Module MELA44430: Research Skills for Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Department: Modern Language and Cultures

MELA44430: Research Skills for Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Prerequisites

• None.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• To provide students with rigorous introduction to the essential research skills required in the first instance for the successful completion of an MA programme in medieval and renaissance studies and, in the second instance, for future research at doctoral and postdoctoral level in medieval and renaissance studies.

Content

• The module will consist of seminars on the following issues:
• Using online and physical resources for bibliographical research in medieval and renaissance studies (1 seminar)
• Completing research proposals in a format typically required by funding bodies (i.e. using the headings 'Aims and Objectives', 'Research Questions', 'Research Context' and 'Methodology') (1 seminar)
• Preparing and delivering conference papers, including speaking, body-language, eye-contact, the preparation and use of visual aids, and approaches to dealing with hostile post-paper questioning (1 seminar)
• Key skills and methods in medieval and renaissance studies (6 seminars), typically including: philology, palaeography, working with visual materials, working with archival materials, modern theoretical approaches to medieval and renaissance materials, and interdisciplinarity in medieval and renaissance studies.

Learning Outcomes

• On completion of the module, students will have acquired knowledge of the principal research methodologies used in medieval and renaissance studies, their individual modalities, advantages, challenges and limitations.

• Students will have acquired a range of skills specific to carrying out research in medieval and renaissance studies, especially how to select and justify an appropriate methodology. The six sessions on key skills and methods in medieval and renaissance studies focus on how knowledge is created in the discipline, departing from different types of ‘raw material’ (archives, manuscripts, visual materials, etc.)

• Students will have acquired broad research skills including the writing of research proposals and the design and delivery of conference presentations, as well as familiarity with more period-specific skills and methods, allowing them to select and justify the appropriate method for a project. The main learning outcomes are:
• Ability to demonstrate the written and verbal communication skills and scholarly apparatus appropriate to research in the field and to identify and critically evaluate the role of research methods for the chosen research topic.
• Ability to apply the skills of research project design to produce a written research proposal and an oral presentation that demonstrate an understanding of concepts, principles and theories, and research methodologies.
• Ability to reflect in writing on the advantages and disadvantages of particular research methodologies.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Three seminars teach broad research skills, six teach period-specific skills. However, all must be considered as leading to all three assessments, as knowledge of appropriate methodologies is vital to research proposals and conference presentations. The essay consists of discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of a particular methodology and of the challenges faced by those who adopt it, and/or of the historical development and future direction of the methodology.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

None

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University