Module overview
You will complete a dissertation on a subject of your choice, subject to available supervisory expertise.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
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 and secondary literature
- the place of your topic in philosophy considered more broadly
- the processes by which understanding is achieved and new ideas advanced within the discipline
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- locate relevant scholarly literature, using a variety of bibliographic aids, to permit a convincing response to be made to the research question
- communicate a coherent, sustained and convincing argument at length
- demonstrate the capacity for self-directed problem-solving, independent working and autonomous time- management
- identify a significant research question and the appropriate way of addressing it
- develop and manage a programme of study to bring your chosen research project to fruition
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- critically evaluate a wide range of both primary and secondary texts, and the arguments contained in them
- conceptualize a feasible and intellectually adventurous research project as well as a programme of study to bring it to fruition
- synthesize and integrate the analysis of these texts and the philosophical positions they contain into a coherent, sustained and convincing dissertation argument
- present and debate ideas in an open minded and rigorous way
Syllabus
You will complete a 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 their 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.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Teaching methods include
- one-to-one meetings with supervisor
- feedback on written work
Learning activities include
- oral discussion with supervisor
- conceptualization of dissertation project
- research for and organization and composition of dissertation
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Teaching | 10 |
Independent Study | 740 |
Total study time | 750 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
James E. Mauch & Jack W. Birch (1993). Guide to the Successful Thesis and Dissertation: A Handbook for Students and Faculty. New York.
Charles R. Doty (1997). Guide to Dissertation Proposal Preparation & Dissertation Preparation. New Jersey.
Liz Hampson (1994). w's your Dissertation Going?: Students share the Rough Reality of Dissertation and Project Work. Lancaster.
Roy Preece (1994). Starting Research: an Introduction to Academic Research and Dissertation Writing. London.
Derek Swetnam (1997). Writing Your Dissertation: How to Plan, Prepare and Present Your Work Successfully. Oxford.
Fred Pyrczak (1999). Completing Your Thesis or Dissertation: Professors Share Their Techniques and Strategies. Los Angeles.
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Dissertation | 100% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Coursework | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Dissertation | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External