Interdisciplinary Approach to Forming Views of a Holistic Picture of Culture and Art Development in the Study of Courses “Art of Western Europe in the Middle Ages” and “Renaissance Art”

Abstract

The article considers the content structure of the author’s educational programs “Art of Western Europe in the Middle Ages” and “Renaissance Art”, which involve the component of interdisciplinary links. It states that many types of art and spheres of artistic creativity during this period were integrated into the general European context and developed in parallel ways. It is indicated that in the process of studying, it is important to show modern achievements of the humanities in this direction, the advantages of integrative complex analysis methods, to teach students to identify the contextual linkages of a work of art in the historical, philosophical, and aesthetic aspects, to search for and find adequate research approaches and apply them in future term papers, final qualifying papers, and further professional activities of graduates. The main structure of the programs, their substantive aspects, which indicate the skills and abilities obtained as a result of program development, are analyzed. Interdisciplinary approaches not only to the study of specific reconciling features of the arts but also to the continuity of mastering the themes of programs from the art of Western Europe in the Middle Ages to the Renaissance art are shown. The importance of visual material related to various types of creativity, studied in a synchronous way, influencing the formation of students’ artistic perception and their professional competences, is especially emphasized. The problems of art historical thinking and educational discourse, designed to activate the imagination, thought, get away from the standardization of emotions and common interpretation of artistic facts, are indicated. A system, which integrates all types of art and stylistic features as a whole, uses them as linguistic means and simultaneously forms its peculiar problematic field for further study and research.