Course Resources Archive

The dissertation represents the culmination of a student's learning experience on the programme and is a piece of work independently conceived and produced. It requires the student to frame and negotiate a research question, to select and use appropriate methodologies and primary and secondary sources, to relate these to current academic debate, to arrive at an appropriate and clear overall structure and argument and to present their findings in a proper academic format.

The dissertation will focus on a self-chosen topic of direct relevance to the content and emphases of the Course as a whole. Proposals must be submitted on the appropriate form for consideration by a sub-committee of the Course Board of Studies. Students will subsequently be allocated a supervisor whose academic specialism enables them to supervise the project successfully.

On successful completion of the module the student should be able to demonstrate:

• specialist knowledge of a chosen subject directly related to the taught content of the degree;
• a systematic capacity for developing sustained academic arguments as well as for assessing the academic and confessional arguments of others;
• high-level skills in academic presentation, problem solving and independent research.

600 hours: independent research (590 hours) supported by tutorials and online discussion (10 hours).  While an individual learner’s support will be provided primarily by their dissertation supervisor, the module will have its own Moodle site for tutor and peer support and there will be opportunities for group and individual tutorials both via the VLE and during study days for other modules.

The Library Catalogue contains full details of the current reading list for this module. Further details may also be found in the Module Guide.