BA French and Politics

Year 4

(Award available for year: Bachelor of Arts)

Learning outcomes

On completion of the year/programme students should have provided evidence of:
- being able to communicate fluently and appropriately, maintaining a high degree of grammatical accuracy, in the target language with native or other competent speakers;
- being able to demonstrate sophisticated receptive and productive language skills, and having had some practice in mediation language skills, in a variety of contexts;
- having consolidated and extended knowledge and understanding of complex structures and registers of the French language;
- being able to demonstrate an awareness and understanding of one or more cultures and societies, other than their own, that will normally have been significantly enhanced by a period of residence in France or a Francophone country;
- being able to demonstrate an ability critically to evaluate one or more aspects of the literatures, cultures, linguistic contexts, history, politics, social and economic structures of the societies of the country or countries of the target language;
- being able effectively to communicate information, arguments and analysis in a variety of media, including undertaking extended pieces of work or projects, making appropriate use of primary sources and showing an awareness of recent research and scholarship in the field.

On completion of the year/programme students should have provided evidence of being able to:
- understand and demonstrate a coherent knowledge of the main issues in the contemporary scholarship of the disciplines;
- understand and use the main conceptual ideas in the disciplines;
- analyse and evaluate political issues;
- appreciate the uncertainty of knowledge within the academic disciplines;
- evaluate and make appropriate use of the scholarly literature;
- write, present and support arguments in a scholarly way;
- initiate and undertake an extended project;
- in the dissertation students should be able to demonstrate conceptual grasp and an ability to make a sustained argument;
- show an understanding of scholarship and recent research in Sociology;
- have the knowledge and ability to deploy various techniques of analysis and enquiry within Sociology, and develop a conceptual understanding of Sociological debates and describe and comment on particular aspects of scholarship and recent research in Sociology;
- demonstrate proficiency in the application of Sociological concepts and techniques;
- demonstrate a familiarity with the concepts, information, practical competencies and techniques of Sociology;
- demonstrate an ability to evaluate the appropriateness of different approaches within the discipline of Sociology; and appreciate their strengths and weaknesses as learners;
- demonstrate an awareness of the boundaries between Sociology and other disciplines;
- be able to apply generic and sociological qualities to standard situations outside the context in which they were originally studied;
- be furnished with a historically informed and theoretically aware academic understanding of the dynamics of political phenomena and an in depth understanding of political processes, both at the domestic and international levels;
- have a broad and balanced knowledge and understanding of key political theories, concepts, institutions and processes;
- have an up to date knowledge of the main political theories that structure our political systems, and the wider social forces that shape political life;
- have the ability to critically analyse British politics and international issues.

The programme will:
- provide students with an opportunity to study the engagement between Sociology and Politics;
- allow the study of the two disciplines to the same depth as any single honours student but with less the breadth in each discipline;
- provide a basis for further advanced study in either of the disciplines or in a cognate interdisciplinary area.

Transferable (key) skills

Students will have had the opportunity to acquire, as defined in the modules specified for the programme:
- the transferable skills necessary for employment related to the area(s) studied, valuable for employment, e.g. be able to gather and critically evaluate information from a variety of paper, audio-visual and electronic sources, be able to use IT effectively both as a means of communication and as an aid to learning;
- skills necessary for the communication of information, ideas, problems and solutions in a variety of ways;
- skills necessary for the exercise of initiative, personal responsibility and decision making.

Students will have had the opportunity to, as defined in the modules specified for the programme:
- demonstrate transferable skills necessary for employment such as initiative, analysis of information, problem-solving, finding information;
- the skills of communication of concepts, facts and issues in a variety of ways;
- demonstrate an ability to apply a broad range of disciplinary aspects;
- draw on the scholarly material;
- evaluate the scholarly arguments;
- conduct independent work within the discipline;
- use critical ability.

Assessment

Achievement will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year/programme and will include:
- demonstrating a broad knowledge base;
- demonstrating the ability to apply a broad range of aspects of the discipline;
- the ability to evaluate and criticise received opinion;
- work that draws on a wide variety of material and is typically both evaluative and creative;
- evidence of an ability to conduct independent, in depth enquiry within the discipline.

Achievement will be assessed by a variety of methods in accordance with the learning outcomes of the modules specified for the year/programme and will include:
- dissertation;
- oral assessment;
- written reports and log books;
- assessment essays;
- examinations.

These will demonstrate the ability to
- use the scholarly literature;
- analyse and evaluate arguments;
- show self-discipline and self-direction;
- conduct independent work.