THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2021/2022

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of History, Classics and Archaeology : Postgraduate (History, Classics and Archaeology)

Postgraduate Course: Dissertation, Taught MSc in Contemporary History (PGHC11374)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate)
Course typeDissertation AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits60 ECTS Credits30
SummaryThe dissertation is an extended piece of scholarship in which a student is expected to formulate and sustain an argument and to engage critically and analytically with the literature in the field, building upon relevant concepts covered in the taught element of the degree and deploying a range of primary and secondary sources.
Course description Students should be thinking of a dissertation topic throughout their period of study, and should feel free to contact a potential supervisor informally at any time, but there is an administrative process during semester 2 to formalise dissertation topics and supervision allocation in advance of the proposal submission deadline.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  50
Course Start Block 5 (Sem 2) and beyond
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 600 ( Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 12, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 588 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) One research proposal (Pass/Fail)
One written dissertation (100%)

Completion of a 2,000 word dissertation proposal, which will be assessed on a pass-fail basis, plus a 15,000 word dissertation which will count for 100% of the mark.
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. to formulate and implement a plan of research, to formulate hypotheses relating to the student's research subject and to test them by marshalling a range of primary and secondary evidence.
  2. to locate a specific thesis within its broader historiography and reflect critically on the processes and methods involved in research and writing.
  3. to construct and pursue a coherent historical argument based on the hypotheses which have been formulated and tested by reference to primary and secondary source material. To locate an argument - whether verbal or written - within a broader intellectual context and to evaluate its implications from that more general perspective.
  4. to conceive and pursue to its conclusion a coherent argument founded on evidence provided by the sources at the student's disposal.
  5. to undertake a sustained independent research project, to complete it within a strict time limit and to write clear, accurate, precise and concise prose.
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsDissertation MSc Contemporary History
Contacts
Course organiserProf Diana Paton
Tel: (0131 6)50 4578
Email: Diana.Paton@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMs Cristina Roman
Tel: (0131 6)50 4577
Email: Cristina.Roman@ed.ac.uk
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