Studying at York
Dissertation - MA Culture & Thought After 1945 - ENG00116M
Module summary
The MA dissertation of 14000 - 16000 words is a major element of your MA. You will examine a carefully delimited topic of your choice in some depth, showing intellectual and/or methodological originality and enterprise, critical judgement, precise knowledge of critical texts and a significant relation to the extant secondary material. Following special workshop sessions, you will identify your topic with help and support from module tutors and convenors. Once your dissertation proposal has been submitted, you will be allocated a dissertation supervisor and follow a carefully structured series of supervision meetings with them. This major piece of written work, following recognized conventions of scholarly presentation, will also equip you, as a researcher, to prepare for future work, including work at doctoral level.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2024-25 |
Module aims
The dissertation module aims to enable you to conduct a large-scale independent research project and manage it to completion.
- You will determine your own question/s and methodological approach/es;
- The module aims to offer an opportunity for development as a researcher in preparation for further research and doctoral work;
- The module aims to help you develop intellectual enterprise, critical judgement, precise knowledge of primary texts, and adequate familiarity with secondary material;
- The dissertation also aims to help you produce a large piece of written work according to the recognized conventions of scholarly presentation.
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Module learning outcomes
On successful completion of this module you should
- be able to understand, evaluate and deploy key areas of postwar critical thinking to the domain of your individual postgraduate level project;
- have developed sustained and systematic research skills and be able to use them to synthesize and explain large quantities of source material;
- be able to determine the appropriate research methods, approaches and arguments for a large scale project, with supervision and guidance;
- have developed your advanced writing skills to argue cogently and persuasively across a large body of material;
- have developed advanced editorial and referencing skills;
- have developed advanced oral presentation and discussion skills in order to explain key arguments and ideas.
Module content
The module content will be specific to each individual student. Broadly, projects will explore and analyse a specific area of culture and/or thought after 1945 in relation to one of the disciplines that constitutes the MA or by drawing together disciplinary interests and expertise in a trans or inter-disciplinary project.
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Graduate/Postgraduate Dissertation | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
Students will benefit from being able to make regular draft submissions of work in progress, and will receive regular written and/or verbal feedback on these. Work will also be presented orally in supervision meetings and peer-to-peer discussions and draft swaps
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Graduate/Postgraduate Dissertation | 100 |
Module feedback
You will receive feedback on all assessed work within the University deadline, and will often receive it more quickly. The purpose of feedback is to inform your future work; it is designed to help you to improve your work, and the Department also offers you help in learning from your feedback. If you do not understand your feedback or want to talk about your ideas further you can discuss it with your module tutor, the MA Convenor or your supervisor, during their Open Office Hours
Indicative reading
Reading for the dissertation will vary according to the scope of the project chosen by the student, but is likely to include texts which have been encountered on the other modules that make up the MA.