Please note! Course description is confirmed for two academic years, which means that in general, e.g. Learning outcomes, assessment methods and key content stays unchanged. However, via course syllabus, it is possible to specify or change the course execution in each realization of the course, such as how the contact sessions are organized, assessment methods weighted or materials used.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of the course, the students are able to:

- Identify basic concepts and theories related to costume and dress research.

- Critically reflect on issues about the theory and practice of costume design.

- Identify key methodological approaches for costume and dress, and select methods suitable to answer research questions related to the students interests or personal perspective.

- Recognise different ways and methods to collect data and search information from different sources, including archives, collections and individuals.

- Define and use terminology related to costume/dress studies as an academic discipline.

- Recognise and consider ethical aspects related to research in the field of costume.

- Argue on and present the findings of their individual research work in oral and written ways.

Credits: 6

Schedule: 25.01.2022 - 11.02.2022

Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Sofia Pantouvaki

Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):

Professor Sofia Pantouvaki, email: sofia.pantouvaki@aalto.fi

CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):

Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):

Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English

CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD

Content
  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    In this course the students are introduced to basic theoretical concepts related to research in the field of costume and dress, and to tools, methods and approaches for the development of a personal research-oriented enquiry. The course content varies each year to include theoretical approaches to costume and performance from the perspective of different scholars and artists. It may also include introductory sessions to research methods for costume and dress and to different perspectives in the study of costume; for example, material culture, collection-based research in archives and museums, visual analysis and semiotics, ethnographic approaches, oral history, and creative practice. The course includes lectures and presentations on special aspects of costume history, theory and practice and in related areas that expand the understanding of costume in inter-disciplinary ways. The students work in a subject of their choice in order to critically reflect on costume in live or mediated performance and to develop a personal research approach. The course includes student presentations and written essays.

  • applies in this implementation

    This year’s Costume and Research course introduces projects and literature from the international field of costume research and concentrates on qualitative research methods for understanding the creation, production and function of costume in live performance (i.e. theatre, opera, dance) and film. The course employs methods of desk research (literature/projects review), intertextual analysis of written and visual materials (texts/notes, drawings, photographs), empirical investigation, and focuses on qualitative interviewing on the work of a costume designer as a method for collecting unpublished knowledge and gaining insights. The students will select a topic of their choice, use tools introduced at the course for their investigation, and will prepare a small-scale final project on their topic.

    The course includes three tasks. The final project (Task 3) will consist of a Flash Talk presentation and short final essay. Reading materials will be shared during the course. The planned schedule is for 6 credits.


Assessment Methods and Criteria
  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    Students development during the course, motivation, attendance and active participation in discussions, independent work and completion of assignments

  • applies in this implementation

    The evaluation is based on the student's personal development during the course, motivation, attendance and active participation in the lectures/discussions and in the group work, independent work (rigour and depth of engagement in own work, application of content learnt), and timely completion of assignments.


Workload
  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    Contact teaching 40%, Independent work 60% of total workload

  • applies in this implementation

    Attendance, participation and reading assignments 30%; Task 1 20%; Task 2 20%; Task 3 (final) 30%

DETAILS

Study Material
  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    Barbieri, Donatella, 2012b. Encounters in the Archive: Reflections on costume , V&A Online Journal, No. 4, Summer 2012. Available at: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/journals/research-journal/issue-no.-4-summer-2012/encounters-in-the-archive-reflections-on-costume.

    Kawamura, Y., 2011. Doing Research in Fashion and Dress: An Introduction to Qualitative Methods. Oxford & New York: Berg.

    Monks, Aoife, 2010. The Actor in Costume. Basingstoke, GB: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Pantouvaki, Sofia. Narratives of Clothing: Concentration Camp Dress as a Companion to Survival . International Journal of Fashion Studies, Issue 1 vol. 1, Intellect. ISSN: 20517106.

    Texts used in the course will be informed in advance to registered students if related to pre-assignments, and will be handed out during the contact sessions.

  • applies in this implementation

    Other course literature 2020 (to be shared during the course)

    Barbieri, Donatella and Sofia Pantouvaki (2016). “Towards a Philosophy of Costume”, Studies in Costume and Performance, Vol. 1, Issue 1, spring 2016, pp. 3-7. [https://doi.org/10.1386/scp.1.1.3_2]

    MacLaurin, A. and A. Monks (2015), Costume – Readings in Theatre Practice, London/New York, Palgrave Macmillan.

    [especially: ‘MacLaurin, A. (2015) ‘An Interview with Jenny Tiramani’, pp. 19-28.]

    Pantouvaki, Sofia (2014). “Narratives of Clothing: Concentration Camp Dress as a Companion to Survival”. International Journal of Fashion Studies, Vol. 1, Issue 1, pp. 19-37. [doi: 10.1386/infs.1.1.19_1]

    Pantouvaki, Sofia (2019). “‘A Touch of Green with an Emerald Hue’: A Multimodal Research Methodology for the Study of Costume”. In: Dance, Body, Costume, Hanna Walsdorf and Petra Dotlačilová (eds.). Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag (Leipzig University Press), pp. 41-76.

    Weckman, Joanna (2021). “The First Premiere and Other Stories: Towards a History of the Costume Design Profession in Finland”. In: Performance Costume: New Perspectives and Methods, Sofia Pantouvaki and Peter McNeil (eds.). London/New York: Bloomsbury Academic, pp. 141-158.


Substitutes for Courses
Prerequisites
SDG: Sustainable Development Goals

    5 Gender Equality

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Information
  • valid for whole curriculum period:

    Minimum groupsize 3

     

    Students will be accepted to the course in the following order:

    1. Students of costume design major, for whom the course is compulsory
    2. Students of costume design major, for whom the course is optional
    3. Exchange students of costume design
    4. Minor students of costume design, whose major is production design or design for the performing arts
    5. Minor students of costume design, whose major is another than production design or design for the performing arts
    6. Other students of production design and design for the performing arts
    7. Other students of the department of Film, Television and Scenography
    8. Other students

    Teaching Period:

    2020-2021 Spring IV

    2021-2022 Spring III

    Course Homepage: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=ELO-E6510

    Registration for Courses: Sisu replaces Oodi on 9 August, 2021. Priority order to courses is according to the order of priority decided by the Academic committee for School of Arts, Design and Architecture: https://www.aalto.fi/en/services/registering-to-courses-and-the-order-of-priority-in-aalto-arts

    WebOodi registration

     

    The order of priority for admitting students to courses at Aalto ARTS 1.1.2018 onwards (approved by The Committee of Arts, Design and Architecture on 10.10.2017)

    The order of priority is as follows:

    1. students for whom the course is compulsory for their major/programme and who have scheduled it for the current academic year in their personal study plan (HOPS);
    2. exchange students for whom the course is a part of his/her officially approved learning agreement and scheduled to be taken during the current semester;
    3. students for whom the course is compulsory for their major/programme and who have not completed it yet;
    4. students, for whom the course is part of his/her major s or programme s alternative studies and has been scheduled in the student's PSP (HOPS) for the current academic year
    5. students, for whom the course is part of his/her major s or programme s alternative studies and who have not completed the requisite number of credits for alternative studies yet;
    6. students for whom the course is compulsory for their minor;
    7. students, for whom the course is part of his/her minor subject s alternative studies and who have not completed the requisite number of credits for alternative studies yet;
    8. students who have applied for the course through a student mobility scheme (internal mobility within Aalto University, flexible study right (JOO) studies etc.);
    9. other students.

     

    Courses that are intended to be multidisciplinary (e.g. UWAS courses) may apply an order of priority based on the learning outcomes of the course, while bearing in mind the university obligation of enabling students to complete their degrees within the normative duration of study set for the degree. The order of priority does not apply to courses organised by the Centre for General Studies or doctoral courses.

    This decision on the order of priority does not influence the right of the teacher to define prerequisites for the course.

Details on the schedule
  • applies in this implementation

    Schedule

    NOTE: All ‘group sessions’ will be held online on Zoom. An email will be sent in advance with the link to the meetings for the week.

    Please take into consideration the extent of the independent work and reserve full days for this course.

     

    Week 4

    Tuesday 25.1.                 

