Duration
Number of credits
Lecturer
Language(s) of instruction
French language
Organisation and examination
All year long
Schedule
Units courses prerequisite and corequisite
Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program
Learning unit contents
The completion of a Master's thesis (TFE) is an opportunity for students to apply the theoretical knowledge, research methods, critical skills, and writing abilities they have acquired throughout their studies. Students will work independently on an original topic, regularly seeking advice from their chosen supervisor and the members of their reading committee, in accordance with the terms agreed between them.
Learning outcomes of the learning unit
The completion of a Master's thesis (TFE) requires students to conduct personal, original, and rigorous research based on a substantial body of sources. Students will demonstrate that they have acquired the basic critical skills required of all historians. This undertaking should therefore in no way be a compilation of existing work, but should demonstrate that the student is capable of identifying a personal research question, examining the traces of the past, anchoring their questioning in recent historiography, and communicating the results of their research clearly and correctly.
Prerequisite knowledge and skills
Various courses, such as the seminar on methodology in preparation for the TFE and seminars on historical criticism (all periods), will help to reinforce the skills acquired through progressive research training during the bachelor's degree program, which are necessary for completing the TFE.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods
Student will meet regularly with his / her supervisor and, once the reading committee has been formed, with his / her readers to present the progress of their research. With their agreement, he / she may submit pages for review, according to terms to be freely agreed upon.
M2 students will also present the interim results of their research at a symposium for MA students to be held on March 9 and 10, 2026 (mandatory attendance for M2 students who have the TFE registered in their PAE).
Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)
Course materials and recommended or required readings
Platform(s) used for course materials:
- eCampus
Exam(s) in session
Any session
- In-person
oral exam
Written work / report
Other : Orale defense of the TFE.
Further information:
The TFE, a written, personal, and extensive piece of research, is evaluated by a reading committee composed of the supervisor and two (or three) readers. This committee is established and approved by the Master's jury. The committee evaluates the TFE using the evaluation grid established by the Master's jury (see Ecampus).
Oral defense
Students defend their Master's thesis (TFE) orally and publicly before their reading committee. The oral defense of the TFE will last a maximum of 40 minutes and will be organized as follows:
1/ The student will first speak for a maximum of 10 minutes to present:
- their research objectives
- their corpus of sources and methodology
- their main findings
Students may accompany their presentation with a slideshow, which must be sent to the chair of the session at least one day in advance.
2/ For 30 minutes, the supervisor and then the readers will take turns speaking to give their opinions on the work and ask questions. The student will have the opportunity to answer these questions: they will demonstrate their mastery of the subject by responding to their interlocutors in a reasoned, precise, and relevant manner.
3/ The student will then leave to allow the jury to deliberate. Grades will not be communicated before the official announcement of the results.
Any errata must be communicated no later than one week before the defense. They will be limited to correcting material errors: missing lines or pages, incorrect tables or graphs, etc.
Spelling
An excessive number of spelling and syntax errors-left to the discretion of the jury-will result in the loss of the degree or even postponement, depending on the extent of the problem.
Use of artificial intelligence
In order to ensure that students acquire the historical skills set out in the learning objectives, and in accordance with the institutional charter - which allows each degree programme to draw up a more restrictive framework than the default framework it defines - the only uses of a generative artificial intelligence (GAI) tool that are permitted, subject to the explicit consent of the supervisor, are:
- the use of GAI for the purposes of formal language improvement, i.e. exclusively for spelling and grammatical correction, excluding any formulation or re-formulation;
- the use of GAI for the translation of modern languages;
- the use of GAI for the translation of ancient languages - solely in cases where no academic translation exists, and excluding exercises (in class or at home) and examination papers consisting specifically of translating a text from Latin or Ancient Greek, for which any use of GAI is strictly prohibited;
- the use of AI for palaeographic transcription and the transcription of interviews related to research work, including the TFE.
Furthermore, such use must always be approved in advance by the TFE supervisor and must be accompanied by a critical methodological note on the relevance and procedures involved in this technical use of an AI tool.
In any written work, the student must therefore declare on their honour, in an introductory note:
- either that they have made no use of AI;
- or that they have used it, strictly within the limits specified above.
Work placement(s)
Organisational remarks and main changes to the course
Choice of supervisor
Students are invited to contact the supervisor of their choice by November of Block 1 of MA 120 at the latest.
Any doctor who is an academic or scientific member of the History department and who is guaranteed to remain so for at least another two years may be a supervisor. In any other case requiring specific expertise, a co-supervisor will be appointed.
The supervisor and student will decide on the research topic together.
The student will meet regularly with their supervisor and, once the reading committee has been formed, with their readers to present the progress of their research. With their agreement, the student may submit pages for review, according to terms to be freely agreed upon.
The title of the thesis and the name of the supervisor must be submitted by the student no later than April 15 of the year of Block 1 of MA 120 (to Ms. Bolsée, secretary of the History program).
Thesis format
As the quality of a thesis is not linked to its length, the number of pages should not exceed 100 pages (excluding appendices and bibliography).
The thesis should include the following elements, according to a plan discussed with the supervisor:
- a statement of the problem
- a critical presentation of the sources
- a review of the state of the art, including a critical bibliography
- a personal analysis
- a conclusion
- a complete and recent bibliography
- an abstract of no more than 200 words accompanied by three keywords
- UNIVERSITY OF LIEGE / Faculty of Philosophy and Letters / History
- Title of the thesis
- The statement: "Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master's degree in History by [First name LAST NAME] under the supervision of [thesis supervisor]"
- Academic year
The regulations of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters concerning final projects are available via this link: https://www.student.facphl.uliege.be/cms/c_3363380/fr/studentfacphl-reglements
The university and the faculty offer students a range of activities and support to help them succeed in their final year projects: https://www.student.facphl.uliege.be/cms/c_12674223/fr/studentfacphl-soutien-tfe.
Contacts
Chair of the Master's jury: Catherine Lanneau (C.Lanneau@uliege.be)
Secretary of the Master's jury: Philippe Raxhon (p.raxhon@uliege.be)
The supervisor of your choice (see ULiège directory).