Department of History
Undergraduate Handbook for Part-time Degree Students
2012-2013
Please note that some information contained in this Handbook may not be relevant to your degree. If in doubt, please contact either Mrs Jean Noonan (room H321) or Professor Chris Read (room H323)
DATES OF TERMS
2011/2012
Autumn TermMonday 3rd October 2011 - Saturday 10th December 2011
Spring TermMonday 9th January 2012 - Saturday 17th March 2012
Summer TermMonday 23rd April 2012 - Saturday 30th June 2012
2012/2013
Autumn TermMonday 1st October 2012 - Saturday 8th December 2012
Spring TermMonday 7th January 2013 - Saturday 16th March 2013
Summer TermMonday 22nd April 2013 - Saturday 29th June 2013
2013/2014
Autumn TermMonday 30thSeptember 2013 - Saturday 7th December 2013
Spring TermMonday 6th January 2014 - Saturday 15th March 2014
Summer TermMonday 23rd April 2014 - Saturday 28th June 2014
2014/2015
Autumn Term Monday 29 September 2014 – Saturday 6 December 2014
Spring Term Monday 5 January 2015 – Saturday 14 March 2015
Summer Term Monday 20 April 2015 – Saturday 27 June 2015
2015/2016
Autumn TermMonday 5 October 2015 – Saturday 12th December 2015
Spring TermMonday 11 January 2016 – Saturday 19th March 2016
Summer TermMonday 25 April 2016 – Saturday 2nd July 2016
2016/2017
Autumn TermMonday 3 October 2016 – Saturday 10th December 2016
Spring TermMonday 9 January 2017 – Saturday 18th March 2017
Summer TermMonday 24 April 2017 – Saturday 1st July 2017
THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT
PART TIME STUDENT HANDBOOK
Note from the Head of Department
We hope that the information provided here will be useful to you all. It is drawn from the full-time student handbooks, but we have filleted out what we think will not be relevant for you.
Most of the Department’s regulations as regards full time students also apply to you. Probably the most important difference is that your Level One modules take place over two rather than one year.
We would be most grateful for your feedback about the contents of the handbook – please channel any comments and suggestions for improvements through the SSLC, or drop in on me in person.
The History Departmental Secretary, Mrs Jean Noonan, (H321), and the History Undergraduate Secretary, Miss Paula Keeble (H342) are always ready to help and will support the care and attention you already receive from the Part-Time Degrees Office. We have also aDepartmental administrator, Mr Robert Horton(H319), who is also available to help sort out any difficulties. The part-time degrees academic co-ordinator is Professor Chris Read (H323) who will answer any academic queries you may haveand will also be your personal tutor. I will always be happy myself to deal with problems.
If you feel there are points you would like to discuss with me about any aspect of the Department’s offerings, please do not hesitate to make an appointment to see me with Jean or Paula.
And good luck with your studies!
Maria Luddy
Head of Department, History
Room H304, Humanities
Email:
Contents
- Communications5
- Staff Student Liaison Committee (SSLC)5
- The Library6
- Seminars, Essays, Tutorials and Lectures8
- How to make the most out of assignment feedback10
- Learning Outcomes11
- Research and Reading Weeks12
- Plagiarism12
- Names and Meaning13
- Submission of Essays14
- Questionnaires and Student Feedback14
- Examinations and Assessment15
- Sample Essay Cover Sheet20
- Student Sickness and Medical Certificates21
APPENDIX 1: Essay Writing Checklist22
APPENDIX 2: Department of History Undergraduate Style Guide24
APPENDIX 3: Research Interests of Current Staff33APPENDIX 4: Regulations Governing Examination and Assessment for 36
Part-time Degree Students
1.Communications
The atmosphere in the department is friendly and informal and it is normally easy to see individual members of staff. All staff post ‘office hours’ on the doors of their rooms when they will be available, and you can always set up appointments at other times by e-mailing them. (It may take 10 days or so at the start of term for office hours to be finalised for the year—if in doubt, email the tutor to ask when it is convenient to meet).
Undergraduate students have pigeonholes which are typically used for notes from tutors and any mail addressed to you in the department will be placed there. These pigeonholes are located in the foyer outside room H305.
Academic members of staff have clear plastic pigeonholes located outside their offices where you will be able to leave notes and short essays. Part-time seminar tutors have folders located with the student pigeonholes where again notes and short essays can be left.
The History notice board is located in the foyer outside Room H305. Many important notices will be placed here, and you should get into the habit of checking the notice board regularly. Course tutors and personal tutors will also use the doors of their own offices to post notices of interest to their own students.
2. Staff Student Liaison Committees (SSLC)
These Committees consist of both staff and students. They are an important means of representing your views and consulting you about any changes to existing arrangements proposed by departmental committees and the Staff Meeting. Representations from the SSLCs have had a significant influence on recent changes in the syllabus and other departmental practices.
