Exercises in historical issues, including the final assignment: contemporary period

Duration

Partim : Cours : 15h Th, 30h Pr, 5d FT Tr. Pr.
Partim : Travail de fin de cycle : 15h Pr

Number of credits

Lecturer

Partim : Cours : Catherine Lanneau
Partim : Travail de fin de cycle : Catherine Lanneau

Coordinator

Catherine Lanneau

Language(s) of instruction

French language

Organisation and examination

All year long, with partial in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

Foreign students are expected to master the French language first, as several papers and results of bibliographical research are to be turned in during the academic year and at the end of it.

Deepening of the introduction to heuristics specific to the contemporary period (HIST0272) with a particular attention to the typology of sources in contemporary history, and particularly to archival sources.

Preparation for writing a first major work in history. 

Practical application of all the rules of historical criticism through personal research on a contemporary history theme that varies each year. This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to apply the theoretical knowledge, heuristic approach, critical skills and writing abilities acquired throughout their studies. The student will work autonomously on an original subject, taking advantage of the advice of the supervisors on a regular basis and in accordance with the established procedures. 

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

• See above. Students will be prepared to research on master's level.
• Carrying out the final work planned must lead the student to undertake a personal, original and thorough research based on a limited body of sources. The student will demonstrate that he has mastered the elementary competences in criticism requested from every historian. It will not be a mere compilation of existing works and secondary sources but will prove that the student is able to establish a status quaestionis, to élaborate research problems, to assemble and / or justify his/her body of sources allowing him/her to answer the research questioning, to challenge testimonies of the past and to deliver clearly and correctly the results of his/her research.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

The B1 course HIST0082 Practical Introduction to Research in History and the B2 course Contemporary Heuristics (HIST0272) are prerequisite.

A language course (B1 English / B2 Dutch - German) is also prerequisite, as reading of foreign language sources and works will be required.

In addition, students wishing to specialise in Contemporary History are required to have some knowledge of Dutch (ability to read a scientific article), either through secondary education or through the choice of one of the language courses offered in the Bachelor of History programme.

The subject matter of the courses Belgian History (HIST0029) and Contemporary History (HIST0031) is considered acquired.

An excellent command of oral and written French is required. It will be assessed throughout the year.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Theoretical introduction to the world of archives in Belgium;
Virtual discovery of the main Belgian archive centres;
Visits to one or more archives and meetings with archivists;Preparation for the writing of the research paper (elaboration of a problematic and a corpus of sources, collective reading of scientific works, scientific writing workshop, press discourse analysis workshop...);
Individual work and/or oral presentations, linked to the year's theme;
Writing of the final work.

In addition, a 3-day educational trip will be organised in Q2, financial and health conditions permitting. 

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course


Further information:

Face-to-face. The main part of the course focuses on personal research in archives and libraries.

Compulsory rehearsal sessions would also be organised (schedule to be specified).

Recommended or required readings

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus


Further information:

Syllabus: "Introduction au monde des archives en Belgique". The "Guide d'initiation bibliographique" (B2) continues of course to be used and is updated and expanded every year.

Assessment methods and criteria

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

oral exam

Written work / report


Further information:

10% of the course will be assessed on the progress made during the January session.

90% will be assessed on the major final paper (TFC). During the oral exam (end of June), the student will present his/her work to the teaching team (initial problem, corpus used, main results, future research perspectives, etc.). At the end of this presentation (5 minutes), he or she will hear the supervisors' remarks and answer the questions put to them.

  Criteria: the work must include at least the following elements

an introduction
a critical presentation of the body of sources studied
a statement of the question
a presentation of the research problem
a personal analysis
a conclusion
a complete and recent bibliography

Formally, it will have the following characteristics:

ca. 30 p. (including bibliography)
Times new roman 12
line spacing 1.5
margins 2.5 cm
the critical presentation should be particularly careful and the bibliographical references should be standardised (see proposals here: https://www.bibliohist.uliege.be/cms/c_7970165/fr/bibliohist-references-bibliographiques).
The text must be written in impeccable French, without spelling or grammatical errors.



The second session assessment will consist of testing the improvements made to the final work (new version of the work and oral interview with initial presentation of the changes made). 

In the case of a practical course, three unjustified absences, as well as failure to hand in any work requested, will result in refusal of the first session (Cf. article 61 §2 of the General Study and Examination Regulations: "students may also be declared inadmissible for assessment if they have not participated in one or more learning activities declared compulsory and inseparable from the EU in question. Students must be informed of the grounds for ineligibility and how they are to be applied by means of the EU teaching commitment and, where applicable, the relevant faculty regulations. The same applies to a student who has not submitted reports, personal work or any work required as part of the activity concerned within the time limits set (article 123, § 3) or in the prescribed form").

Use of AI

All academic written work must be a personal and original production. At the end of your work, you must ensure that it is not the product of any artificial intelligence software and declare any use of such a tool for language enhancement purposes (i.e. exclusively spelling and grammar correction; translation). You will be asked to demonstrate your mastery of your own writing in an oral assessment. Any incorrect or incomplete statements will be treated as fraud and punished accordingly.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

Contacts

Pr. Catherine LANNEAU
Département des Sciences historiques (A4)
1 b, quai Roosevelt, 4000 Liège
Tél. 04 366 56 08 
C.Lanneau@uliege.be

Assistant: Thomas BRIAMONT (tbriamont@uliege.be) et Sacha HABIBI (Sacha.Habibi@uliege.be)


Student monitor: Amanda Trembloy (amanda.trembloy@student.uliege.be)

Association of one or more MOOCs