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Programme code | 1PHIL004U |
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Programme type | Joint Honours (UG) |
Programme director(s) |
Anthony Everett (Philosophy)
Catherine O'Rawe (Italian) |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
School/department | Department of Philosophy |
Second School/department | Department of Italian |
Teaching institution | University of Bristol |
Awarding institution | University of Bristol |
Relevant QAA subject benchmark groups |
Languages, Cultures and Societies (2023) (benchmark statement)
Philosophy (2019) (benchmark statement) |
Mode of study | Full Time |
Programme length | 4 years (full time) |
Italian:
The programme provides the opportunity to study the language, culture and linguistics of Italy and another subject of your choice.For the Italian programme:The programme is designed to allow students to achieve of a command of spoken and written Italian at a high level of fluency and accuracy.It also offers students the opportunity to study aspects of Italian Culture and Linguistics that will provide an understanding of Italy's rich diversity from the Middle Ages to the present day. The programme offers a multidisciplinary approach to cultural study through which students develop skills in interpreting a range of texts. Attention to the importance of historical context in understanding issues of cultural production and reception provides students with a thorough understanding of Italy's complicated heritage. This complexity is also mirrored in the study of Italian Linguistics that familiarises students with the languages and dialects of Italy as a scientific discipline.The programme offers an excellent multidisciplinary training and equips students with advanced practical language skills. Graduates enter employment in a wide variety of contexts making use of their language skills and of the skills and values characteristic of a Humanities degree.
Philosophy:
This programme is designed to offer students a thorough understanding of Philosophy as it is practised in the analytic tradition. The wide ranging and flexible curriculum provides a programme of study which has progressive intellectual challenges and consolidates previous experience at each new level.The mandatory units at level C provide all students with (a) a basic knowledge of some fundamental problems of metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and political philosophy (b) a basic competence in logic and the analysis of arguments and (c) the skills of reading and writing required in analytic philosophy. At levels I and H students choose from a wide range of options, taught by specialists in the areas of their own research, some text-based and others topic-based, ranging from ethics and political philosophy to philosophy of physics. Students are also expected to write a number of final essays which give them the opportunity both to explore areas in more depth and detail and to develop their own research skills. Students successfully completing the programme will be fully competent to continue with postgraduate study, but the programme also provides training in a wide range of transferable skills which serve as the foundation for many types of career.
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures, seminars and tutorials (1,2,3,4,5). Directed reading with a strong emphasis on primary materials (1,3,4,5). Regular problem classes (2). Tutorials and seminars to encourage student participation and advance understanding of difficult materials (1,3,4,5). Formative feedback on assessment is given through individual tutorials (for most units) and written comments. (1,2,3,4,5). |
Methods of Assessment | |
Coursework essays, testing understanding of a single topic in detail (1,3,4,5). Exams, testing breadth of knowledge of different subjects (1,2,4,5). Class tests and exercises in logic (2). An extended essay, testing the ability of students to research a subject of their own choice in detail (3,4,5). Coursework essays, logic exercises, and level C exams are formative; Level I and H exams and Extended essays are summative. |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Lectures provide knowledge, enhance understanding, and serve to exemplify the characteristic virtues of analytic philosophy. Seminars and group tutorials aid understanding, and provide forums in which students can discuss philosophical issues with each other and with tutors. Problem classes in logic help students develop their analytical and argumentative skills. Coursework essays give students the opportunity to read widely and reflect carefully on the material covered in lectures and seminars. The extended essay gives level H students the opportunity for more intensive and independent research into chosen topics in Philosophy. |
Methods of Assessment | |
Essay writing tests the students' ability to read widely, analyse information and present reasoned arguments (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,13). Examinations test the students' ability to assimilate information, assess and present arguments, and criticise difficult material in a concise and lucid manner (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13). Essay tutorials assist the students' ability to respond appropriately to criticism, to articulate and modify positions and arguments, and to develop a number of intellectual virtues (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13). The presentation and group discussion of seminar papers develop the students' skills in communication and virtues in intellectual debate (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13). Problem classes test the students' ability in logic (3,5,6,7). The extended Essay tests the students' ability to pursue an independent line of research, and to present the fruits of that research in a professional manner (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,13). |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Seminars and tutorials are used to develop oral communication by requiring students to engage in class discussions and to give short presentations to initiate discussion, including defending their interpretations and arguments in debate with other students and staff (1,2, 4, 5, 8, 10) Research and written communication skills are developed through feedback on essays (2,3, 6, 8, 10). Students are given guidance in the use of electronic resources, and are informed of opportunities for C&IT training (6,7). Writing essays (especially Extended essays) for set deadlines encourages self-motivation and self-reliance, as well as independence of thought (1,6, 8, 10). |
Methods of Assessment | |
Examinations test the ability of the students to provide crisp and lucid presentations of difficult ideas and arguments. (3.9.10) Essays (especially Extended essays) test the ability of students to research their materials and to present ideas and arguments in a lucid and professional manner (1,2,3,6,7,8,10). |
Embedded within the curriculum |
To follow |
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Co-curricular opportunities |
To follow |
Statement of expectations from the students at each level of the programme as it/they develop year on year.
