BA Philosophy and Politics

Year 3

(Award available for year: Bachelor of Arts)

Learning outcomes

On completion of the year/programme students should have provided evidence of being able to:
a) Engage in independent philosophical analysis and construction of arguments;
b) Demonstrate a developed understanding of and critical engagement with a broad range of concepts, theories, arguments, topics/writers in contemporary theory and/or the history of philosophy;
c) Demonstrate the ability to specialise and so attain a more advanced understanding of, and critical engagement with, a narrower range of concepts, theories, arguments, topics or writers;
d) Engage in informed reflection on their own lives and place in the world;
e) Identify and reflect on the presuppositions of specific disciplines and practices, such as art, politics, the physical, life and social sciences, as part of more focused study;
f) Demonstrate in-depth grasp of specialist aspects of political systems/processes and/or specialist topics in political theory;
g) Use theories and concepts to critically appraise specialist aspects of political systems/processes or key conceptual debates within political analysis (or cognate disciplines where appropriate);
h) Present structured and well-researched evaluation of specialist debates within the discipline of political analysis;
i) Generate and support their own interpretations of specialists within political analysis and cognate disciplines where appropriate;
j) Develop and complete an extended research project which analyses a particular area of Politics or Philosophy and demonstrates the ability to apply the requisite subject-specific skills.

Transferable (key) skills

Students will have had the opportunity to acquire, as defined in the modules specified for the programme:
> Qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment (Communication both written and verbal, Problem solving, Teamwork, Ability to assess arguments, Ability to construct and defend their own view, Ability to work independently and to deadlines, and Use of IT);
> Skills necessary for the exercising of personal responsibility (Learning to Learn, Self-Management, Awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses, Strategies to improve their skills).

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:
1. Demonstrating an advanced ability to apply the skills of argument analysis and philosophical methodology to their own philosophical view and that of others;
2. Demonstrating a developed understanding of, and critical engagement with, a range of concepts, theories, arguments, topics/writers in contemporary philosophical theory and/or the history of philosophy;
3. Demonstrating the ability to specialise and so attain a more advanced understanding of, and critical engagement with, a focused range of concepts, theories, arguments, topics or writers in philosophy;
4. Demonstrating the ability to reflect upon the implications of philosophy for their own lives and the world around them;
5. Demonstrating the ability for in-depth, independent research in Philosophy or Politics;
6. Demonstrating the ability to analyse and evaluate the scholarly literature on political systems/ processes/ theories/methodologies to produce independent work.