Postgraduate Course: Skills and Methods in Classics (PGHC11413)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | 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). |
| 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.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2017/18, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| 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 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
1. Due at end of the first semester: Critical summaries (1,000 words each; 2,000 words total) of two of the weekly Classics Research Seminars. These should give an overview of what the speaker was presenting and the effectiveness of their arguments, while also engaging with current scholarship on the topic.
2. Due at end of the second semester: Students will design a research proposal (which potentially could contribute to their dissertation), laying out aims and objectives of the project, and including an annotated bibliography (2,500 words in total). |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate in class discussion and assessed coursework a detailed and critical command of a range of key methodological and theoretical approaches to the study of the various subjects under Classics;
- Demonstrate in assessed coursework an ability to analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship in Classics, primary source materials concerning the ancient world, and conceptual discussions about approaches to the subject;
- Demonstrate in class discussion and assessed coursework, an ability to 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;
- Demonstrate the ability to develop and sustain original scholarly arguments in oral and written form in class and in their dissertation proposal by independently formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence considered in the course;
- Demonstrate in class discussion and assessed coursework 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.
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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 |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Benjamin Russell
Tel:
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr Gordon Littlejohn
Tel: (0131 6)50 3782
Email: |
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