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Research Skills

Short summary of the course

Research Skills offers an introduction into the basic skills and methodologies for conducting scientific research in the domain of art history, musicology and theatre studies. The ground course lays the foundation for a critical scientific attitude and a correct application of research skills that are essential for the entire education in the field of Art History, Musicology and Theatre- and Performance Studies.

Contents of the course

Research skills consists of subsequent modules, in which basic research skills are taught and trained: analysis, heuristics, critique and synthesis. On the one hand, the modules are focused on acquiring the general research skills for the broad field of the “Humanities”: describing, attention for correct jargon, searching and saving information (digital and analog), the difference between primary and secondary sources, critical attitude towards sources, correct citation, plagiarism, citing and paraphrasing, reflection, research question, structure, synthesis, etc. These skills are trained with specific tasks. On the other hand, subject-specific research skills of art history, musicology and theatre- and performance studies are trained as well: looking and listening, formal analysis of images, music scores and performances, searching for, collecting and organising visual and auditory sources,…

Excursions & research workshops 

The course aims to familiarize first bachelor students not only with the methods and skills for conducting scholarly research, but also with practical activity of doing research. As such, the course offers a guided tour of two academic libraries and offers practical workshops on online databases, referencing software, and digital tools for scholarly research. Furthermore, the students are brought in contact with archival research methods during a visit to the Ghent archive De Vliegende Bladen. These skills are put into practice in several individual and collective research assignments.

Final competences of the course
  • Be able to master and apply the basic research skills of art studies.
  • Be able to searching for and saving information, both digital and analog.
  • To gain a critical attitude towards sources and correct citation.
  • To process, synthesize and present information in a correct scholarly manner.
Research Skills