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Crafts of Research and Writing

Module description

This module is a team-taught, interdisciplinary module taken by all SH and CH History and Humanities students. In the first part of the module you will gain skills in research and primary source analysis. You will learn how scholars carry out research and how they bring different theories and methodologies to bear upon the sources that they use. You will acquire the skills necessary to evaluate and reflect upon secondary materials. The second part of the term invites you to consider different writing styles and their conventions (e.g. journalism, creative writing, etc.). You will be introduced to the principles and channels of communicating your work with academic and non-academic audiences.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module’s main aims are to introduce you to the conventions of university-level research and critical writing and to inspire you to appreciate these skills as multi-faceted, innovative, and evolving “crafts”. The lectures and workshops will help you develop and perfect a variety of skills essential to your university career and beyond (e.g. research practices, close-reading, constructing an argument, engaging with critics, knowing your audience, offering and receiving feedback, and editing your work). Through theoretical and practical instruction the module will offer you the opportunity to develop your critical capabilities in thinking about your own writing in a variety of contexts. The module will also aim to link different forms of writing to employability.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Develop a critical approach to research and writing
• 2. Discuss research topics using a variety of methods and sources
• 3. Demonstrate practical skills in composition of writing

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Communicate effectively in both written and oral work
• 5. Demonstrate evidence of independent research skills
• 6. Demonstrate an awareness of a variety of different writing and compositional styles

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Persuasive communication skills and group working skills.
• 8. Effective research skills and ability to write clear and correct prose for academic and non-academic audiences.
• 9. Competent time-management and independent critical thinking.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Understanding the craft of research and writing at University
• Academic honesty and quoting, paraphrasing secondary sources
• Introduction to the library and physical archives
• Primary and secondary sources
• Introduction to academic writing
• Close-reading
• Argument and Structure
• Style and Grammar
• Creative fiction and non-fiction
• Writing professionally beyond academia
• Developing a research proposal

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Armstrong, Catherine. Using non-textual sources: a historian's guide. Bloomsbury, 2016.
• Booth, Wayne, Gregory C. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research, U of Chicago, 2008.
• Cheryl Glenn and Loretta Gray, The Hodges Harbrace Handbook, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009
• Gerald Graff and Kathy Birkenstein, They Say/I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, Norton, 2009
• Gordon Harvey, Writing with Sources, Hackett, 1998
• John Peck, The Student's Guide to Writing: Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling, Palgrave, 2005
• McMillan, Kathleen & Jonathan Weyers. How to research & write a successful PhD. Pearson, 2013.
• Ó Dochartaigh, Niall. Internet Research Skills. Sage, 2007
• Pinker, Steven, The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to Writing in the 21st Century, Penguin, 2014
• William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White, The Elements of Style, Pearson, 1999

Key words search

History, humanities, writing, narrative, research, archives