Module manager: Dr Rebecca Darley
Email: R.R.Darley@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
This module is not approved as a discovery module
You will write a dissertation of 8,000-10,000 words based on your own research, utilising primary and secondary sources according to a research method and programme designed in consultation with your supervisor. The dissertation can be written on a topic of your own choice, provided it can be supervised by a member of staff from the School of History. Normally, supervision will be undertaken by the tutor of one of the Special Subject modules available to International History and Politics Students.
On completion of this module, you should be able to:
1. Address a historical problem in depth, involving the use of contemporary sources and secondary literature
2. Design and research a sustained and independently-conceived piece of historical writing, according to a research method defined by the student
3. Gather and select suitable evidence to develop and sustain a historical argument in an extended piece of coursework,
4. Present your argument with clarity, fluency and coherence.
On successful completion of the module you will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
1. Locating and handling appropriate primary and secondary source material;
2. Interpretation and analysis of complex documentary-based material;
3. Engaging with the historiography of the topic and situating their research within relevant scholarship;
4. Researching a topic using methods appropriate to the historical discipline and subject matter
5. Undertaking research with intellectual integrity and, where appropriate, with due consideration of research ethics;
6. Presenting findings in an extended written report conforming to the academic standards of the historical discipline.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supervision | 4 | 0.5 | 2 |
| Practicals | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Lecture | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Private study hours | 393 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 7 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 400 | ||
- Four one-to-one meetings with your supervisor;
- Production of a project proposal towards the end of semester one;
- Review of a chapter outline / structure;
- Submission of draft material from the assignment.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Dissertation | 100 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
There is no reading list for this module
Last updated: 28/04/2025
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