University home > Unit and programme catalogues in 2015/16 > Programme catalogue > Faculty of Arts > Department of Drama: Theatre, Film, Television > Theatre and Portuguese (BA) > Specification
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Programme code | 1DRAM026U |
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Programme type | Joint Honours (UG) |
Programme director(s) |
Jo Crow (Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies)
Paul Clarke (Theatre) |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
School/department | Department of Drama: Theatre, Film, Television |
Second School/department | Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies |
Teaching institution | University of Bristol |
Awarding institution | University of Bristol |
Relevant QAA subject benchmark groups |
Dance, drama and performance (2019) (benchmark statement)
Languages, Cultures and Societies (2023) (benchmark statement) |
Mode of study | Full Time |
Programme length | 4 years (full time) |
Theatre and Portuguese are complementary subjects that are mutually reinforcing. The Joint Honours programme allows students to enrich their understanding of Theatre and Performance through the study of Portuguese culture and language, and vice versa. This programme provides an opportunity for those students who wish to pursue studies in both subjects. Students spend half of their time in each Department, and are taught separately in each subject. In Theatre, students follow a comparable developmental path to Single Honours students but take fewer practical options (some practical units are still available to Joint Honours students). Students spend their third year studying or working in a Portuguese-speaking country, enriching their cultural knowledge and exposing them to diverse learning opportunities. Students conclude their Theatre and Performance studies in their fourth year.
The theatre component is designed to provide students with a deep understanding of performance/theatre, and to equip them to use the critical, theoretical and practical skills central to the discipline. Through historical and conceptual study, the programme enables students to analyse, research, interpret and understand performance/theatre from a critically and contextually informed perspective, and in certain options such as Melodrama, make comparative and cross-disciplinary connections. In addition to detailed and rigorous critical, historical and theoretical enquiry, the students also explore practical and creative approaches in some options. Final-year students will select independent study options, in which they can gain experience working in the creative industries, develop a practical project of their own devising, or produce an extended piece of scholarly writing. Having gained a combination of specialised and transferable skills, students are well-equipped to pursue a range of careers relating to the contemporary creative industries and arts-related professions, and within academic, professional and managerial sectors.
The Portuguese component provides the opportunity to study the language, literature, society, culture, politics and history of Portuguese-speaking countries. It is designed to allow students to develop a good knowledge of the Portuguese language and the ability to understand it in its written and spoken forms and to speak and write it well. Students are provided with a grounding in the language, literature, society, culture, politics and history of Portuguese-speaking countries, with an emphasis on the modern period. The curriculum also enables students to acquire an in-depth specialist knowledge of specific aspects and periods of the language, literature, society, culture, politics and/or history of the countries where Portuguese is spoken.
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Theatre component Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures and seminars (1-7, 10) Set and directed viewings and visits to performances, and directed reading, with a strong emphasis on primary materials (1-8, 10, 12) Seminars and small-group tutorials to encourage student participation and advance understanding of difficult materials (1-12) Seminars and workshops to develop student creative and practical production skills acquisition (5, 6, 8-12) Production meetings and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in practical project realisation (5, 6, 8-12) Tutorials and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in presentation and essay writing (1-7, 10, 12) Portuguese component Acquisition of knowledge through lectures, seminars and tutorials. Directed reading with a strong emphasis on primary materials. Independent learning is achieved through written coursework and selection of optional subjects studied in-depth. Language is taught in mandatory units, with the guidance of teachers who are native speakers. All students benefit from a range of language-learning approaches and exercises as well as the compulsory period of residence in a Portuguese-speaking country. The Language Laboratory provides the opportunity for the development of aural skills and together with the Faculty of Arts Computer Laboratories, allows students to access computer-assisted packages. |
Methods of Assessment | |
Theatre component Coursework analytical and research essays (1-7, 10) Individual and group presentations (1-8, 10, 12) Practice-based presentations and performances (1-12) Workfiles, journals and vivas (1-12) Portuguese component A range of essay writing skills (short and extended essays). Project work. Seminar presentations. Special subjects to allow students to address areas in-depth and there is the option of working on a dissertation in the final year. Examinations (unseen), all three years. Language is formally assessed through translations, essays, oral presentations and aural comprehension work. |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Theatre component Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures and seminars (1, 2, 4-6, 9) Set and directed viewings and visits to performances, and directed reading, with a strong emphasis on primary materials (1, 2, 4-6) Seminars and small-group tutorials to encourage student participation and advance understanding of difficult materials (1, 2, 4-10) Seminars and workshops to develop student creative and practical production skills acquisition (1-3, 5, 6, 10-16) Production meetings and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in practical project realisation (3, 9-14, 16) Tutorials and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in presentation and essay writing (1, 2, 4-9) Portuguese component Intellectual skills are developed through seminars, tutorials, oral presentations and essay writing. Units are structured in such a way that the skills of analysis, synthesis and evaluation of literature are developed. Specific units focus on other intellectual skills -problem solving and research (particularly in the Dissertation). |
Methods of Assessment | |
Theatre component Coursework analytical and research essays (1, 2, 4-9) Individual and group presentations (1-10,13,14,16) Practice-based presentations and performances (1-15) Workfiles, journals and vivas (1-16) Portuguese component Essay writing and examinations test the students' ability to analyse information and present reasoned arguments. Problem solving and mental flexibility are assessed through language work. Research skills are assessed through written coursework, seminar presentations and dissertations. Language is formally assessed through comprehensions, precis, translations, essays, oral presentations and aural comprehension work. |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning and Teaching Methods |
