PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
Programme title:
MA Medieval and Renaissance Studies
Final award (BSc, MA etc):
MA
(where stopping off points exist they should be
detailed here and defined later in the document)
UCAS code:
(where applicable)
Cohort(s) to which this programme
specification is applicable:
2012
(e.g. from 2015 intake onwards)
Awarding institution/body:
University College London
Teaching institution:
University College London
Faculty:
Social and Historical Sciences
Parent Department:
History
(the department responsible for the administration of
the programme)
Departmental web page address:
www.ucl.ac.uk/history
(if applicable)
Method of study:
Full-time/Part-time
Full-time/Part-time/Other
Criteria for admission to the
programme:
2.1 in relevant discipline
Length of the programme:
1 calendar year
(please note any periods spent away from UCL, such
as study abroad or placements in industry)
Level on Framework for Higher
Education Qualifications (FHEQ)
(see Guidance notes)
Relevant subject benchmark statement
(SBS)
Level 7 - Masters
N/A
(see Guidance notes)
Brief outline of the structure of the
programme
and
its
assessment
methods:
(see guidance notes)
Board of Examiners:
Professional body accreditation
(if applicable):
Students must take
(1) A medieval language (30 credits)
(2) Optional courses (90 credits)
(3) Write a dissertation (60 credits).
Name of Board of Examiners: MA Medieval and Renaissance
Studies
Date of next scheduled
accreditation visit:
EDUCATIONAL AIMS OF THE PROGRAMME:
The aims of the course are:
The programme will (a) introduce students to skills essential to or highly desirable for almost all fields of Medieval
and Renaissance Research; (b) give them practical training in those skills; and (c) introduce students aspects of the
Middle Ages and Renaissance at an intellectually demanding level.
PROGRAMME OUTCOMES:
The programme provides opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding,
qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas:
A: Knowledge and understanding
Knowledge and understanding of;
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
1. how to assess historical evidence
critically, synthesize historical data from
printed, manuscript and digital sources,
solve problems of conflicting sources and
conflicting interpretations, locate source
materials and interpretative studies, use
research resources (particularly research
library catalogues, archival inventories,
on-line catalogues, digital data bases and
other traditional and digital resources
relevant to the Middle Ages and
Renaissance)
Acquisition of 1 through seminars and classes. Several
courses will also entail practical instruction, e.g., visits to
rare books collections or manuscript repositories,
consultation of printed or digital catalogues in research
libraries, notably the British Library, the Warburg
Institute, the Wellcome Institute, Institute of Historical
Research and Senate House. Students will be required
to attend all classes, study extensively on their own and,
on the required course mentioned above and on several
of the optional courses, prepare non-assessed course
work regularly.
Acquisition of 2 through optional courses
2. subject specific skills, for instance,
manuscript transcription, textual
bibliography, the editing of texts,
familiarity with Medieval and Renaissance
languages
Acquisition of 3 through the optional courses
3. aspects of Medieval and Renaissance
literature, philosophy, learning, visual arts
and history.
Assessment:
Students will be assessed by a variety of methods:
‘unseen’ examinations, long essays, course work and a
dissertation. The last mentioned is a required method of
assessment.
B: Skills and other attributes
To help students;
1. to be precise, to be cautious in
their assessment of evidence,
and to understand through
practice what historical
documents can and cannot tell us
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
Acquisition of (a) and (b) is fostered in all courses
offered in the Programme, in that all courses will
introduce information that will need to be assessed
critically and will demonstrate how conflicting
interpretations arise from the same information.
2. to question interpretations,
however authoritative, and
reassess evidence for
themselves.
Assessment:
Through ‘unseen’ examinations, course work, longessays, dissertation. The latter is a required method of
assessment.
C: Skills and other attributes
Practical skills (able to);
1. Communicate effectively in
writing
2. Learn or improve their knowledge
of a Medieval or Renaissance
language
3. Use data bases, digital resources
and word-processing
programmes
4. Present (non-assessed) seminar
papers
5. Listen and discuss ideas
introduced during seminars
6. Practice research techniques in a
variety of specialised research
libraries and institutes
7. Maintain a constant rhythm of
learning and research
8. Choose their own long-essay and
dissertation topics
9. Adapt long-essays and
dissertation topics to the
information that they discover
while working on their longessays and dissertations.
10. Understand the structure and
genesis of medieval documents.
11. Learn to read and date Medieval
and Renaissance manuscripts.
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
Through:
 the writing of long-essays and dissertations
 weekly translation exercises

‘hands-on’ instruction
 regular seminar presentations
 seminar discussion
 visits to libraries and institutes
 the setting of clear deadlines for the
submission of written work
 individual discussion with students
Assessment:
 ‘Unseen’ examination;
 course work;
 dissertation.
The latter is a required method of assessment.
D: Skills and other attributes
Transferable skills (able to);
1. write good essays and
dissertations
2. improve their scholarly languages
3. use computer resources and
information technology
4. present material orally
5. listen and contribute in class
6. understand ideas that are very
different to conventional ones
7. study a variety of written and
digital materials, in libraries and
research institutes of a kind that
they will not have used as
undergraduates
8. present (non-assessed) material
orally
9. reflect on their own ideas by
becoming acquainted with ideas
and practices foreign to them
10. make original contributions to
Medieval and/or Renaissance
scholarship by following through
their ideas
11. assess evidence for themselves
and suspend belief in previous
interpretations.
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
 course work, dissertation
 reading texts in Medieval or Renaissance
languages for courses; completing translation
work for the required course
 submitting word-processed written work; using
data bases, consulting on-line library
catalogues, using web-site material
 seminar presentations
 seminars, library visits, ‘hands-on’ instruction
 reading about and discussing Medieval and/or
Renaissance ideas and practices

‘hands-on’ instruction, library or gallery visits
 reading, class discussion
 essays, dissertation, seminar discussion
Assessment:
‘Unseen’ examination, essays and dissertation
The following reference points were used in designing the programme:
 the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications:
(http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/qualifications-frameworks.pdf);
 the relevant Subject Benchmark Statements:
(http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements);
 the programme specifications for UCL degree programmes in relevant subjects (where applicable);
 UCL teaching and learning policies;
 staff research.
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the
learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes
full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided. More detailed information on the learning outcomes,
content and teaching, learning and assessment methods of each course unit/module can be found in the
departmental course handbook. The accuracy of the information contained in this document is reviewed annually
by UCL and may be checked by the Quality Assurance Agency.
Programme Organiser(s)
Prof David d’Avray
Name(s):
Date of Production:
2008
Date of Review:
14 October 2015
Date approved by Chair of
Departmental Teaching
Committee:
November 2015
Date approved by Faculty
Teaching Committee