This compulsory module delivered across two terms supports students in the development of their dissertation projects. Through a series of workshops with practical engagement with different methodologies, including work-in-situ analysis, ethnographic research and using archival material, students will develop their analytical skills and discover the range of methods of enquiry that they can bring to bear in advancing their dissertation project. Students will also be guided towards the preparation of a dissertation proposal that will be presented orally to a combined faculty and student session at the beginning of the 3rd semester. This presentation and the proposal are assessed with a credit value of 15 credits.
COURSE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
students will discover and acquire hand-on experience of a range of methods for knowledge production and presentation;
they will engage in close analysis of cultural artefacts, spaces and texts through a range of analytical paradigms and using different tools, including photography and video;
they will be guided in their exploration of different resources, including archival resources, and will be able to conceptualize the different forms that archival resources can take;
they will produce material and data, including observational and participatory material;
they will understand the implications and constraints of knowledge storage and presentation for the development of research.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the course a student will have had the opportunity to acquire:
knowledge and understanding of key disciplinary approaches to the study of the city;
knowledge and understanding of methods of data generation and consultation;
knowledge and understanding of the range of methods of presentation and
dissemination of research findings.
They will have developed the following transversal skills:
form critical approaches to, and evaluate, relevant research at the forefront of the field of urban history, with confidence and effectiveness;
plan, design and execute a piece of advanced level research or enquiry, including conception and development drawing on appropriate primary sources;
present a research proposal orally to a diverse audience with awareness of audience attention and ability to engage with feedback;
a capacity to identify relevant methodological approaches and critical paradigms and use them effectively;
advanced and adaptable written skills;
an ability to work collaboratively in a group format and to learn from peers.
How does the real living city of Paris become the imaginary ‘Paris’ – the symbolic world capital of art, sex, food, revolution? Is this a construction of the city which comes from Parisians themselves, or is this an idea of the city that comes from the outside? This module will investigate this problematic. More specifically, this module will take as its starting point the notion of the ‘exile’ or the ‘outsider’ in the city as theorized in part by Walter Benjamin, and as uncovered in literary and extra-literary forms of practice. The aim is to test the various hegemonic construction(s) of ‘Paris’ in space and time against the direct experience of those who have come to the city from the ‘outside’ (although the notion of ‘exile’ also carries with the notion of ‘internal exile’). It is anticipated that from this theoretical starting-point students will be able to trace and articulate the changing shape of urban experience in Paris from a specifically non-Parisian perspective, opening up debates about cultural geographies, the contested nature of public space, urban images and the phantasmagoria of 19th century urbanism, urban revolts and the ‘rights to the city’. These themes will be pursued in poetry, fiction, travel writing, painting and film.
This compulsory module delivered across two terms supports students in the development of their dissertation projects. Through a series of workshops with practical engagement with different methodologies, including work-in-situ analysis, ethnographic research and using archival material, students will develop their analytical skills and discover the range of methods of enquiry that they can bring to bear in advancing their dissertation project. Students will also be guided towards the preparation of a dissertation proposal that will be presented orally to a combined faculty and student session at the beginning of the 3rd semester. This presentation and the proposal are assessed with a credit value of 15 credits.
COURSE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
students will discover and acquire hand-on experience of a range of methods for knowledge production and presentation;
they will engage in close analysis of cultural artefacts, spaces and texts through a range of analytical paradigms and using different tools, including photography and video;
they will be guided in their exploration of different resources, including archival resources, and will be able to conceptualize the different forms that archival resources can take;
they will produce material and data, including observational and participatory material;
they will understand the implications and constraints of knowledge storage and presentation for the development of research.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
At the end of the course a student will have had the opportunity to acquire:
knowledge and understanding of key disciplinary approaches to the study of the city;
knowledge and understanding of methods of data generation and consultation;
knowledge and understanding of the range of methods of presentation and
dissemination of research findings.
They will have developed the following transversal skills:
form critical approaches to, and evaluate, relevant research at the forefront of the field of urban history, with confidence and effectiveness;
plan, design and execute a piece of advanced level research or enquiry, including conception and development drawing on appropriate primary sources;
present a research proposal orally to a diverse audience with awareness of audience attention and ability to engage with feedback;
a capacity to identify relevant methodological approaches and critical paradigms and use them effectively;
advanced and adaptable written skills;
an ability to work collaboratively in a group format and to learn from peers.