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Film Studies Dissertation

Module description

The dissertation is an independent research project, which enables you to operate autonomously and responsibly, and take a positive and active role in your learning. You will plan and produce a sustained piece of critical work that highlights the skills you have learnt over the course of your degree programme, incorporating a range of research methods and methodologies.

You will receive guidance from a supervisor and receive support through a series of workshops and lectures. The dissertation module teaches you time management skills and gives you the flexibility to devise and follow your own research questions, extending your knowledge in a specialism which you have particularly enjoyed.

Module aims - intentions of the module

• To showcase your critical abilities, as you plan and deliver an extended, independent research project. You will work under the guidance of an academic supervisor, with extra support provided by a series of workshops and lectures. This will help you to develop the key skills for researching your chosen project and preparing a finished manuscript. The dissertation encourages you to manage their time effectively, organise their ideas, and extend and compliment your previous studies.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

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

• 1. demonstrate in-depth knowledge of the chosen subject, building appropriately on the work completed during the earlier years of their programme;
• 2. demonstrate a capacity for independent study and self-directed inquiry and research;
• 3. demonstrate an ability to identify and pursue appropriate, subject specific questions;
• 4. demonstrate an ability to reflect upon research methodologies, and to draft, revise and edit written work accordingly;

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

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

• 5. demonstrate an advanced ability to analyse the chosen films/literature and to relate its concerns and its modes of expression to its historical context;
• 6. demonstrate an advanced ability to interrelate texts and discourses specific to their own discipline with issues in the wider context of cultural and intellectual history;
• 7. demonstrate an advanced ability to understand and analyse relevant theoretical ideas, and to apply these ideas to filmic and/or literary texts;

ILO: Personal and key skills

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

• 8. through essay-writing, demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographic skills, an advanced capacity to construct a coherent, substantiated argument, and a capacity to write clear and correct prose;
• 9. through research for the dissertation, demonstrate advanced proficiency in information retrieval and analysis.

Syllabus plan

The Dissertation Handbook will be published in revised form each year, in the summer preceding your final year of study. This contains all of the relevant information for completion of the module, including deadlines for submission, useful contact names and tips on structuring and researching a dissertation. Responsibility for the selection and development of a topic of research is left to you, though you are invited to discuss it with one or more members of staff.

The completed Dissertation Proposal Form, signed by a member of staff, must be submitted to the departmental office by the specified deadline in term 1 of your final year. Allocation of an individual supervisor will be organised and confirmed in the first week of Term 2. Early in the term the supervisor will arrange a 30 minute group meeting. There is also a special Library talk geared to the needs of dissertation research, and other workshops introducing key skills of research, writing and time management. You should have a written plan of your dissertation ready for discussion at the first meeting. It is then your responsibility to arrange and attend further supervisions during the term, with a total allocation of 1 hour 30 minutes. Supervisors will read and comment on up to 2000 words of written drafts, to be submitted as a formative assessment.

Teaching consists of 1 x 1 hour lecture in term 1 and 11 x 1 hour lectures in term 2, that introduce key topics and include you in a debate about academic practice; 4 x 2 hour workshops, running fortnightly in term 2, that provide a foundation of essential skills, such as planning and referencing, as well as creating a forum for student-led discussion about the dissertation experience 1 x 30 minute group meeting to be arranged by the supervisor and 1 hour 30 minutes of further 1-2-1 supervision meetings, to be arranged by you.

Dissertations are regarded as examinable components and as such, feedback will not be available until after the exam board has met.

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)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

A bibliography of primary and secondary texts is to be developed, under direction from an academic supervisor, by the student. Since the module comprises mostly independent study, it is up to the student to seek out secondary or archival material in the course of their research. Supervisors will guide, and strongly encourage the research process, which may include online journals, audio-visual material, artefacts from Special Collections etc.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

The Exeter Learning Environment is an online resource which will accompany the module, offering students a forum to discuss their work and to access links to external sites that might help in their research. Electronic versions of all course materials will also be hosted at this location. The ELE site will include links to useful online resources, including support for academic writing and lists of key journals and websites compiled by the different research groups.

Indicative learning resources - Other resources

Students will be encouraged to draw upon the archival resources offered by the University's Special Collections and by The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum.

Key words search

Dissertation, independent research, extended project