University home > Unit and programme catalogues in 2022/23 > Programme catalogue > Faculty of Arts > School of Modern Languages > History and Italian (BA) > Specification
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Programme code | 1ITAL003U |
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Programme type | Joint Honours (UG) |
Programme director(s) |
Tristan Kay (Italian)
John Reeks (History) |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
School/department | School of Modern Languages |
Second School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
Teaching institution | University of Bristol |
Awarding institution | University of Bristol |
Relevant QAA subject benchmark groups |
History (2022) (benchmark statement)
Languages, Cultures and Societies (2023) (benchmark statement) |
Mode of study | Full Time |
Programme length | 4 years (full time) |
This section sets out why studying this programme is important, both in terms of inspiring you as an individual and in considering the challenges we face. It describes how this degree programme contributes to:
This programme aims:
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. 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.
The learning outcome statements shown below for your programme have been developed with reference to relevant national subject benchmarks (where they exist), national qualification descriptors (see the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) and professional body requirements.
Teaching, learning and assessment strategies are listed to show how you will be able to achieve and demonstrate the learning outcomes.
This programme provides opportunities for you to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas:
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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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 (formative and summative) | |
Weekly formative assessment to support all aspects of language learning: 1-8 |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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Intellectual skills are developed through seminars, class discussion, oral presentation and essay writing |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Essay writing and oral presentations test ability to analyse information and present reasoned arguments |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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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 (formative and summative) | |
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. |
This section describes what is expected from you at each level of your programme. This illustrates increasing intellectual standards as you progress through the programme. These levels are mapped against the national level descriptors published by the Quality Assurance Agency.
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 learning outcome statements shown below for your programme have been developed with reference to relevant national subject benchmarks (where they exist), national qualification descriptors (see the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) and professional body requirements.
Teaching, learning and assessment strategies are listed to show how you will be able to achieve and demonstrate the learning outcomes.
This programme provides opportunities for you to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas:
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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Acquisition of historical knowledge and skills through lectures, seminars, tutorials, specially constructed historical skills units, directed reading and individual formative feedback. Independent research is fostered through supervised Projects connected to the Specials at each level of the programme and a Dissertation at level H. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Range of essay writing skills (long and short). |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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Skills are acquired, practised and refined through participation in lectures and, in particular, engagement in seminars, written work of various lengths, and individual written and oral feedback from tutors. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
All units are assessed by written coursework which requires the demonstration of a combination of these skills. Student presentations. 2 hour unseen examinations. |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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Written communication skills are acquired, refined and practiced through the production of essays/Projects/Dissertation, and individual written and oral feedback from tutors. Seminars and tutorials are used to develop oral communication by requiring students to engage in class discussions and to make oral presentations. Specially devised skills units at levels C and I. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Some units require oral class presentations to a satisfactory standard to gain CPs. The ability to locate and access sources is required in all written work. |
This section describes what is expected from you at each level of your programme. This illustrates increasing intellectual standards as you progress through the programme. These levels are mapped against the national level descriptors published by the Quality Assurance Agency.
