BA Arts and Humanities Yr1 Handbook

School of Arts
Department of Arts
BA Arts and Humanities
Year 1 - Student Handbook
2019-20
Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Term Dates and Deadlines ........................................................................................................................................... 4
Key Staff and Contact Information ............................................................................................................................... 5
BA Arts and Humanities Staff Contact Details ........................................................................................................... 5
Programme Structure .................................................................................................................................................... 6
Structure of the Degree Full-time ............................................................................................................................. 7
Structure of the Degree Part-Time .......................................................................................................................... 8
Structure of the Degree Decelerated ...................................................................................................................... 9
Starting your Course .................................................................................................................................................... 10
Timetable 2019/20 ....................................................................................................................................................... 14
Core Module Information – BAAH Year 1 ................................................................................................................ 15
ENHU008S4 Key Concepts in Cultural Analysis: The Production of the Human....................................... 15
ENHU003S4 Methods in Cultural Study: Crossing the Disciplines .............................................................. 23
School of Arts Module Descriptions .......................................................................................................................... 29
Coursework Submission, Presentation of Essays, Marking and Plagiarism ....................................................... 33
Plagiarism .................................................................................................................................................................. 38
Common Awards Scheme .......................................................................................................................................... 40
Marks, degree classification and grade-related criteria .......................................................................................... 41
Attendance Framework and eRegisters ................................................................................................................... 47
Personal tutors.............................................................................................................................................................. 48
Student Support/Student Services ............................................................................................................................ 49
Study Skills Support and Available Resources........................................................................................................ 51
Appendix A: Getting Started with Moodle ................................................................................................................ 53
Appendix B: Mitigating Circumstances Form ........................................................................................................... 56
Appendix C: Campus Map .......................................................................................................................................... 59
Published August 2019

This document is for reference only. Every effort was made to ensure that information was correct at time of publication.
Introduction
Welcome to the BA Arts and Humanities degree at the School of Arts, Birkbeck, University of London! This
booklet explains the structure and content of the First Year programme and provides information and
advice about the course as a whole. Please refer to this handbook throughout the year for weekly reading
lists, lecture and seminar details, frequently asked questions, and important deadlines. As well as useful
information, this handbook contains the reading lists and outlines for the Humanities core course Key
Concepts in Cultural Analysis: the Production of the Human, the Humanities Level 4 compulsory module
Methods in Cultural Study: Crossing the Disciplines and links to further information on School of Arts Level
4 BA options running in 2019-20.
We are delighted that you are studying with us at Birkbeck. This interdisciplinary BA is a new and exciting
opportunity to get to grips with concepts, ideas and histories pertinent to study in the Arts and the
Humanities. This degree is taught across the School of Arts, bringing together specialists from the
Departments of English, Theatre and Creative Writing, History of Art and Screen Media, Cultures and
Languages and Film, Media and Cultural Studies. The exciting range of our specialisms gives you the
freedom to combine focused study in one particular chosen area with broader contextual work that draws
on literary and visual analysis, cultural history, critical theory and social and political analysis.
Arts at Birkbeck
The School of Arts brings together cutting-edge research and teaching across a range of disciplines,
reflecting on a rich and exciting range of cultural forms, from literature to digital culture. Our facilities include
the award-winning Birkbeck Cinema. BA Arts and Humanities provides a unique opportunity to combine
wide-ranging interests with focused specialization. The breadth and focus of the degree is supported by a
palette of courses designed to make the most of your interests during your first year of study. With the
guidance of your tutors you will find Arts courses and build your own pathways across the School of Arts.
Humanities at Birkbeck
The flexibility offered by the Arts modules is supported by interdisciplinary modules in the Humanities,
starting with two Courses in your first year: ‘Key Concepts in Cultural Analysis: The Production of the
Human’ (the Core module), and ‘Methods in Cultural Study: Crossing the Disciplines’ (Humanities
compulsory module). Studying Humanities raises a series of critical questions, such as:
 Why have humans produced various forms of culture and modes of expression across history?
 Why does culture seem to be so important for human existence?
 What concepts and ideas underpin cultural forms at various historical and social moments?
 What tools do we need to interpret cultural artefacts and how do our tools affect our understanding?
 How can the history and context of a cultural artefact inform its meaning and subsequent
interpretation?
 What are the politics and ethics of cultural forms?
 How do places and spaces impact on our production of and our understanding of cultural forms?
In the first year your specific object of study is the human being. With the human as your object, you will
engage with the questions above through lectures, seminars, tutorials and discussions with fellow students.
We will help you to approach questions by:
 Providing you with critical approaches to the study of selected cultural artefacts, ranging from
literature to artworks to media, philosophical frameworks to a form such as the metropolis.
 Developing your knowledge and understanding of a broad range of cultural forms in relation to
history and other contexts.
 Helping you to develop your research skills so that you may engage in independent study and
analysis.
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BA Arts and Humanities Student Handbook 2019-20
During your degree, you will study a wide variety of forms, histories and practices and you will:
 come to an understanding of important ideas and concepts in the study of culture;

 understand them in the context of their production through considering their explication in particular
works;
 consider the ways in which concepts have shaped culture and knowledge;
 consider the transmission of ideas across cultures and historical periods, the development of
traditions of thought, as well as critiques of these ideas.
After the first year you select units in accordance with your developing interests. The general questions
raised above will be broached in relation to very specific examples and case studies in courses that you
select yourself. This changing palette of courses addresses cultural forms and themes as diverse as, for
example, Crowds and Power; Aliveness and the Arts; the metropolis, Enlightenment and its others, the
literature of empire and postcoloniality; gender, sexuality and modernity; photography, identity and history;
avant-garde visual culture and revolution; modernist culture and sexuality; Romantic writing and the
philosophy of the Self; queer theory; SF film and past prognoses of the future.
Studying Arts and Humanities equips students with a range of skills and types of knowledge, which can be
applied to careers in many industries, and to your personal and intellectual development. By the time you
have completed this programme, you should be able to:
 engage creatively and critically with a variety of cultural artefacts from a range of historical periods
 develop independent analyses and judgement of cultural forms and contexts
 apply the appropriate vocabularies and critical approaches to the study of a variety of cultural
artefacts
 apply the skills necessary for effective group and solo work
3
Term Dates and Deadlines
Term Dates
Autumn Term Spring Term Summer Term

Monday 30 September to Friday Monday 13 January to Friday 27 Monday 27 April to Friday
13 December 2019 March 2020 10 July 2020
Week 1 30-Sep-19 Week 1 14-Jan-20 Week 1 29-Apr-20
Week 2 8-Oct-19 Week 2 21-Jan-20 Week 2 6-May-20
Week 3 15-Oct-19 Week 3 28-Jan-20 Week 3 13-May-20
Week 4 22-Oct-19 Week 4 4-Feb-20 Week 4 20-May-20
Week 5 29-Oct-19 Week 5 11-Feb-20 Week 5 27-May-20
Week 6 5-Nov-19 Week 6 18-Feb-20 Week 6 3-Jun-20
Week 7 12-Nov-19 Week 7 25-Feb-20 Week 7 10-Jun-20
Week 8 19-Nov-19 Week 8 4-Mar-20 Week 8 17-Jun-20
Week 9 26-Nov-19 Week 9 11-Mar-20 Week 9 24-Jun-20
Week 10 3-Dec-19 Week 10 18-Mar-20 Week 10 1-Jul-20
Week 11 10-Dec-19 Week 11 25-Mar-20 Week 11 8-Jul-20
Birkbeck will close at 6pm on Birkbeck will close at 6pm on

8 and 25 May are Bank Holidays; if
Monday 23 December 2019, and Wednesday 8 April 2020, and
classes fall on these dates they will
normal services will resume from normal services will resume from
be rescheduled.
9am on Thursday 2 January 2020. 9am on Wednesday 15 April 2020.
Check for Library opening hours. Check for Library opening hours.
Please note: Week 6 each term is Reading Week – please note that some Departments in the School of Arts
may hold teaching during the reading week, for e.g. Film, Media and Cultural Studies Department.
See http://www.bbk.ac.uk/about-us/term-dates for full term dates and holiday closures.
Students are reminded that it is inadvisable to take holidays during term time.
Written exams are held in May/June and the exam timetable is usually published around late March.
Core/Compulsory Module Coursework Deadlines 2018/19

CORE: ENHU008S4 Key Concepts in Cultural Analysis: The Production of the Human
Submission 1: Friday 1st November 2019 at 2pm
Critical commentary (1500 words) worth 20%
Submission 2: Wednesday 15th January 2020 at 2pm
Assessed essay 1 (2000 words) worth 35%
Submission 3: Wednesday 27th May 2020 at 2pm
Assessed essay 2 (2,500 words) worth 45%
COMPULSORY: ENHU003S4 Methods in Cultural Study: Crossing the Disciplines

Submission 1: Wednesday 30th October 2019 at 2pm
Close Reading (5%)
Submission 2: Wednesday 4th December 2019 at 2pm
Field Report (20%)
Submission 3: Wednesday 15th January 2020 at 2pm
Visual Analysis (25%)
Submission 4: Wednesday 27th March 2020 at 2pm
Essay Plan (10%)
Submission 5: before Week 7, spring term (Monday 24th February 2020)
Online Course: ‘Avoiding plagiarism’
Submission 6: Wednesday 20th May 2020 at 2pm
Final Essay (35%)
4
Key Staff and Contact Information
Programme Director
Dr Mpalive Msiska
020 3073 8402
[email protected]
Programme Administrator
Esther Ranson
020 3073 8378
[email protected]
BA Arts and Humanities Staff Contact Details
Name Email Address Phone Number

Dr Heike Bauer [email protected] 0203 073 8386
Dr Stephen Clucas [email protected] 0203 073 8421
Dr Olivia Ferguson [email protected] 0203 073 8412
Dr Grace Halden [email protected] 0203 073 8479
Prof Esther Leslie [email protected] 0203 073 8401
Dr Mpalive Msiska [email protected] 0203 073 8402
Dr Sean O’Brien [email protected] 0203 073 8405
Dr Joanne Winning [email protected] 0203 073 8418
Prof. Sue Wiseman [email protected] 0203 073 8408
Dr Agnes Woolley [email protected] 0207 631 6180
School of Arts
Web Address Mailing Address

http://www.bbk.ac.uk/arts/
School of Arts
Follow us on Twitter Birkbeck, University of London
https://twitter.com/birkbeck_arts 43 Gordon Square
London WC1H 0PD
Connect with us on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/BirkbeckArts
Administrative Staff
Clare Thomas Debora Quattrocchi

Assistant School Manager Team Leader
Department of English, Theatre and Creative Department of English, Theatre and Creative
Writing Writing
020 7631 6134 020 3073 8382
[email protected] [email protected]
5
Programme Structure
How does the degree work?
 Your degree in Humanities is a University of London Honours degree taken over either three (full-
time), four (part-time) or six (part-time decelerated) years.
 The degree is made up of twelve modules.
 Six Humanities modules and six modules in disciplines from a selection of modules across the
School of Arts, depending on the specific needs of the programme and your choices.
 Your twelfth module is the Humanities Project, an independent research project in the Humanities.
 Modules that last for a full year have the value of 30 credits.
Structure of the Degree

Full-time students will complete the degree in three years. Part-time students will complete the degree in
four years. Decelerated part-time students will complete the degree in six years.
All students will take a total of twelve modules to complete the degree. The modules are divided according
to academic level: level 4 modules are introductory courses, and studied in the first year; level 5 modules
are intermediate and normally studied in the second year. Level 6 modules are advanced and normally
studied in the final year/s of the degree. Each module usually lasts one academic year (occasionally you
may take two half modules to make up a full module in some subjects). Six of these will normally be in
Humanities and six in disciplines within the School of Arts.
The twelfth module is the Humanities Project, written in the final year, on a topic of your choice, with the aid
of a supervisor. There will be a meeting late in the spring term of your penultimate year of study to
introduce the Project and you will be required to submit a Project proposal early in the summer term.
So for example, a normal pattern of study for full-time students will be as follows:
 2 x Humanities modules (both core/compulsory) and 2 x Arts options in Year 1

 2 x Humanities modules (1 core, 1 option) and 2 x Arts options in Year 2
 1 x Humanities option, 2 x Arts options and the Humanities Project (core) in Year 3
A normal pattern of study for part-time students will be as follows (NB this would be spread across six
years in the case of decelerated students):
 2 x Humanities modules (both core/compulsory) and 1 Arts option in Year 1

 1 x Humanities module (core) and 2 x Arts options in Year 2
 1 x Humanities option and 2 x Arts option in Year 3
 1 x Humanities option, 1 x Arts option and the Humanities Project (core) in Year 4
Please refer to your programme structure over the pages to follow and use this as a guide throughout your
degree. Remember, if you have any queries you can always ask your personal tutor for guidance when
considering your pathway through the programme and choosing your modules, in the years ahead.
6
Structure of the Degree Full-time
Year One
You take two Humanities modules
ENHU008S4: ENHU003S4:
Key Concepts in Cultural Methods in Cultural School of Arts Option School of Arts Option
Analysis: The Production of Study: Crossing the
the Human (Core) Disciplines
(Compulsory)
Level 4
Year Two
You take TWO Humanities modules
AREN126S5:
Connecting the Arts (Core) Humanities Option School of Arts Option School of Arts Option
Level 5
Year Three
You take TWO Humanities modules (one of which is the Project)
ENHU075S6:
Humanities Option School of Arts Option School of Arts Option Humanities Project
(Core)
Level 6
7
Structure of the Degree Part-Time
Year One
You take two Humanities modules
Key Concepts in Cultural Analysis: The Methods in Cultural Study: School of Arts Option
Production of the Human (Core) Crossing the Disciplines
(Compulsory)
Level 4
Year Two
AREN126S5:
Connecting the Arts (Core) School of Arts Option Humanities or School of

