Course Details in 2024/25 Session

Module Title	LH Philosophical Project
School	Phil, Theology and Religion
Department	Philosophy
Module Code	08 27860
Module Lead	Darragh Byrne and Michael Rush
Level	Honours Level
Credits	40
Semester	Full Term
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-1 hours Seminar-1 hours Project supervision-43 hours Guided independent study-355 hours Total: 400 hours
Exclusions
Description	In this module, students research and write a 10,000 word dissertation on a topic of their own choice, identifying issues which their work will aim to resolve, identifying, reading and analysing appropriate literature, and evaluating relevant arguments contained therein. They construct their own arguments and positions, and present both the exegetical and evaluative material in clear, concise English. Although the module is Level H, introductory support is offered in the summer term of Stage 2: during his period students attend (i) a lecture aimed to help them to choose a topic and to begin work on it; (ii) a workshop in which they discuss problems and undertake exercises designed to help to get started. Stage 2 students who are on a Study Abroad year and Joint Honours students with unusually heavy exam loads are permitted not to attend these. An additional lecture intended for these students (and for any others who need refreshing) is provided at the beginning of Stage 3. At the beginning of Stage 3, students choose between two pathways: Traditional Pathway: By the end of Week 2, students email the module convenor(s) details of their preferred topic. They are assigned supervisors, and over the following weeks following a small amount of advice from supervisors, they write and submit two formative assessments, (i) a research proposal, defining a topic that is finer-grained than that of the group; and (ii) an annotated bibliography (the latter of which gives very brief summaries of around four key pieces of literature they propose to use). The word limit for each of these is 500. During the remainder of the year they have several meetings with supervisors – up to 180 minutes in total - and receive written comments on up to 6000 words of work. Group Pathway: Students choose one from a list of medium-grained topics on which members of academic staff propose to convene around four group seminars in Semester 1, and are assigned the group convener as supervisor. They participate in these seminars, and write and two submit two formative assessments; (i) a research proposal defining a topic that is finer-grained than that of the group; and (ii) an annotated bibliography (which gives very brief summaries of around four key pieces of literature they propose to use) . These are submitted later in the semester than on the Traditional Pathway. During the latter part of Semester 1, and through Semester 2 they have four or five meetings with supervisors (up to 180 minutes in total) and receive written comments on up to 6000 words of work.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: select a topic suitable for philosophical investigation; identify suitable texts for analysis and criticism, against the background of which they can advance their own arguments; for this module it is expected that these include some more challenging readings than would suffice for the 20 credit dissertation demonstrate an advanced ability to interpret philosophical arguments relevant to the topic; present good philosophical arguments of their own, supporting their conclusions about the topic of their research; present this material well in a very substantial piece of philosophical writing, in a style and format appropriate to academic philosophical writing.
Assessment	27860-01 : 10000 word Philosophical Project : Coursework (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment 10,000 word essay (100%) Method of Reassessment 10,000 word essay (100%)
Other
Reading List