2023-2024 / HIST0015-2

Exercises in historical issues, including an introduction to bibliography : Contemporary History 2

Course

Final assignment

Duration

Course : 15h Th, 30h Pr, 5d FT Tr. Pr.
Final assignment :

Number of credits

 Bachelor in history10 crédits 

Lecturer

Course : Catherine Lanneau
Final assignment : 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 (see the prerequisite course HIST0014) with particular attention to the typology of sources in contemporary history, and particularly to archival sources.
  • Preparation for the writing of a first major work in history (the end-of-cycle work = TFC) through a series of "workshop" sessions, with personal or group exercises.
  • Practical application of all the rules of historical criticism through personal research on a contemporary history theme that varies each year. This course is intended to provide students with the opportunity to apply the theoretical knowledge, heuristic approach, critical skills and writing skills 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.
  • Specific sessions allowing for a better dialogue between theory and practice through 1° meetings and discussions on common subjects with teachers and students in contemporary art, literature, political science or communication; 2° a continuation of the training initiated in Q1 in Theory and Practice of Sources (HIST0178) in the field of lexicometry, analysis of media sources or oral enquiry.

Course

SEE HIST0015-2

Final assignment

SEE HIST0015-2

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

  • See above. Students will be prepared to research on master's level and to the writing of their final Master thesis.
  • The making of a ECP 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

  • To have followed course HIST0014-1.
  • Working knowledge of French, both oral and written.
  • Reading capacity of English and Dutch.
  • The subject matter of the Belgian History (HIST0029) and Contemporary History (HIST0031) courses is taken for granted.

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...);

Specific sessions and rehearsals highlighting the interdisciplinary dimension and capitalising on the training in sources specific to the contemporary period received in Q1 (HIST0178). 

Individual assignments and/or oral presentations related to the year's theme;

Final writing of the TFC.

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

Face-to-face course


Additional information:

While the course sessions require the weekly (active) presence of the students, the main part of the course consists of personal research activities in the library and in the archive/documentation centre.

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

Recommended or required readings

Syllabus: "Introduction au monde des archives en Belgique".

The syllabus of the exercises course, level I = HIST0014-1 ("Guide d'initiation bibliographique") 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


Additional information:

According to article 40 §2 of the General Regulations on Studies and Examinations, "the student may [...] be declared inadmissible for the examination if he/she has not participated in one or more activities declared to be inseparable from the teaching unit concerned. [The same applies to a student who has not submitted, within the set time limit or in the prescribed form, the reports, personal work or any work required in the context of the activity concerned. In this sense, several unjustified absences from the course and/or work not handed in on time may lead to inadmissibility in the examination.


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


90% will be assessed on the final paper, due in mid-May. During the oral exam (end of June), the student will present his/her work to the teacher and his/her assistant (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 asked.

Criteria: the TFC will 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, the TFC 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 evaluation will consist of testing the improvements made to the final work of May (new version of the work).

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 - Fax 04 366 57 68
C.Lanneau@uliege.be 

Assistant: Thomas Briamont (tbriamont@uliege.be)

Association of one or more MOOCs