Prospectus

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Academic Skills II: The Academic Research Paper

Course
2022-2023

Admission requirements

Same as admission requirements for the BA Art History/Arts, Media and Society.

Description

The course is a first step towards conducting independent art historical research and acquiring the skill of communicating research outcomes. Students explore a research topic assigned to them by the lecturer, which they supplement with new relevant sources found in the literature. The course aims at acquiring academic skills, in both oral and written presentation of research results. All relevant steps in scholarly research are included: searching for literature, managing references, writing a literature review (Status Quaestionis), formulating a research question and sub-questions, organizing relevant resources, presenting in the form of an oral report and writing of an academic text, including footnotes and references to literature according to the Chicago Manual of Style.
Two seminar sessions will be organised by the Expertise Centre for Academic Skills.

Course Objectives

  • Students acquire practical knowledge of conducting art historical research, writing and presenting, as required for studying works of art, architecture and design on an academic level.

  • Students learn to present a critical reading of an art historical case study assigned to them by the lecturer.

  • Students learn to find the primary sources and secondary literature relevant for their case-study and learn to process the information to answer the research question. Students learn to recognise the types of argumentation in speeches and texts.

  • In response to instructions from the lecturer students learn to formulate a research question with regard to their case-study and learn to formulate the appropriate sub-questions.

  • Students learn to present a research plan and research question in a presentation for a group of peers for up to 10 minutes, with effective use of presentation techniques (PowerPoint).

  • Students learn to formulate critical questions in response to presentations and writings of their fellow students and learn to give constructive comments.

  • Students learn to support an argument in a 2500-word paper (with a 10% margin), excluding notes and literature.

  • Students learn to cite their sources and literature according to the academic standards of the Chicago Manual of Style.

Timetable

The timetables are available through My Timetable.

Mode of instruction

  • Seminar

  • Excursion

Important: attendance in seminar sessions and excursions is mandatory! In case of no-show, the tutor should be informed by e-mail about your absence and the reason prior to the actual seminar session. Moreover, this course cannot be successfully completed by students that were absent more than twice. Only in exceptional cases, the Examination Committee may consider the possibility of an additional or substitute assignment. See also the Course and Examination Regulations.

Assessment method

The final grade will be determined by means of weighing 3 components:

  • Writing assignment 1 (pass or fail): literature review (Status Quaestionis) + research question and bibliography.

  • Presentation (pass or fail).

  • Writing assignment 2 (100%): final paper of 2500 words (with a 10% margin), excluding notes and references.

  • As preparation for assignment 1 students compile a first draft of a bibliography. This counts as a practical exercise and is therefore compulsory.

  • As a preparation for class, students will read scientic articles about which they have to answer questions. This counts as a practical exercise too and is compulsory.

  • Active participation in the excursion and the seminars organised by the Expertise Centre for Academic Skills counts as a practical exercise (and is compulsory).
    Brightspace will be used for announcements, course materials, communication and turn in of writing assignments 1 and 2 (the final paper). The practical exercises with regard to the 1st version of the bibliography will also be turned in via Brightspace. Assignments turned in too late will automatically count as a rewrite. Practical exercises turned in too late will not be commented. Rewrites that are too late will not be graded and therefore count as a fail. Students are responsible for turning assignments in on time and need to take care they have access to the required systems.
    Compensation: All the (constituent) examinations must be at least 6.0 (= a pass), which automatically means that the weighted average of all constituent exams needs to be a 6.0 too.

Weighing

  • Writing assignment 1 (pass or fail): literature review (Status Quaestionis) + research question and bibliography.

  • Presentation (pass or fail).

  • Writing assignment 2 (100%): final paper of 2500 words (with a 10% margin), excluding notes and references.

Compensation: All the (constituent) examinations must be at least 6.0 (= a pass), which automatically means that the weighted average of all constituent exams needs to be a 6.0 too.

Resit

A rewrite can be done for constituent examinations which are failed. The deadline for the rewrite for assignment 1 will be after the mid-term exam week and will be announced on Blackboard. As far as applicable all other rewrites take place at the same time, after the final (constituent) examination.

Inspection and feedback

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will be organized.

Reading List

Will be announced on Brightspace.

Registration

Enrolment through My Studymap (Login | Universiteit Leiden) is mandatory.

General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch.

Contact

Remarks

  • One or two short excursions in the Netherlands are part of the program and compulsory.

  • The excursion requires good conditions.

  • Please note that the cost of the excursion(s) amounts to a total of EURO 100,- (subject to change)
    IMPORTANT NOTE: This course is part of the additional requirements regarding components that have to be completed for the first (positive) binding study advice. This means that the student should have passed this course in order to be able to continue in the programme. See the programme-specific part of the Course and Examination Regulations.

Passing this course is also required for admission to the following BA2 courses:

  • BA2 seminars

  • AMS on Site