Postgraduate Course: Dissertation, Taught MSc in Contemporary History (PGHC11374)
Course Outline
School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Course type | Dissertation |
Availability | Available to all students |
SCQF Credits | 60 |
ECTS Credits | 30 |
Summary | The 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.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites | None |
High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
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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 )
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Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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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:
- 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.
- to locate a specific thesis within its broader historiography and reflect critically on the processes and methods involved in research and writing.
- 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.
- to conceive and pursue to its conclusion a coherent argument founded on evidence provided by the sources at the student's disposal.
- to undertake a sustained independent research project, to complete it within a strict time limit and to write clear, accurate, precise and concise prose.
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Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
Keywords | Dissertation MSc Contemporary History |
Contacts
Course organiser | Prof Diana Paton
Tel: (0131 6)50 4578
Email: Diana.Paton@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Cristina Roman
Tel: (0131 6)50 4577
Email: Cristina.Roman@ed.ac.uk |
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