PROGRAMME SPECIFICATION
Programme Specification
Programme title:
MA Language, Culture and History: Italian Studies
Final award (BSc, MA etc):
MA
(where stopping off points exist they should be
detailed here and defined later in the document)
Cohort(s) to which this programme
specification is applicable:
From 2005 entry
(e.g. from 2008 intake onwards)
Awarding institution/body:
University College London
Teaching institution:
University College London
Faculty:
Arts and Humanities
Parent Department:
Department of Italian, SELCS
(the department responsible for the administration of
the programme)
(if applicable)
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/italian
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/italian/pages/italstudies.html
Method of study:
The programme can be taken either full-time or part-time.
Departmental web page address:
Full-time/Part-time/Other
Criteria for admission to the
programme:
Normally, a UK Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate subject, awarded
with first or upper second-class Honours, or an overseas qualification
of an equivalent standard from a university or educational institution of
university rank is required. Where the US/Canadian marking scheme
is used, a minimum grade point average (GPA) of 3.3 is required.
Length of the programme:
(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)
One calendar year full-time, two calendar years part-time
Masters Level (Level 7)
N/A
(see Guidance notes)
Brief outline of the structure of the
programme
and
its
assessment
methods:
(see guidance notes)
Students must take one core course, plus three further taught
courses (assessed in general by coursework but with exceptions
depending upon the option chosen), and must submit an 12,000-word
dissertation.
Board of Examiners:
Name of Board of Examiners:
MA Language, Culture and History Board of Examiners
N/A
Professional body accreditation
(if applicable):
Date of next scheduled accreditation visit:
EDUCATIONAL AIMS OF THE PROGRAMME:
The programme (a) introduces students to a variety of disciplines (depending on the choices they make) within the
area of Italian Studies; (b) prepares them in the professional skills necessary for the pursuit of their chosen options;
and (c) encourages in them a vigorous and independent cast of mind within the areas of their study and expertise.
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 of:
A: Knowledge and understanding
Teaching/learning methods and strategies
Depending on the options selected …
1. Italian literary texts from a variety
different periods; their contextualization
(historical, philosophical and theological
as appropriate) and interpretation
(including questions of literary-aesthetics
and hermeneutical issues).
2. Periods of Italian history; topics in
modern Italian socio-political and cultural
history.
3. Aspects of modern linguistic theory.
Acquisition of both substance and skills is by way of oneor two-hour seminars on a regular basis during the
teaching terms. Students are required to attend all
classes and to study extensively on their own. Some
options require the preparation of non-assessed
coursework, and some require, as part of a programme
of skills acquisition, visits to research libraries (the British
Library, the Warburg Institute, the Wellcome Institute,
Institute of Historical Research and Senate House).
In relation to 5, students are encouraged to attend such
skills training courses as are from time to time available
in the Graduate School and in the Institutes of the
University (especially the Institute of Historical Research
and the Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies).
4. Subject specific skills: sourcing
material, field-work techniques,
bibiiographical skills, linguistic skills (the
acquistion of Latin, for example, for
certain disciplines and areas of study).
Students following Renaissance options may be required
to follow a special course on Texts: Resources and
Research Techniques.
5. Study skills in general (library usage
and the location of sources; the
construction and development of
arguments; bibliographical skills).
Students are assessed by a variety of methods: long
essays, course work and a dissertation – the dissertation
component, in relation to which students are offered oneto-one supervision, being obligatory. There is an oral
examination in the form of presentation of the
dissertation which is not assessed.
B: Skills and other attributes
Intellectual (thinking) skills - able to:
Teaching/learning methods and strategies
The programme encourages students
Acquisition of all these things is encouraged in a manner
appropriate to the discipline in question in class and in
the course of supervisions relating to essay and
dissertation writing.
(a) to read texts in an informed but
independent manner and to develop
critical habits of mind.
(b) to develop a sense of the complexity
of historical situations and thus a properly
nuanced analysis of them.
(c) to be both precise and cautious in their
assessment of evidence.
(d) to question interpretations, however
authoritative and/or long-established, and
reassess evidence for themselves.
Assessment:
Assessment is by way both of coursework assessment,
but the development of skills is constantly under review
as part of the teaching process as a whole.
C: Skills and other attributes
Practical skills - able to:
Teaching/learning methods and strategies
This programme aims to help students
with the following practical skills:
These skills are encouraged in a manner appropriate to
the discipline in question by way of essay discussion and
preparation, seminar presentations and individual
supervisions conducted on the basis of plans and drafts
for essays and dissertations, as well as (in some
options) of non-assessed course work submitted for
consideration by the tutor. Other skills are acquired by
way of Graduate School and University Institute seminar
and training programmes.
(a) communicate effectively in writing
(b) improve their knowledge of the Italian
language
(c) use databases, digital resources and
word-processing programmes
(d) present as required (non-assessed)
seminar papers
(e) listen and discuss ideas introduced
during seminars
(f) practice research techniques in a
variety of specialised research libraries
and institutes
(g) maintain a constant rhythm of learning
and research
(h) choose their own long-essay and
dissertation topics
Assessment:
All of these skills enter into the candidates’ examination
performance, and are subject to assessment in this
context.
D: Skills and other attributes
Transferable skills - able to:
Teaching/learning methods and strategies:
The programme will encourage students
to:
(a) long-essays, course work, dissertation
(b) reading Italian texts for courses; completing
translation work for the required course
(c) submitting word-processed written work; using data
bases, consulting on-line library catalogues, using website material
(d) seminar presentations
(e) seminars, library visits, ‘hands-on’ instruction
(f) reading about and discussing fresh ideas and
practices
(g) essays, dissertation, seminar presentations, ‘handson’ instruction, library and gallery visits
(h) seminar papers
(i) reading, class discussion
(j) essays, dissertation, seminar discussion
(k) essays, dissertation, seminar discussion
(a) write good essays and dissertations
(b) improve their Italian
(c) use computer resources and
information technology
(d) present material orally
(e) listen and contribute in class
(f) understand and enter into the spirit of
fresh ideas an alternative patterns of
thought
(g) study a variety of written and digital
materials, in libraries and research
institutes of a kind that they will not have
used as undergraduates
(h) develop and present material orally
(i) reflect on their own ideas by becoming
acquainted with ideas and practices
foreign to them
(j) make original contributions to
scholarship,or possibly fresh syntheses of
existing scholarship, by following through
their ideas
(k) adopt a critical stance towards
accredited or traditional interpretations
Assessment:
(a)-(c), (f)-(k) long-essays and dissertation; (e) by way of
a dissertation presentations.
The following reference points were used in designing the programme:
 the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications:
(http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/Framework-Higher-Education-Qualifications-08.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 website. 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)
Head of Department of Italian
Name(s):
Date of Production:
July 2008
Date of Review:
May 2013
Date approved by Head of
Department:
Date approved by Chair of
Departmental Teaching
Committee:
Date approved by Faculty
Teaching Committee: