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. Lomi |
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 are also introduced to higher level research and scholarly cutting edge material by fortnightly attendance at the department's research seminars and through attendance at the international post-graduate yearly conference with an opportunity to present a paper on their dissertation work to postgraduates and established scholars'
Suggestions for locations in Bristol and beyond include:
On successful completion of this unit students will be able to:
1 x 1.5 hour seminar weekly
10 x 1 hour workshops
3 x 1 hour small group discussion
1 x full-day Writing Retreat
1 x 8,000 word dissertation project [ILOs 1-6]
1 x 4,000 word portfolio consisting of: (a) description of place, situation or event; (b) structured interview and (c) reflective account. [ILOs 4, 5, 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