Level C/4 - Certificate |
Students are expected to acquire the foundations on which to develop appropriate expertise in line with the aims and objectives of the programme. They will acquire familiarity with the main themes and concepts of historical study in three main fields (drawn from medieval, early modern, modern British & European and world history). Through the skills unit (Approaching the Past) students will be introduced to the methodology of historical enquiry and, through the first year units, will be introduced to key issues in historical research. Students will be introduced to the defining features, terminology and conventions of historical scholarship and will take the first steps towards independent research. Here the expectation is that their work may require substantial direction and guidance on the development of study skills from tutors. |
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Level I/5 - Intermediate |
In Year 2 students are expected to expand the range and depth of their knowledge in core areas of the discipline, develop their capacity to evaluate material using a variety of critical perspectives, and develop their written and oral communication skills. Students will have the opportunity to consolidate what they have learned in year one and to use their knowledge, understanding and skills to evaluate critically and formulate evidence-based arguments. Students will extend their analytical skills and their ability to structure their work and present it fluently. They are expected to develop their capacity for self-directed learning (for example, through the researching and writing of essays and coursework assignments). Through Rethinking History students will be familiarised with the diversity and richness of historical writing today, become able to deal with historiographical issues, and be introduced to a variety of sub-disciplines (e.g., cultural history) that underpins the range of current and past historical study. The unit will equip students with the conceptual tools they need to develop further their understanding of particular topics and to strengthen their capacity to make connections between the different areas of their studies. Some units will be interactive and students will be expected to develop the ability to contribute in a variety of ways. Students will also develop their research skills through a focus on primary sources, and further develop their independent research abilities. In Year 3, students will be expected to continue to engage intellectually with the discipline of History while on the Year Abroad, whether they are working studying or doing both. Their exposure to different cultural attitudes towards history and memorialisation will enhance their understanding of the culturally specific ways in which different societies remember and understand the past. They will be encouraged to submit historically-minded Year Abroad essay projects. |
Level H/6 - Honours |
At level H students are expected to broaden and deepen their knowledge, and to apply relevant conceptual and methodological approaches to more complex historical issues. Students will be encouraged to develop greater independence both as learners and in their own critical judgements and to reflect both on the nature of history as a discipline and their own progress as historians. At the same time, work is more research orientated and requires more independent study based on primary source materials. Working with staff on areas closely linked with their research students will be expected to develop further their ability to gather, assimilate and synthesise information from diverse sources, and to engage in sophisticated critical evaluation of historical texts. Building on the preparatory work in levels C and I students will undertake an extended independently conceived and researched Dissertation based on primary sources. Students will be expected to present work which meets the highest standards of historical scholarship. |
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.
UG Workload Statement
Success as an undergraduate student depends on you being able to make the transition to self-motivated, independent learning. Programmes are designed to assist you in this development, in many cases by starting with units in which timetabled teaching, such as lectures and practical classes, provides the foundations of knowledge and skills in a subject, moving on to individual research-based work. Over time you will be expected to take increasing responsibility for your own learning, guided by the feedback on your work that you will receive. At the heart of your studies at every level there must be regular and disciplined individual reading, reflection and writing and it is this skill of independent studies, above all others, that will serve you best when you leave the University.
Most programmes use credits and a 20 credit unit broadly equates to about 200 hours of student input. This includes all activities related to the teaching, learning and assessment of taught units.
A component of this is the time that you spend in class, in contact with the teaching staff, which includes activities such as lectures, laboratories, tutorials and fieldwork. Some of this activity may be online and could consist of activity that is synchronous (using real-time environments such as Blackboard Collaborate) or asynchronous (using tools such as tutor moderated discussion forums, blogs or wikis).
In some programmes there are field courses and/or placements that will take place in concentrated periods of time.
Outside scheduled activities you are expected to pursue your own independent learning to build your knowledge and understanding of the subjects you are studying. Such independent activities include, reviewing lecture material, reading textbooks, working on examples sheets, completing coursework, writing up laboratory notes, preparing for in-class progress tests and revising for examinations.
We recognise that many students undertake paid employment. To achieve a sensible balance between work and study, you are advised to undertake paid work for no more than 15 hours per week in term-time.
Professional Programmes
Many undergraduates in the Faculty of Health Sciences will be following the professional programmes of:
For these professional programmes, full time attendance is compulsory unless absence is formally approved. Academic activities are timetabled throughout the 5-day week and student workload is around 40 hours per week on average. Where possible, students in the early years are permitted Wednesday afternoons for sport and extra-curriculum activities. This may not be available in later years of professional programmes as when a student progresses through the curricula there is an increasing exposure to clinical and professional activities. Students in clinic or on placements may need to stay later than core times of 08.00 – 18.00 or even overnight to observe out-of-hours activities. This increasing exposure to clinical activities means that students on these professional programmes often have longer term dates than the University standard. Individual years within programmes are likely to vary in length (for example because of the timings of placements) and further information on this will be found in individual programme regulations. Another important point to note is that many of the assessments sit outside of the standard University examination timetable and are likely to be more frequent meaning that students will more oftentimes be engaged in revision activities and self-directed learning.
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty Assessment and Feedback Statement for Undergraduate Students. University of Bristol access only.
Italian
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, Forli', Florence, Padua, Verona, Udine , Venice, and Naples, but other arrangements are also possible.
