Dissertation

Language

French

Prerequisites

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The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Main themes

The masters dissertation, irrespective of the subject, allows a student to :
- carry out a critical analysis and summarise a given scientific topic,
- put a specific issue/statement in context drawing on existing information,
- present the results of the dissertation by justifying the methodological choices, explaining the hypotheses and scientifically stating the results obtained.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

The dissertation must demonstrate the author's ability to describe correctly the results of a personal, objective and methodical work. The length of the dissertation is not a criteria in evaluating its quality. Similar to the other forms of learning, the dissertation is an essential component of the programme to which it belongs. It consists of research work which students should consider as a first step in research in their particular field. The dissertation is a research work : " specific, as regards the other teaching activities ; " methodical, the underlying methodology has already been acquired in the bachelor and masters programme ; " integrated in the programme and limited to the scope of the subject. Guidelines regarding the dissertation can be found on http://www.uclouvain.be61093.html.

Content

The dissertation has a fundamental objective: to enable the student to demonstrate that he or she has assimilated the principles of the historian's method, by applying them to a subject defined in agreement with the promoter, taking into account the deadline by which the dissertation must be completed. The student will go through the stages of a scientific research in history, i.e. the problematic, the heuristics, the criticism, the interpretation and the communication of the results of the research. The work will be an original contribution to scientific knowledge.

Evaluation methods

The promoter will give a detailed assessment, likely to guide the progression of the student's work.
Assessment methods: The assessment of the Master's thesis will be based on a grid drawn up in accordance with the rules of docimology.
The assessment, made by the promoter, the first reader and a second reader (appointed by the Master's jury when the thesis is submitted), will cover :

• The ability to correctly define the object of the research and to pose a problem, particularly the quality of the introduction to the work
• The appropriateness of the heuristics used: priority will be given to the relevance and coherence of the choice of sources rather than to exhaustiveness
• Application of the rules of criticism to the sources and works used
• Quality of interpretation of data, including a sense of nuance, and of synthesis, in particular the quality of the overall conclusion of the work
• Correctness and clarity of written expression in the communication of research results, including the precision of the critical apparatus and the formal presentation of documents and appendices.

The dissertation will be the subject of an oral defense, giving the student the opportunity to briefly present the main thrusts of his or her research, and promoters and readers the chance to submit their reactions and questions to the recipient. The oral defense, lasting twenty minutes (presentation and questions), will be taken into account in the final assessment.

Other information

The thesis promoter is freely chosen by the student from among the definitive academic or scientific staff of the History Department. The promoter or the student, in consultation with his or her promoter, may suggest a co-promoter, holding a doctorate, inside or outside the History Department. The body of the dissertation, excluding bibliography, illustrations and appendices, should be between 80 and 150 pages long (2000 characters per page), unless otherwise justified. At the end of the first year of the Master's program, a report (heuristic and methodological chapter of the dissertation) will be submitted to the promoter, no later than the opening date of the June or September semester. When the dissertation is submitted (in four copies), it must be accompanied by a summary of no more than 20 lines (hard copy and electronic format), describing the problem, the sources used and the main results obtained.

Faculty or entity

> EHAC