Level C/4 - Certificate |
Year 1 of the programme has been designed to lay the foundations, both in terms of subject-specific knowledge and skills and in terms of more general abilities, which will allow students to fulfil the programme's aims and objectives. By the end of the year, students should have a basic knowledge of some central areas of the subject (metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and political philosophy) and some crucial philosophical skills, including competence in formal logic and familiarity with the aims and methods of analytic philosophy. They should also be developing their skills in essay-writing and in discussing philosophical issues in tutorials. |
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Level I/5 - Intermediate |
Students further develop their skills and knowledge by choosing from a menu of options. These options are more demanding than level C units both in terms of the difficulty of the materials studied and of the amount of independent critical thinking required of the students. By the end of the year they should be capable of reading difficult and technical material (eg modern journal articles), grasping their arguments, and debating them in seminars with their peers. The two mandatory units, 'Realism' and 'Normativity', provide all level I students with basic knowledge and skills for more advanced level H units. |
Level H/6 - Honours |
Students further develop their skills and knowledge by choosing from a range of advanced options, taught by specialists in the areas of their own research. By the end of the year they should be capable of thinking critically and working independently. Students' capacity for intensive and independent research is further tested by the system of Extended essays. |
Level M/7 - Masters |
For the MSci Mathematics and Philosophy programme - all students take the 'History and Philosophy of Mathematics' unit from the PHS M.A. programme. Two finals essays (or a 20-credit project) further test their capacity for independent study. |
The intended learning outcome mapping document shows which mandatory units contribute towards each programme intended learning outcome.
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Knowledge and understanding are acquired through: lectures, seminars, tutorials, intensive language classes, directed reading, regular written coursework and practical language work (supported by the facilities of the Multimedia Centre), and a compulsory period of residence in the country or countries where the language is spoken. |
Methods of Assessment | |
Weekly formative assessment to support all aspects of language learning: 1-8 |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Intellectual skills are developed through seminars, class discussion, oral presentation and essay writing |
Methods of Assessment | |
Essay writing and oral presentations test ability to analyse information and present reasoned arguments |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Seminars are used to develop oral communication by requiring students to give oral presentations and engage in class discussion |
Methods of Assessment | |
All non-language units are assessed through written coursework and oral presentations requiring a detailed and expansive handling of secondary literature and extensive reading to support conclusions. |
Statement of expectations from the students at each level of the programme as it/they develop year on year.
Level C/4 - Certificate |
Year 1 of the programme is designed to lay the foundations which will allow students to fulfil the programme's aims and objectives. Students take the language unit appropriate to their level of entry. Language units address the development of key language skills. Mandatory units in twentieth-century literature and contemporary society introduce students to key areas of study offered in the programme. Students will gain a broad grounding in the discipline and its methodological concerns. This will also allow them to make informed choices about which units to select in future years. The Project (available as an optional unit for post Alevel students) is designed to develop independent research skills as an integral part of the programme from the outset. It is expected that students' work may require considerable direction from staff at this stage. |
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Level I/5 - Intermediate |
Students are expected to be able to demonstrate that they have expanded the range and depth of their knowledge of the discipline in both mandatory and optional units. They will develop analytical skills, and expand their ability to structure and present work effectively. Language work will be of a higher level of complexity and students will advance their ability to work creatively with Italian and improve mediation skills. Active participation in seminars and responsibility for group learning is required. There is an enhanced degree of self-directed learning (for example in the researching and writing of course work assignments) |
Level H/6 - Honours |
The Year Abroad is designed to enable students to use, reinforce and expand the language structures learnt in the first two years of the degree scheme. Written work in Italian undertaken during the Year Abroad furthers students' capacity to carry out research on primary sources. Students will develop their knowledge of Italian culture and society through first-hand experience and extend their range of key transferable skills. Students spend the entire academic year in Italy. Students will be expected to have expanded their knowledge of the subject area through the study of optional units that allow them to follow more closely their particular area of interest. They will work at a higher level of methodological and conceptual complexity. They will be expected to work more independently in gathering and assimilating information, synthesising it in an appropriate way and engaging in the sophisticated analysis of primary texts. There is an emphasis on self-directed study and the development of research skills. Language work draws on the knowledge of Italian culture and society that students will have developed in the course of their compulsory residence in Italy. Students will be expected to be able to use Italian creatively and accurately for a range of purposes and audiences. The receptive and productive skills that students develop in the fourth year are designed to be useful in circumstances that students may encounter in the workplace. |
The intended learning outcome mapping document shows which mandatory units contribute towards each programme intended learning outcome.