    9-11                     Introduction to the course. Intro to Task 1. (group session, 2h).             

    ‘Desk’ research: tools for bibliographical search and literature/projects review.

    11-17                   Independent work (reading task).

     

    Reading task: Please read actively (making notes) the following texts (available to download from MyCourses):

    Monks, A., 2010. “Introduction: The Dress Rehearsal”, from: The Actor in Costume. Basingstoke, GB: Palgrave MacMillan, pp.1-12.

    Pantouvaki, S., 2010. “Theatrical Costume: Dressing the Role – Dressing the Performer”. In: Endyesthai (To Dress) – Towards a Costume Culture Museum, I. Papantoniou (ed.). Nafplion: Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation, pp. 109-117.

    Nadoolman Landis, D. (2018), ‘Character and costume in cinema: The Hollywood Costume exhibition’, Studies in Costume & Performance, 3:1, pp. 91–96. [doi: 10.1386/scp.3.1.91_1]

     

    Wednesday 26.1.                         

    9-11                     Discussion of reading task. Lecture: Understanding costume, multi-method research. Project examples. (group session, 2,5h)

    13-17                   Independent work on Task 1.

     

    Thursday 27.1.               

    9-12                     Guest lecturer: Joanna Weckman, on her work using oral history and other sources as a method for costume research in Finland. (group session, 3h incl. break)

    13-15                   Independent work on Task 1. Preparation of individual presentations.

    15-17                   Task 1. Student presentations. Feedback. (group session, 2h)

     

    Friday 28.1.      

    Submission of Task 1 at 9:00 via Microsoft Teams.

    10-12                   Research methods: qualitative interviewing. (group session, 2h)

    13-15                   Research methods: qualitative interviewing (continues). (group session, 2h)

    15-16                   Planning an interview (group work). (group session, 1h)

                                  Independent work for following week: reading assignment.

     

    Week 5

    Tuesday 1.2.

    10:30-12            Discussion of reading assignment. Qualitative interviewing: review of the models (tutor’s feedback). (group session, 1,5h)

    13-14:30            Conducting an interview. Meeting with guest costume designer. (group session, 1,5 h)

    14:30-16:00      Analysing interview materials and transcribing (Task 2). (group session, 1,5h)

     

    Wednesday 2.2.             

    9-12                     Independent work on interview transcript (Task 2).

    13-14                   Questions about transcribing (tutor’s feedback). (group session, 1h)

    14-17                   Independent work on interview transcript. (continues)

     

    Thursday 3.2.

    9-11.30                How to use and analyse the empirical material. Content analysis. (group session, 2,5h)

    13-17                   Independent work on interview materials and transcript (Task 2). (continues)

     

    Friday 4.2.         

    Submission of Task 2 at 9:00 via Microsoft Teams.

    10:00-12:00      From materials to argumentation: Essay writing and Flash Talk (Task 3). Tips and guidelines for final Essay.  (group session, 2h)               

    13-17                   Independent work: content analysis of interview materials (Task 3).     

     

     

    Week 6

    Tuesday 8.2.

    9-17                     Independent work. Preparation of Flash Talk and final Essay (Task 3).

    During the day: Tutor’s feedback to draft of final Essay and Flash Talk. (individual tutorials, 30’mins per student) (other students continue independent work) Slots: 11.30-12, 12.15-12.45, 13-13.30, 16-16.30.

     

     

    Wednesday 9.2.                            

    9-17                     Independent work on the final project: Flash Talk and draft of Essay (Task 3).

                                  If needed, individual consultation with the tutor is possible to final Essay draft.

     

    Thursday 10.2.

    9-12                     Student presentations (Flash Talks) and feedback. Q&A for final Essay. (group session, 3h incl. break)

     

    Independent work on interview materials and transcript (Task 2).

    13--17                 Independent work on interview materials and transcript (Task 2). (continues)

     

    Friday 11.2.                     

    Submission of Task 3 (Flash Talk and final Essay) at 9:00 via Microsoft Teams.

                                  [Please note this is a final deadline and the tutor will review the work for feedback.]

    13-15:30            Feedback to Task 3 and to the course. (group session, 2,5h incl. break)