Meetings are held up to twice a term. Anyone who wishes to raise an issue concerning a particular module, a degree programme or any other departmental issue should raise it with one of their SSLC representatives.
History and Politics and History and Sociology degrees have their own SSLCs convened by their directors. French and History students should, in the first instance, bring any issues concerning either French modules or the organisation of the degree as a whole to their student representatives on the French SSLC.
The Centre for Lifelong Learning has its own SSLC for part-time and 2+2 degrees, including Historical Studies. Any Historical Studies students wishing to join this SSLC would be very welcome and should contact Sally Blakeman () to receive details of future meetings. If possible each year a member of this SSLC is nominated as a representative to the History SSLC and ensures that issues raised by part-time undergraduates are raised where appropriate and news from the History SSLC is reported back to the Part-time and 2+2 Degrees SSLC.
There is a separate notice board in the History corridor for SSLC matters where agendas and minutes of meetings will be posted. Student representatives are invited to attend and report at least once per term at the departmental Teaching & Learning Committee (TALCOM) and/or the Departmental Council Meeting, on items arising from the SSLC.
The SSLCs also appoint student members of the departmental Teaching and Learning Committee where they join staff in detailed discussion of policy issues, reporting to both the SSLC and the Council Meeting. Student feedback on particular modules is solicited through confidential questionnaires both at the end of the first term (so that it can affect the running of modules for the remainder of the year) and at the end of each year. Staff take matters raised through this medium very seriously.
3. The Library
Library website:
THE LIBRARY - A SURVIVAL GUIDE
The Library is your most important academic resource. We try to make it easy to use, but if you devote some time early in the term to learning how to find books, periodicals, dictionaries etc and how to use the online resources, you’ll get the most out of your working time, and it will really pay dividends.
Library website: Contains information on library facilities, resources, opening hours, etc:
Get Started sessions will run during weeks 1 – 3. These tours will give you the opportunity to become familiar with the Library facilities, meet staff and find out about resources for your course. Look out for sign-up sheets.
You can access bite-sized Get Started sessions online now at:
Your University card is needed to enter the Library. You also need it to borrow or reserve books.
Study space: We provide different study environments in the building. Floors 1 and 2 offer networked PCs, group study areas and service points. The atmosphere is relaxed; you can talk and use your mobile, and bring in drinks and cold food. Floors 3 to 5 provide a more “traditional” library environment – books and quiet study areas, laptop use is restricted to marked areas, and no food or drink is allowed. There are also silent reading rooms in the extension on floor 2. Wireless net access runs throughout the building.
LibraryCatalogue: Contains the complete stock of the library, including electronic resources. It will tell you if a book you need is out on loan and will show the date it is due back. You can reserve books that are on loan through the catalogue (see below).
Loan periods: Most books are for standard loan, i.e. two weeks for undergraduates. Some copies of higher-demand texts are borrowable only for 3 days (Part-time students may borrow 3 Day Loan books for seven days). Both standard and 3 Day Loan copies are shelved together in the main stock. Some texts cannot be borrowed at all: these are either marked ‘Use in Library’ or ‘Reference’.
Returns: Books should be returned by the date due or fines are payable. You can renew books for another loan period provided no-one else has reserved them. Books can be renewed in person, by phone or on the Catalogue
Reservations: If a book you need is out on loan, you can reserve it by clicking on the ‘Request a Hold’link on the catalogue and entering your Warwick login name and password. The library will inform you by email of reserved books awaiting collection (we use your ‘@warwick.ac.uk’ address). Books are held for you for up to 7 days and can be collected from Short Loan.
Please note: books on loan to you can be reserved by other users. When standard (two-week) loan books are reserved they are recalled after a week - so you may find you are required to bring books back before the date on your receipt. The fine for late return of any reserved book is £1 per day. We will inform you by email of all books recalled from you.
My LibraryAccount: Log in on the catalogue with your Warwick username and password to check the books on loan to you, renew them, check the progress of your reservations, pay fines online and look at your reading history.
Short Loan Collection: Short Loan is designed to make high-demand texts available to as many people as possible in a short time. You can borrow 2 books from the collection for up to 24 hours, or over a weekend if taken out on a Friday. Books must be returned by 11am on the due day or fines of £1 per hour or part thereof are charged. You can renew Short Loan books if they haven’t been reserved by another borrower
Short LoanReservations: You can reserve any two Short Loan books for a specific day (or weekend) up to 7 days in advance by clicking the ‘Book Short Loan Copy’ link on the catalogue.
Photocopies of selected periodical articles from reading lists are available for a Short Loan period. Please ask at the first floor Help Desk.