Arts Option
Level 5 Level 4 Level 5
Year Three
You take a minimum of ONE Humanities module
Humanities or School of Arts Option Humanities or School of Arts Humanities or School of

Option Arts Option
Year Four
ENHU075S6:
Humanities Option School of Arts Option Humanities Project (Core)
8
Structure of the Degree Decelerated
Year One
Key Concepts in Cultural Analysis: The Production of Methods in Cultural Study: Crossing the Disciplines
the Human (Core) (Compulsory)
Level 4
Year Two
School of Arts Option School of Arts Option
Level 4
Year Three
AREN126S5:
Connecting the Arts (Core) Humanities or School of Arts Option
Level 5
Year Four
Humanities Option School of Arts Option
Level 5
Year Five
Humanities Option School of Arts Option
Level 6
Year Six
ENHU075S6:
School of Arts Option Humanities Project (Core)
Level 6
If for any reason you would like to deviate from the stipulated programme structures, please consult the
Arts and Humanities programme director.
9
Starting your Course
Induction and Getting Started
The Department of English, Theatre and Creative Writing BA Induction event on Wednesday 25th
September 2019 is for all BA Arts and Humanities Year 1 students to have an opportunity to meet the
Programme Director, fellow students, and review aspects of the course. This meeting includes a general
introduction to the Department and School, a brief introduction to Moodle (Virtual Learning Environment),
information on Library support, Disability support and Learning Development, followed by a meeting with
the Programme Director for BA Arts and Humanities. Please make every effort to attend this meeting.
Please see the Birkbeck website for helpful information on getting started as a new student:
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/orientation/orientation
Enrolment: Important Information

After an offer of a place on the degree course, or when beginning your second or subsequent year, you
need to enrol formally and pay the fees or confirm that you have applied for student finance. You will be
sent an email by Registry (Student Administration) informing you of when you are able to enrol online, but
in case of problems you should contact the Student Advice Service located in the Main Building (Malet
Street), send an Ask query www.bbk.ac.uk/ask or email [email protected]
You will be expected to have formally enrolled and begun paying your fees by mid-October. You must
enrol by the end of October or you may not be eligible to continue your degree.
If you take a break in study or withdraw after enrolling then, unless you cancel within the 14 day
cancellation period following enrolment, you are liable for payment of fees for the first term of study, and all
subsequent terms up to and including the term in which you withdraw or take a break.
My Birkbeck student profile

Once you have applied and accepted a place on the programme, you will be sent an ITS username and
password which you can use to access your personal student profile, available at:
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/.
It is essential to access your student profile on a regular basis as this is where you will find your module
and timetable information, your examination timetable and your results once these are published at the end
of the year. If you have accepted a place on the programme but have not yet received your ITS username
and password, please send an Ask query www.bbk.ac.uk/ask or call 020 3926 3456.
ID Card
Once you have completed your enrolment, you will be entitled to an ID Card. Order this via your My
Birkbeck profile. Just upload a recent image of yourself and submit your order.
The ID card will remain valid for the duration of your studies, and you will not be issued with a new card for
each subsequent academic year.
Fees / Student Loans / Financial Support and Advice

Full-time and part-time students who may be eligible and have not yet applied for a student loan towards
their tuition fees may do so by visiting the Student Finance England website at:
https://www.gov.uk/studentfinancesteps
Birkbeck offers financial support from bursaries to help with childcare costs and also financial advice to
students via the Student Advice Centre:
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/financial-support
Tuition fees may be paid in instalments where these are not covered by Student Finance. The Income
Office deals with fees and you should communicate with them on 020 3907 0700 or visit the Income Office
Counter, G14 Malet Street.
10
You will also have other expenses and it is important to budget for buying books. Whilst we have great
sympathy if you have difficulties paying fees, the Programme Director does not have the power to waive
fees or sanction delays in payment.
The full Fees Policy may be accessed online at:

