a visit to commercial
art galleries in your area to gauge certain contemporary trends etc. Make a list of all
the libraries and archives in your immediate surroundings;

• Explore your city and note interesting buildings, public sculptures and public areas
such as landscaped parks, recreational facilities or places of worship;

• Consider the literature on South African art (or local art if you live outside South Africa).
What debates are current in the local newspapers and other publications? Documents
can yield fascinating material for research. It might be worth your while to visit the
libraries and archives of the major art museums in your area as they all have vast
newspaper cutting collections as well as archival material on selected art historical
themes and topics;

• List the exhibitions that you have seen recently and note those exhibitions which
inspired you visually and intellectually. Establish the programmes of forthcoming
exhibitions at your local museum/gallery;

• Now study your notes carefully, drawing connections between items that may have
seemed disconnected initially. Allow new and surprising insights to emerge;

• Try to establish what your personal working procedure will be, keeping in mind the
resources available to you. Remember that at Honours level, you will be assessed not
so much on the originality of your writing, but on your ability to focus on a
manageable area of research, to verbalise your own insights and to integrate
these with existing sources of information;

• Draw up a provisional bibliography;

• Consult the Honours Course Co-ordinator if you need help in clarifying your ideas for
your article, as well as your scope and working method. You may be referred to other
lecturers for consultation.

Your Research Proposal should contain the following:

• Your working title, which may change as the work progresses;

• Your research tenet or problem;
• An outline of the scope of your research;
• An explication of your intended method of research;
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• An indication of the structure of your article;

• A preliminary bibliography, which will certainly grow as your research progresses;
• If relevant, a list of artworks you intend to include for discussion.

General information

• To re-cap, your research Proposal is your ‘compulsory assignment’ which must be

submitted on 4 June;

• The draft article, assignment 02, is the main pedagogical tool of this Paper, as your
supervisor will comment in depth on your article, giving guidance and pointing out
possible problems;

• Regarding the reference technique and other editorial requirements set by the
Department, we refer you to tutorial letter ARHALLY/301/4/2010. You are required to
adhere to this tutorial letter when writing the article. A copy of this Tutorial Letter will be
forwarded to you by this department as part of your study material you have registered
for;

• A guide to the length of the article is approximately 25 pages, excluding notes and
bibliography, but not more than 30 pages. Use ample margins please for comments,
font size 12 and 1.5 spacing.

• Please take note that assignments must be submitted in time to the

assignment section to reach the department by the due dates.

• The address of the Assignment Section is:

ASSIGNMENTS
PO BOX 392
UNISA
0003

• The following are the assignment due dates for 2010:

Assignment 01: Proposal 4 June
Assignment 02: Draft article 3 September
Assignment 03: Final article 7 January 2011

We wish you the very best with your research and trust that you will find the writing of your
research article stimulating and rewarding. You may find that your Honours Research Paper
opens up an area for possible Masters research. Another possibility would be to submit your
article for publication in an accredited journal such as the departmental subject journal, de
arte which assists in establishing yourself as an art historian of note!

Kind regards

Dr E L Basson (course co-ordinator)

Tel: 012 429 6895
Fax: 012 429 3556
E-mail:bassoel@unisa.ac.za