E-resources: databases, electronic journals, e-books, etc., are in the catalogue. E-resources for history are also accessible from the library’s pages for History:
You will need your Warwick username and password to login to electronic resources.
Course Extracts: Many modules now provide digitised core texts or online articles. Links to these may be on module web pages. You can also access them from the library web pages:
Learning Grid is astudy centre in University House. It’s open 24/7 and offers copies of highly-used textbooks for Reference use only (i.e. they cannot be borrowed), PCs, wireless network access, video editing and training facilities, and a variety of study environments. Staff and student assistance with LG facilities is available into the late evening.
Help: If you have any questions or problems with library use, please ask at the Help Desk on Floor 1 (weekdays, 9am - 7.30pm).
If you need help finding material for your study, please contact Lynn Wright
.
If you have any questions or problems with library use, please ask at the Enquiry Desk on Floor 1 (weekdays, 9am - 7.30pm).
4. Seminars, Essays, Tutorials and Lectures
Apart from your personal tutor, your main source of help will be your seminar tutors in particular modules. The majority of seminars meet weekly (except weeks 6 and 16, which are Reading Weeks) but the occasional day-time seminar meets for 1.5 hours fortnightly. The seminars are your most important regular commitment. They are compulsory (see below for details). If you have to miss a seminar for any reason always leave a note for your seminar tutor or e-mail him or her explaining your absence—if at all possible, in advance.
Participation in seminars is central to the process of learning. Seminar participation allows you to test out your ideas about a subject together with a tutor and other students, and, in the process, develop oral communication and group-work skills which are likely to be as important as your writing skills in whatever you find yourself doing when you have finished at Warwick. Potential employers are usually just as interested in what your tutors have to say about your participation in seminars as they are in the marks you get for essays and exams, which require a distinctive set of skills. (See Appendix 1.)
There are three golden rules for making the best use of seminars:
One - come prepared. Manage your time so that you have always done the required reading. Unless you read for seminars you will not be able to participate effectively, or even to understand properly what is being discussed by others.
Two - participate. You should always come to a seminar with something to say. But don’t feel that you have to be certain before you speak. Seminars are about exchanging ideas and testing out your understanding. Asking questions and articulating your own difficulties in understanding things will help both you and other students, who may well share the same difficulties.
Three - don’t try to dominate. Participation doesn’t mean talking all the time! Seminars are about the exchange of ideas, and it is just as important to learn to listen to what others are saying and to respond to their ideas as it is to present your own views. The skills you should be aiming to develop in seminars are group-working skills - not how to push yourself forward, but how to act as a valuable member of a team.
In a word - take some responsibility on yourself for the success of the seminar as a group. If you are in any doubt about your performance in seminars, please ask the module tutor for advice.
Short essaydeadlines will differ from module to module. Make sure that you understand the dates on which essays are due, and plan your work well ahead in order to avoid a last minute rush. If you are in danger of missing an essay deadline always speak to your tutor about the problem in advance. First-year students are often anxious about what exactly is required of them in essay-writing. Some guidelines are provided in the Essay-Writing Check List in Appendix One. You should also make use of the departmental Undergraduate Style Guide (Appendix Two).
After they have marked your essays seminar tutors will set up short individual feedback meetings with students to discuss their feedback. These feedback tutorials are one of the most valuable aspects of the teaching, giving you an opportunity to clarify with the tutor anything that you find confusing and to discuss your performance in seminars and your progress in the module. If handed in on time, coursework is normally returned within 2-3 weeks, and often earlier. Please note that University policy is four weeks.
Lectures will play a central role in your preparation for seminars. They are never a substitute for reading, but they will give you a broad framework within which to understand the main themes of the module and the particular material you are reading. Listening to a lecture is not a passive activity: you will need to give serious attention to developing your skills in note-taking if you are to get the most out of the lectures.
Attendance at seminars (and language classes where relevant) and the writing of essays is compulsory. Your attention is drawn to the University's Regulation 13.1, (University of Warwick Calendar, Section 2; online at
- Regulations Governing Attendance at Classes, Submission of Coursework and Progress with Research).
A student who fails to attend prescribed classes or to complete prescribed course work may be required to submit additional assessed work, or to sit an additional written examination, or, in extreme cases, to withdraw from his or her course of study altogether. Most students enjoy their work and we seldom have to invoke these sanctions: we will do so, however, when necessary. The Staff Meeting considers progress reports on all students throughout the year. Any student in danger of being required to produce extra work will first be warned of this in writing (including email) by the Senior Tutor and given an opportunity to mend their ways. If medical (including psychological) problems lead to problems with your attendance and/or work, it is essential that you provide the Undergraduate Secretary with a written note from a professional verifying your condition. Legitimate, documented problems of this sort are not addressed by the department through invocation of Regulation 13.1.