For information on the admissions requirements for this programme please see details in the undergraduate prospectus at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/prospectus/undergraduate/ or contact the relevant academic department.
Workload Statement
In common with the rest of the University, units in the Faculty of Arts
adhere to the credit framework which sets out that 20 credits normally
equates to some 200 hours of student input. Some of this time will be spent
in class, with the remainder divided between preparation for classes and
preparation for, and completion of, the assessment tasks. Some of this
activity may occur within the University’s online learning environment,
Blackboard, which you may use to prepare wikis, to interact with other
students, to download tutorials or to receive feedback.
Assessment Statement
Please select the following link for a statement about assessment. This is University of Bristol access only.
https://www.bris.ac.uk/arts/current/under/assessment.html
In addition to its Single Honours Italian degree, the Department also offers joint programmes in which Italian is combined with Czech, French, German, Portuguese, Russin, or Spanish.The Department currently has SOCRATES exchange links with the universities of Milan, Turin, Bologna, Siena, Modena, Palermo, Forlí, Florence, Padua, Verona, Udine , Venice, and Naples, but other arrangements are also possible.
Philosophy:
An exchange scheme exists with the university of Maryland, allowing one or two Bristol students to spend the whole of their second year in Maryland. This is primarily designed for Single Honours Philosophers, but is sometimes possible for J.S. students after proper consultation & negotiation with J.S. partner departments.
http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/Italian/
The Philosophy department webpage and the undergraduate handbook.
Mandatory Unit Italian Language is must pass. For further information and a definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Introduction to Philosophy A | PHIL10005 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
Introduction to Philosophy B | PHIL10006 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
Introduction to Formal Logic | PHIL10014 | 10 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
The appropriate language unit, ITAL10001 or ITAL 10002, is a must-pass unit. | |||||
Italian Language 1B (ab initio students) | ITAL10002 | 40 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Modern Italy | ITAL10029 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Instead of Italian Language 1B, students with A level Italian must take the following two units: | |||||
Italian Language 1A (Post A-level) | ITAL10001 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Medieval and Renaissance Italy | ITAL10030 | 10 | Optional | TB-1 | |
And select one from: | |||||
Modern Italian Texts | ITAL10007 | 10 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Reading Medieval and Renaissance Culture | ITAL10031 | 10 | Optional | TB-2 | |
10 credit points from: | |||||
Philosophical Texts 1: Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion | PHIL10003 | 10 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Philosophical Text 3: Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics | PHIL10008 | 10 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Introduction to the Philosophy of Science | PHIL10015 | 10 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Philosophical Texts: Plato | PHIL10024 | 10 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Texts in Early Modern Philosophy: Empiricism | PHIL10031 | 10 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Texts in Modern Political Philosophy | PHIL10027 | 10 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Paradoxes | PHIL10028 | 10 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Critical Reasoning | PHIL10030 | 10 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Certificate of Higher Education | 120 |
Mandatory Unit Language is must pass. For further information and a definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Realism and Normativity | PHIL20046 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
Italian Language 2 | ITAL20001 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Students must choose at least one but no more than two units from the following list: | |||||
Italian Memories of the 2nd World War | ITAL20016 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Dante's Inferno | ITAL20024 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Italian Cinema: Genre and Social Change | ITAL29007 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Italian Identities in the Nineteenth Century | ITAL20040 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Oral Histories of 68 and the Years of Lead | ITAL20041 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
40 credit points from: | |||||
Epistemology | PHIL20009 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Philosophy of Mind | PHIL20010 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Ethics | PHIL20011 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Political Philosophy | PHIL20012 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Philosophy of Mathematics | PHIL20039 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Logic 2 | PHIL20036 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
What is democracy, and how should it work? | PHIL20057 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Ancient Philosophy | PHIL20040 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Death, dying and disease | PHIL20049 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Texts in Modern European Philosophy 1 | PHIL20050 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Space, Time and Matter | PHIL20053 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
What is democracy, and how should it work? | PHIL20057 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Students may choose up to two units from the following list: | |||||
