| Unit name | Dissertation |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HISTM1000 |
| Credit points | 60 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
| Unit director | Dr. Wainwright |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None |
| School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
All MA students are expected to undertake either a dissertation or a practice-based dissertation as the culmination of the programme of study. The dissertation provides a structured and supervised opportunity for MA students to pursue independent research that emerges from their previous studies. Students devise a realisable topic to study using primary source materials and which could contribute to academic historical knowledge. After a conducting a survey of academic literature and other relevant materials, students identify appropriate methodologies to explore a research problem. Most projects should arise from work already undertaken on the programme, creating an opportunity to explore a specialist area in more detail.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
The dissertation is the capstone assessment for your programme. It is your opportunity to put into practice the research, analysis, and writing skills you’ve developed throughout the taught content of your MA. It is also a chance for you to undertake historical research that reflects your emerging specialism as a researcher. In other words, we see this unit as the culmination of your time on the History MA, as you continue to develop the disciplinary skills of the academic historian.
An overview of content
Because the dissertation is a student-led historical inquiry, the content of this unit will be driven by each student’s interests, existing expertise, and the historical field they wish to tackle. Students are encouraged to develop material from the taught content of the programme, in order to expand upon topics, primary source bases, and research questions they have covered in some capacity. This is your opportunity to explore, and in doing so, to develop an area of specialism as a historian.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit?
This unit aims to support you in undertaking an original piece of historical research, concerning a topic of your choosing. It will develop your understanding not just of the history involved, but also of the ways in which historians set about framing appropriate research questions and answering them. By the end of this unit, you will have transferable skills to do with project design, development, and management. But you will also be a historian in your own right, having added to the collective disciplinary knowledge of the field.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
This unit will be taught via regular tutorials with an allocated supervisor. This will vary in length and focus. The dissertation is a student-led, inquiry-based aspect of the MA History programme. It thus requires students to develop a project idea, carry out independent study, and report back findings and research plans to their supervisor. The supervisor’s role is to offer advice and support in response to work generated by the student. Students will also be expected to manage their own schedule and workload, again with the support of a supervisor
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
4,000 word submission of draft work to the allocated dissertation supervisor.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
Dissertation 12,000-word (ILOs 1-5) [100%].
When assessment does not go to plan
When required by the Board of Examiners, you will normally complete reassessments in the same formats as those outlined above. However, the Board reserves the right to modify the form or number of reassessments required. Details of reassessments are normally confirmed by the School shortly after the notification of your results at the end of the academic year.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. HISTM1000).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
