History Dissertation

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• coherently integrate theoretical and historiographical perspectives with detailed empirical research
• locate and identify relevant primary and secondary source materials
• interrogate the validity of existing historiographical perspectives and/or theoretical models through your own in-depth historical research
• synthesize and integrate the analysis of primary sources and secondary texts into a coherent, sustained and convincing dissertation argument
• conceptualize a feasible and intellectually adventurous research project as well a programme of study to bring it to fruition
• develop a historical argument from the study of primary sources and critical evaluation of secondary historical texts
• critically evaluate a wide range of both primary source materials and arguments contained in secondary historical texts, and propose new hypotheses on the basis of these evaluations
• conduct historical research through the study of primary sources

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• develop and manage a practical programme of study to bring your chosen research project to fruition
• identify a significant research question and a practical means of addressing it
• communicate a coherent, sustained and convincing argument over 15,000 words
• demonstrate the capacity for self-directed problem-solving, independent working and autonomous time- management
• locate relevant source materials to permit a convincing response to be made to the research question

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the subject chosen for your dissertation, including principal primary source materials and relevant scholarly literature
• the processes by which understanding is achieved and new ideas advanced within the historical discipline
• the means by which empirical research and a response to historiographical and theoretical debates can be integrated to produce an original scholarly argument

You will complete a 15,000-word dissertation on a subject of your choice, subject to available supervisory expertise. This dissertation may follow on from (but not replicate) work completed in other elements of the programme, but this is not a requirement. You will be allocated an appropriate supervisor, and develop the project under his or her initial guidance. The bulk of the work, however, is done independently. Samples of written work and a full draft of the dissertation may be submitted for comment to the supervisor

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include

• tutorials with supervisor
• feedback on written work

Learning activities include

• tutorial discussion with supervisor
• conceptualization of dissertation project
• research for and organization and composition of dissertation

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Roy Preece (1994). Starting Research: an Introduction to Academic Research and Dissertation Writing. London.

James E. Mauch & Jack W. Birch (1993). Guide to the Successful Thesis and Dissertation: A Handbook for Students and Faculty. New York.

Liz Hampson (1994). How's your Dissertation Going?: Students share the Rough Reality of Dissertation and Project. Lancaster.

Charles R. Doty (1997). Guide to Dissertation Proposal Preparation & Dissertation Preparation. New Jersey.

Fred Pyrczak (1999). Completing Your Thesis or Dissertation: Professors Share Their Techniques and Strategies. Los Angeles.

Derek Swetnam (1997). Writing Your Dissertation: How to Plan, Prepare and Present Your Work Successfully. Oxford.

Assessment strategy

• informal feedback is provided on sample of written work and draft dissertation

The dissertation is the most substantial element of independent study within the degree programme. Coming at the end of your studies, it allows you to put into practice and to integrate virtually all the skills you have been developing over the course of the programme, and to do so in particular with a degree of autonomy which tests the depth of your understanding of the practices by which scholarly understanding is advanced and your own intellectual independence.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External