Dissertation

Weighting: 30 ECTS

All students complete a research dissertation on a topic of their choice. During the course, students identify a topic of their choice in consultation with the course co-ordinator, and are assigned a supervisor to oversee their progress. Ideally, the subject of the dissertation will be decided during Michaelmas term, to allow to time to develop the project.

Assessment

A dissertation of 15,000–20,000 words to be submitted in the September following the commencement of the course.

Learning Outcomes

The dissertation provides students with the opportunity to gain and apply research skills in a guided environment. Successful candidates will learn to:

• identify a viable research topic, to enable them to add to scholarship.
• identify, understand, distil and critique existing scholarship of relevance to the project.
• source new material, primary and/or secondary, of relevance and/or bring a new analytical perspective to existing material.
• develop and sustain a focused, scholarly narrative or argument on a given topic.
• identify and source the range of relevant artefacts/images addressed in the dissertation; obtain copies of images and present in a scholarly manner.
• present bibliographical material in a scholarly fashion.