Course content

The overall purpose of this course is to enable the students in creating a project plan for their final master's thesis in history. The course implies that the students have established contact with a supervisor, and that they have begun working independently with relevant literature in consultation with their supervisor. This will form the basis for developing the topic and the research questions they will examine through their thesis work. Students will also learn from experience how to present their research choices in relation to methods, sources and progress plans. The teaching will take into account the scholarly variety within history in terms of emphasizing the different elements in the project description. Further, to some extent teaching will be adjusted to individual requirements.

Learning outcome

A candidate who passes this course is expected to have the following learning outcome according to the course curriculum, defined as knowledge and skills:

Knowledge

After completing the course the candidate

• has good overview of the literature within the topic of the thesis
• has good knowledge of what characterizes a realistic research project within history

Skills

The candidate

• will be able to delimit a feasible research project in history in terms of theme and period
• will have good skills in finding relevant literature
• will be skilled in planning an independent research project
• will have experience with presenting her project plans orally as well as in written form

Learning methods and activities

The course requires students to be active in seminars organized to facilitate learning of how to write a Master's degree level project plan. Students will be supervised in groups or individually in the different stages of designing their project. Students will also consult with their supervisor during the course. The seminars will take place at the beginning of the semester, followed by individual or groupwise supervision. Further information about the syllabus for this course will be given by the start of the semester. Please contact the responsible teacher for questions about the course.

Specific conditions

Recommended previous knowledge

We recomend that students complete HIST3105 before or during the same semester as HIST3125.

Required previous knowledge

Requires admission to the master's programme in History