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Theatre component Acquisition of knowledge and understanding through lectures and seminars (3, 7, 9) Set and directed viewings and visits to performances, and directed reading, with a strong emphasis on primary materials (3, 4) Seminars and small-group tutorials to encourage student participation and advance understanding of difficult materials (2-7, 9) Seminars and workshops to develop student creative and practical production skills acquisition (1-9) Production meetings and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in practical project realisation (1-9) Tutorials and supervisions to provide formative feedback and develop student skills in presentation and essay writing (3-9) Portuguese component Seminars and tutorials are used to develop oral communication by requiring students to engage in class discussions and to give short introductory talks/presentations to initiate discussion. These oral skills are further developed in the language classes. |
Methods of Assessment | |
Coursework analytical and research essays (2-5, 8) Individual and group presentations (1-9) Practice-based presentations and performances (1-9) Workfiles, journals and vivas (1-9) Portuguese component All units are assessed through written coursework in the form of essays of varying lengths and requirements. These require a detailed and expansive handling of literature and extensive reading in support of their conclusions. The knowledge base is also tested through traditional unseen written examinations, through Project work. and Dissertation. Some units require oral class presentations to a satisfactory standard to gain credit points and in some cases this also forms a part of the summative assessment. |
Statement of expectations from the students at each level of the programme as it/they develop year on year.
Level C/4 - Certificate |
Theatre component: Year 1 is introductory, providing a foundation for second and third year learning and for fulfilling the programme’s outcomes. Students gain familiarity with performance forms, key theories and concepts, contexts and ways of analysing theatre and performance. Through workshops, practical skills are acquired, in theatre production, reading a script for performance and staging a play for an audience. In addition, students develop their ability to discuss issues and write critically about the arts in a broader cultural context, in dialogue with film and music students on the Criticism in the Arts unit. Portuguese component: Year 1 of the course has been expressly designed to lay the foundations which will allow students to fulfil the curriculum's aims and objectives. Core units in language are geared to lead the student in the development of their language skills. Foundation units introduce students to the literature, society, culture, politics and history of Portuguese-speaking countries, with an emphasis on the modern period. The expectation is that their work may require considerable direction from members of staff at this stage. |
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Level I/5 - Intermediate |
Theatre component: In their second year students take two lecture and seminar units, which expand their contextual and historical, cultural and political frameworks for understanding theatre and performance. Students deepen their understanding of performance forms, genres or periods through optional units, which draw on expertise from staff research and enable a focus on particular theatre practices. In these options, which are taught across Level I/5 and H/6, students are expected to improve their skills in both creative, collaborative practice and their ability to reflect critically and theoretically. Students’ capacity for self-directed learning is also developed, which is necessary preparation for Level H/6 (e.g. through researching longer essays, devising and realising group performance projects). Portuguese component: In Year 2 students are expected to be able to demonstrate that they have expanded the range and depth of their knowledge in various areas of the discipline and their capacity to evaluate their work. The themes and language readings will be of greater depth and substance. Students will develop their analytical skills, their ability to structure their work and present it fluently. They will be encouraged in group work skills through active participation in seminars and oral language classes. They will be developing a capacity for self-directed learning (for example, through the researching and writing of essays and projects). The grammatical and lexical knowledge of the Portuguese language will be tested, as will their specialist knowledge of specific periods/topics within the language, literature, society, culture, politics, history of the Portuguese-speaking world. The Year Abroad is integral to a student's understanding of Portuguese language and culture. It is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable aspects of a Joint Honours degree with a Modern Languages component. Through either a study or work placement arranged in consultation with the School of Modern Languages (SML), students are immersed into a foreign environment. This immersion is both linguistic and cultural, enabling students to inhabit their target language on a daily basis and to experience first-hand the cultures in which these are used. As a formative year of personal development, the Year Abroad moves students beyond the structured learning environment of the seminar room into more independent learning spaces. In turn, students are required to take greater ownership of their learning experiences, whilst at the same time developing the resourcefulness and adaptability that is necessary to living and working abroad. |
Level H/6 - Honours |
Theatre component: In the final year, students take supervised independent study options, choosing from: written dissertation; practical performance project; extended essay; work placement. They develop their individual interests, and conceive self-directed projects that prepare them for professional contexts or postgraduate study. Students produce longer essays, are expected to formulate more nuanced and sophisticated arguments, refine their ability to gather and assimilate information, and should be confident using more advanced theory. Their knowledge of forms, genres and practices becomes deeper and they are expected to produce more professional, conceptually-informed creative practice. Their knowledge and understanding (15A) should be in depth and advanced, they should show a mastery of intellectual and creative attributes (15B), demonstrate self-motivation, effective collaborative working, independent thinking and a range of transferable skills (15C). Portuguese component: Students are expected to have expanded the breadth of their knowledge through the study of optional units, which are more closely linked to staff research interests and which aim to develop conceptual and methodological approaches in more complexity. Students will be expected to develop further their ability to gather and assimilate information, to synthesise these in an appropriate way, to engage in sophisticated evaluation of texts. The students' ability to assimilate and synthesise material, organise their ideas, weigh conflicting interpretations, marshal arguments, form judgements and present their thoughts in written and verbal forms with precision and clarity will be further developed. There will be an emphasis on independent learning, self-directed study and research skills. The grammatical and lexical knowledge of the Portuguese language will be tested, as will their specialist knowledge of specific periods/topics within the language, literature, society, culture, politics and history of the Portuguese- speaking world. |
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
This new programme emerges from the current Drama and Portuguese Degree and enables the continuity of this Joint provision. The Theatre and Performance Studies component has been developed out of the existing Drama programme, which has effectively in recent years delivered a balanced curriculum across both film/television and theatre/performance studies. We wish to maintain a degree of cross-disciplinary optionality in this programme, as well as being open to the provision that becomes available from across the Faculty within Project Arts. Theatre and Performance Studies by its very nature is eclectic and hybrid, developing out of both language and literature studies; and we intend to maintain and develop that porosity.
