Unit information: Special Topic Project in 2015/16

Unit name	Special Topic Project
Unit code	HART10207
Credit points	20
Level of study	C/4
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Mr. Lilley
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	None
Co-requisites	None
School/department	Department of History of Art (Historical Studies)
Faculty	Faculty of Arts

Description including Unit Aims

This Project operates in conjunction with the Special Topic and enables students to research a particular issue, related to the unit, at greater depth. The project will be rooted in the students research and will require them to identify their own project topic, produce their own title/question and put together their own bibliography. The unit plays an important role in the development of independent learning and research. It will enable (and require) students to pull together and apply most (if not all) of the skills learned and developed during the course of the year. The Project will be supported and supervised at all stages by the Special Topic tutor.

Aims:

The unit enables students to research a particular aspect of their choice relating to their Special Topic at greater depth and to develop their independent learning and research skills. It will also enable them to practice and develop the range of subject specific and key skills acquired through their engagement in their Special Topic.

Intended Learning Outcomes

By the end of the unit students should have:

• deepened their understanding of a particular aspect of their Special Topic

• achieved a greater integration between the various components of that Special Topic

• produced an extended piece of art historical analysis in accordance with high scholarly standards

• developed their ability to formulate their own questions

• demonstrated that they can compile their own bibliography

• the ability to work with visual and textual sources and have demonstrated how to draw reasoned and considered conclusions from them

• have a greater understanding of the process of independent learning and research and have a clearer understanding of their own developing capabilities in those areas.

Teaching Information

• 10 x 1-hour seminars

• 2 one-to-one supervision tutorials with Special Topic tutor  the first being to help define the Project, the second to provide feedback on it. Each tutorial would normally be expected to take about 20 minutes.

• Access to additional tutorial consultation with unit tutor in office hours

Assessment Information

4000-word project

Reading and References

The reading will depend on the precise topic chosen, but the bibliography will be constructed by the student in part from the Special Topic handbook but students will be expected to show initiative in identifying and locating a wider range of sources, both primary and secondary.