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: Skills and Methods in Classics (PGHC11413)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course provides new MSc students with practical instruction in professional skills and research techniques in the humanities, specifically as employed by Classicists (broadly defined as academics working on the languages, literature, history, archaeology and art of the Greek and Roman worlds).
Course description This course provides new MSc students with practical instruction in professional skills and research techniques in the humanities, specifically as employed by Classicists (broadly defined as academics working on the languages, literature, history, archaeology and art of the Greek and Roman worlds).

The first half of course will cover practical subjects, including:
- Local library holdings and services
- The practicalities of library-based and digital searching
- Conventions of presentation of scholarly work
- Creating comprehensive multilingual bibliographies
- Guidance on the use and efficacy of databases
- Use of Endnote
- Preparation and delivery of oral research papers, and supporting technologies
- Forming a judgment on and getting value from published scholarship
- Forming a judgment on and getting value from seminar presentations
- How to summarise others' arguments and one's own
- How to create a research proposal
- Applications for funding

The second half of the course will introduce to a variety of approaches employed in current research in various areas of Classics. Teaching for this half of the course will take the form of seminars, in which students will be encouraged to debate and explore particular methodological approaches that have a bearing on their own specific research projects.

This course is designed to provide all MSc students within the Classics Subject Area with a solid foundation for further post-graduate work. Throughout this course, meetings will also provide a sounding-board for students to discuss with faculty members and each other the problems associated with carrying out research and presenting scholarship in Classics. In this sense, this course will also serve as a useful introduction for new PhD students in Classics.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2021/22, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  29
Course Start Full Year
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 174 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 90 %, Practical Exam 10 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Coursework:
2 x seminar critiques of 1,000 words each (40%)
Dissertation proposal (50%)

Non-Written Skills:
In-class presentation with circulated handout (10%)
Feedback Not entered
No Exam Information
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Command of a range of key methodological and theoretical approaches to the study of the various subjects under Classics;
  2. Analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship in Classics, primary source materials concerning the ancient world, and conceptual discussions about approaches to the subject;
  3. Understand and apply specialised research or professional skills, techniques and practices considered in the course, including bibliographical skills, the use of database, how to present scholarship, and how to make use of digital resources;
  4. Develop and sustain original scholarly arguments in oral and written form by independently formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence considered in the course;
  5. Demonstrate originality and independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers; and a considerable degree of autonomy.
Reading List
Alcock, S.E. and Osborne, R. eds. (2012), Classical Archaeology (Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology), 2nd edition, Oxford.
Bodel, J. ed. (2001), Epigraphic Evidence: Ancient History from Inscriptions, London and New York.
Crawford, M. (1983), Sources for Ancient History, Cambridge.
Finley, M.I. (1985), Ancient History: Evidence and Models, London.
Grant, J.N. ed. (1989), Editing Greek and Latin Texts, New York.
Hedrick, C.W. (2006), Ancient History: Monuments and Documents, Oxford.
Kenney, E.J. (1974), The Classical Text, Berkeley.
Maas, P. (1958), Textual Criticism, Oxford.
Morley, N. (2004), Theories, Models and Concepts in Ancient History, London and New York.
Morley, N. (2013), Writing Ancient History, Bristol.
Sauer, E. ed. (2004), Archaeology and Ancient History: Breaking down the Boundaries, London.
Schaps, D.M. (2010), Handbook for Classical Research, London and New York.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Aaron Pelttari
Tel: (0131 6)51 3004
Email: Aaron.Pelttari@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Danielle Jeffery
Tel: (0131 6)50 7128
Email: Danielle.Jeffery@ed.ac.uk
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