Political Systems of Modern Europe | MODL20008 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Woman and Nation | MODL23017 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Gender in Post-Socialist Central and Eastern Europe | MODL20011 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Foreign Language Skills for Semester Abroad Students | MODL20018 | 10 | Optional | F | TB-1 |
Students may choose up to one unit from the following list: | |||||
Catalan Language (Elementary) | MODL23014 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Czech Language (Elementary) | MODL23015 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Diploma in Higher Education | 120 |
Mandatory Year Abroad is must pass. For further information and a definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Year Abroad TB-1 | MODL20014 | 60 | Mandatory | AYEAR | |
Year Abroad TB-2 | MODL20015 | 60 | Mandatory | AYEAR | |
120 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Italian Language 3 | ITAL30001 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Students must choose at least one but no more than two units from the following list: | |||||
Naples: Culture, Identity and Nation | ITAL30045 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Screening the Past: Representing History in Contemporary Italian Cinema | ITAL30046 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Dante: Purgatorio and Paradiso | ITAL30059 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Institutions and Anti-Institutions in Italy in the 1960s and 1970s | ITAL30050 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Students may choose up to two unit from the following list: | |||||
Communism in Europe | MODL30001 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Independent Study 1 | MODL30005 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Translating in a Professional Context | MODL30010 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Sociolinguistics: Language Variation and Change | MODL30015 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Gender, Sexuality and Cinema | MODL30018 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
The Italian City: Medieval and Early Modern Cultures | MODL30020 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Pan-Africanism: ideas and archives | MODL30026 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Environmental Entanglements: Issues in Ecocriticsm | MODL30032 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
This unit is available to students studying Programmes of French German Spanish Italian and Russian: | |||||
Liaison Interpreting | MODL30006 | 20 | Optional | TB-1,TB-2 | |
Students may choose MODL30011 if they took MODL23014 in their second year of study and students may choose MODL30012 if they took MODL23015 in their second year of study: | |||||
Catalan Language (follow-on) | MODL30011 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Czech Language (follow-on) | MODL30012 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
60 credit points should be chosen from the following list, with no more than 40 credits from (a), (b) or (c) | |||||
20 credit points may be chosen from: | |||||
First Extended Essay | PHIL30107 | 20 | Optional | TB-1,TB-2 | |
Second Extended Essay | PHIL30108 | 20 | Optional | TB-1,TB-2 | |
(a) Philosophy of Science, Mathematics and Logic. Choose no more than 40 credits from | |||||
Philosophy of Science | PHIL30049 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Philosophical Issues of Physical Sciences | PHIL30052 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Philosophy of Biology | PHIL30063 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
The Philosophy and History of Medicine | PHIL30082 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
(b) Epistemology, Metaphysics, Mind, Language, History of Philosophy. Choose no more than 40 credits from: | |||||
Philosophy of Psychology | PHIL30077 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Death, dying and disease | PHIL30115 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Space, Time and Matter | PHIL30125 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Philosophy of Language | PHIL30047 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Philosophy in the Digital Age | PHIL30132 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
(c) Value Theory (Ethics, Political Philosophy, Aesthetics). Choose no more than 40 credits from: | |||||
Philosophy and the Environment | PHIL30112 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Philosophy and Italian (BA) | 120 |
Unit Pass Mark for Undergraduate Programmes:
For details on the weightings for classifying undergraduate degrees, please see the Agreed Weightings, by Faculty, to be applied for the Purposes of Calculating the Final Programme Mark and Degree Classification in Undergraduate Programmes.
For detailed rules on progression please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes and the relevant faculty handbook.
Please refer to the specific progression/award requirements for programmes with a preliminary year of study, the Gateway programmes and International Foundation programmes.
All undergraduate degree programmes allow the opportunity for a student to exit from a programme with a Diploma or Certificate of Higher Education.
Integrated Master's degrees may also allow the opportunity for a student to exit from the programme with an equivalent Bachelor's degree where a student has achieved 360 credit points, of which 90 must be at level 6, and has successfully met any additional criteria as described in the programme specification.
The opportunities for a student to exit from one of the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry with an Award is outlined in the relevant Programme Regulations (which are available as an annex in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes).
An Ordinary degree can be awarded if a student has successfully completed at least 300 credits with a minimum of 60 credits at Level 6.
The pass mark for the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine and Dentistry is 50 out of 100. The classification of a degree in the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry is provided in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided.
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Tel: +44 (0)117 928 9000