Italian
Mandatory Unit ITAL10001 or ITAL10002 Italian Language is must pass. For the definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms from Annex 1 to the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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List A (History) | |||||
Approaching the Past | HIST13015 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
List A (Italian) - ITAL10001 is mandatory unless there are exceptional circumstances | |||||
Italian Language 1B (ab initio students) | ITAL10002 | 40 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Italian Language 1A (Post A-level) | ITAL10001 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
List B - Take HIST10048. Additionally take ITAL10034 if you take ITAL10001 in List A | |||||
Medieval and Renaissance Italy | ITAL10034 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Modern Revolutions | HIST10067 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
The American Century | HIST10044 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
War and Society | HIST10045 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List D – Take one 20cp History unit | |||||
Slavery | HIST10046 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
'Fight the Power': Democracy and Protest | HIST10068 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Gender in the Modern World | HIST10069 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
List E | |||||
Modern Italy | ITAL10033 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-2 | |
Certificate of Higher Education | 120 |
Mandatory Unit Italian Language is must pass. For the definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms from Annex 1 to the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Besides the mandatory units, you must take at least one further ITAL or MODL-coded unit. | |||||
List A | |||||
Italian Language 2 | ITAL20001 | 20 | Mandatory | A | TB-4 |
Rethinking History | HIST23101 | 20 | Mandatory | A | TB-1 |
List B - Choose one 20cp unit from list B or list E | |||||
Select from: | |||||
Africa in Global Perspective | HIST20141 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
The Americas in Global Context | HIST20142 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
Asia in Global Perspective | HIST20143 | 20 | Optional | B | TB-1 |
Destination Italy: Cultural Responses to Migration | ITAL20032 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Italian Cinema: Genre and Social Change | ITAL29007 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
General Linguistics | MODL20016 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Woman and Nation | MODL23017 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List C - Choose 20cp | |||||
Destination Italy: Cultural Responses to Migration | ITAL20032 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Italian Fascism | ITAL20045 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Italian Cinema: Genre and Social Change | ITAL29007 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Catalan Language (Elementary) | MODL23014 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Czech Language (Elementary) | MODL23015 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Introduction to teaching Modern Languages as Foreign Languages | MODL20021 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Beginners Portuguese | MODL20022 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Migrations of Culture | MODL20024 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Fear and Loathing | HIST20117 | 20 | Optional | C | TB-1 |
Outlaws | HIST20120 | 20 | Optional | C | TB-1 |
Crusading Cultures | HIST20133 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
List D – Take HIST20089 and 20CP from either list D or list F | |||||
Italian Fascism | ITAL20045 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Renaissance Italy | ITAL20046 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Historical Linguistics | MODL20017 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Popular Representation and Institutions of Culture | MODL20026 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Fairy Tales Across Borders | MODL20029 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Select from: | |||||
The Politics of the Past | HIST20144 | 20 | Optional | D | TB-2 |
The Public Role of the Historian | HIST20145 | 20 | Optional | D | TB-2 |
List E - Choose one 20cp unit from list E or list B | |||||
Aztecs, Incas and Evangelisers | HIST20036 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Under the Covers: Sex and Modern British Print Culture | HIST20138 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Hong Kong and the World | HIST20135 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Race, Migration and Diaspora in 19th and 20th Century Britain | HIST20136 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Building Modern Ireland, c. 1850-Present | HIST20139 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Health and Medicine in African History: Actors, Institutions, Ideas | HIST20147 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Modern Girls and New Women | HIST20146 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Travel and Trade in the Global Middle Ages | HIST20132 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
The F Word: Understanding Italian Fascism Then and Now | HIST20140 | 20 | Optional | E | TB-2 |
Speaking with Authority: Women and Power in the Middle Ages (Level I Special Field) | HIST26024 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Rebels, Runaways, and Revolts: Agency, Resistance, and Slavery in the United States | HIST20129 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
The Age of Revolutions 1776-1848 in Global Perspective | HIST20128 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
The Black Death in England | HIST20125 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Renaissance Italy | ITAL20046 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
List F | |||||
Choose 20CP from Bristol Futures, UWLP or Faculty-wide units; OR choose an additional 20 CP from lists B, C, D or E above. | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
Diploma in Higher Education | 120 |
Mandatory Year Abroad is must pass. For the definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms from Annex 1 to the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
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 |
Mandatory unit RUSS30001 is Must Pass. For the definition of must pass units please see the Glossary of Terms from Annex 1 to the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
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.
The alternative classified honours degree of Arts (History and Modern Language Studies) may be awarded on this programme. For further details please see 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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