Unit name | Dissertation with fieldwork or community placement |
---|---|
Unit code | THRS30046 |
Credit points | 40 |
Level of study | H/6 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 4 (weeks 1-24) |
Unit director | Dr. Langer |
Open unit status | Not open |
Pre-requisites |
none |
Co-requisites |
none |
School/department | Department of Religion and Theology |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This variant of the dissertation gives students the opportunity to combine their academic learning with practical experience of field-work or community-based placement. The students are supported to make contact and establish relationships with their chosen area of field-work / placement, and to formulate research questions enabling them to engage with the field-work / placement in a scholarly context. The students will experience first hand the interaction of religion, society and academia in their chosen community or placement and are encouraged to reflect on this in both their portfolio and dissertation. This unit aims to help students plan ahead for a career after graduation and to enhance their employability by providing opportunities to network and to develop a range of practical and transferable skills, such as effective communication, presentation, negotiation and teamwork.
Students will have the opportunity to present their work to non-specialist audiences and to organize elements of an academic event.
Students are also introduced to higher level research and scholarly cutting edge material by fortnightly attendance at the department's research seminars.
Suggestions for locations in Bristol and beyond include:
Aims:
To familiarise students with some of the central debates in contemporary philosophy of religion
To develop students’ ability to offer their own assessment of the key philosophical issues to which these discussions give rise
To develop skills in philosophical reading, writing and argumentation
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
Teaching will involve a combination of seminars, workshops, group meetings and 1-2-1 supervision. Students will be expected to attend fortnightly seminars and regular workshops, engage with readings for their chosen topics and participate in a half day conference. Students will be supported in their work with tutor and peer feedback.
1 x 7,000 word dissertation project (70%) [ILOs 1-6]
1 x 3,000 word portfolio consisting of: (a) analysis of place, situation or event; (b) structured interview and (c) reflective account. (30%) [ILOs 4, 5, 6]
Formative: Participation in the organization and running of the annual
UG/MArts dissertation conference and presentation of the research at the
conference. [ILO 6]
Jan Blommaert, Ethnographic fieldwork: a beginner's guide, 2010. Clifford Geertz, (1973) "Thick Description" from Interpretations of Culture. James Spradley, (1979) The Ethnographic Interview. Roger Sanjek, ed. (1990) Fieldnotes: the Makings of Anthropology. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. Teater, Barbra. (2012) Social work in the community: making a difference, Bristol: Policy Press. Grimshaw, Anna (2001) The ethnographer’s eye: ways of seeing in modern anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.