Furthermore, this programme will build on the unique and distinctive strengths of Drama as was, namely the combination of internationally recognized scholarship and innovative practice-as-research, conducted in professional contexts, with the unique resource of the UOB’s Theatre Collection and the active partnerships at all levels with leading local and national arts-organizations. Teaching fellows will continue to offer practical production skills training, working alongside scholars to deliver performance projects to public audiences. These strengths in combination infuse and inform all the Department’s teaching, and provide its students with a highly distinctive provision: for instance, in terms of opportunities for engagement with archives and primary source materials, and industrial placements with leading artists in their field, such as Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory, Mayfest, Bristol Old Vic and In Between Time Festival of Live Art.
The Department of Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies also offers single honours programmes in Spanish and Hispanic Studies (Spanish with Portuguese or Catalan) and through the School of Modern Languages, joint programmes in Portuguese with one of the following: Czech, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and in Spanish with one of the following: Czech, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Theatre; History of Art, Philosophy and Politics.
The Department has ERASMUS links/exchanges with universities in Evora and Oporto. The University has an agreement with the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil to take students during their year abroad. Further links with Brazilian universities are being established.
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Portuguese Language | HISP10302 | 40 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Key Moments in Lusophone History and Culture | HISP10015 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Students with A-Level Portuguese take the following instead of HISP10302. | |||||
Portuguese Language - Post A Level | HISP10307 | 20 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Introduction to the Study of Cultures | MODL10011 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
In exceptional circumstances students with a high level of competence in Portuguese can take: | |||||
Language (Advanced) | MODL10014 | 40 | Optional | TB-4 | |
Plus: | |||||
Performance Forms and Analysis | DRAM11004 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-1 | |
Production Skills for Performance 1 | DRAM10028 | 10 | Mandatory | TB-1A | |
Production Skills for Performance 2 | DRAM10026 | 10 | Mandatory | TB-1B | |
Students must take one from: | |||||
Criticism and the Arts | DRAM10029 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Producing the Performance | DRAM10027 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Staging the Text | DRAM11008 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
120 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | ||
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Portuguese Lang for Joints/ML | HISP20302 | 20 | Mandatory | TB-4 | |
Students must choose at least one but no more than two units from the following list: | |||||
Languages of the Iberian Peninsula | HISP20088 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Images of Power in Lusophone Culture | HISP20092 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Urban Narratives in the Lusophone World | HISP20091 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Introduction to Language Technology for Students of Portuguese | HISP20093 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
On the Matter of Poetry: Concrete and Material Poetics in 20th Century Brazil and Chile | HISP20094 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Students must select either DRAM23125 or DRAM20048: | |||||
Performance Histories | DRAM23125 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Politics of Performance | DRAM20048 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Students may opt to take both DRAM23125 and DRAM20048, but can then only select 20 credit points from the Theatre units in the list below. | |||||
Select 20-40 credit points from the Theatre units below: | |||||
Interpreting Plays | DRAM23128 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Melodrama | DRAM20054 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Popular Performance: Cabaret, Music Hall, Musicals and Revue | DRAM23124 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Performing the Archive: Re-use, Re-enactment and Adaptation | DRAM23129 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Choreography for Theatre | DRAM20051 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Early Modern Theatre Practice | DRAM20056 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Choose open units | OPEN | 20 | Optional | ||
Students may choose up to two units from the following list: | |||||
Political Systems of Modern Europe | MODL20008 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
Introduction to Linguistics | MODL23013 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Woman and Nation | MODL23017 | 20 | Optional | TB-1 | |
Gender in Post-Socialist Central and Eastern Europe | MODL20011 | 20 | Optional | TB-2 | |
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 | |
120 |
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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