www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/rules/College-Fees-Policy.pdf
Please note that students need to apply for funding for each year of study, i.e. student loans or
grants are not carried over from one year to the next. You should always try to apply for funding as
early as possible in order to avoid delays.
Contact Details/Email
You are required to maintain your personal details via the “My Birkbeck” Portal
(http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/) throughout the period of your studies. Failure to maintain this
information up to date will mean that you may miss important information concerning the course: all
documentation, reading lists, class notices, etc, is sent to students via the Birkbeck e-mail system, as is
information about associated events that may be of interest. You may nominate an email via your “My
Birkbeck” Student Portal. If you encounter any difficulty with this process please visit the Student Advice
Centre in the main Malet Street building. Email is the normal means of communication in the School of Arts.
Location
The Department of English, Theatre and Creative Writing occupies the Birkbeck School of Arts building, 43
Gordon Square, where School administrative and academic staff offices are based. Teaching often takes
place in our building, but your lectures may be housed in the main Malet Street building, where the Library
and Student Union facilities are also located, or in the Clore Management Centre in Torrington Square or
other University of London buildings. During term time the Gordon Square entrance is staffed from 8.00am
to 9.00pm, Monday to Friday and 8.00am to 6.00pm on Saturdays.
Moodle (Birkbeck’s Virtual Learning Environment Platform)

Students are expected, throughout their studies, to submit coursework through Moodle
(http://moodle.bbk.ac.uk/). You will need your Birkbeck username and password in order to gain access to
Moodle. Your username and password are created by ITS and all enrolled students will receive them. You
cannot access this system if you are not enrolled. If you do not have your username and password, please
contact ITS Reception in the main Malet Street building or send an Ask. It is recommended all students
access this Moodle guide to become familiar with how to use Moodle and submit coursework online:
https://moodle.bbk.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=118 Please also see Appendix A of this handbook, for a step-
by-step guide to submitting coursework on Turnitin through Moodle.
Books: to buy or borrow?

Throughout your degree you will be given reading lists, which will include both essential texts forming the
basis of lectures and seminars, and suggestions for wider reading. The distinction between these two
categories is clearly marked in this booklet. Some essential reading will be provided, some you will need to
buy or borrow from a library. Remember that often books can be bought more cheaply second-hand. If you
have trouble obtaining the recommended edition, or already own an alternative, a substitute will often be
acceptable; consult the lecturer concerned if you are in any doubt. If you intend to rely on libraries, bear in
mind that many other students will inevitably need the books at exactly the same time as you do. At the
time of going to press, all the books we have asked you to buy are in print. It is your responsibility to obtain
these books in time for the classes. If you do find that a book has become unobtainable for any reason,
please let the lecturer know as soon as possible.
Attendance Requirement
Taking a degree course at Birkbeck requires a high level of commitment, it is extremely important that you
attend lectures and classes consistently. It is accepted that through illness or exceptional pressure at home
or at work you may have to miss occasional classes, but if you have to be absent from more than two
classes in one term, or know that you are going to have difficulties attending regularly, please
11
inform your personal tutor and programme director, as most Departments have a 75% minimum
attendance policy. See Attendance Framework and eRegisters section of this handbook.
Module Choices
You will be contacted by your Department in regards to the modules you would like to take for the coming
year and will be asked to select these online. Please do not delay returning your choices as modules are
allocated first by year of study and then by date of submission. Students are grouped by year with the
earliest submission gaining highest priority within that year. There is a strict deadline in place within the
School of Arts. Deadlines for each year group for return of option choices will be communicated clearly via
email and online.
Please note the following as it will be strictly enforced:
 Year three and four students have priority over year two students in the Department of English,
Theatre and Creative Writing for module choices. This is to facilitate completion of their degree
requirements.
 For modules that are core modules for a specific degree programme, priority will be given to
students who are registered on that degree programme.
 It is likely, but not guaranteed, that popular choices will be repeated in a similar form during your
degree.
 If you do not submit your module choices by the deadline for your year you will forfeit your priority.
 We will honour a “first-come-first-served” basis within the year. For example, a student that returns
their choices on the last day will have lower priority within their year of study than a student that
returned their choices promptly.
Students who return their choices late may be allocated to whichever modules still have places and which
meet their degree requirements.
Please note: if you require help with your module choices you should contact your personal tutor.
Please be aware that modules vary from year to year. If you are a part-time student, you should take
into account when you make your module choice that it is unlikely that the same selection of
modules will be available the following year.
Student Union
You are automatically a member of the Birkbeck Students’ Union and the University of London Union and
NUS upon taking up the offer of a place to study at Birkbeck. NUS cards are available online (NUS Extra) or
from the Union Office, Malet Street. Application can be made to become a member of the International
Students’ Association by completing a form that can also be obtained from their shop.
Location and Telephone: The General Enquiries desk is located in the Birkbeck Malet Street Student
Advice Service (left as you come into the building). The Executive Committee Office is located up on the
4th floor in room MAL 455 and is often populated by SU Officers and Staff, especially when there's no one
downstairs at the GE desk. Tel: 020 7631 6335. Enquiries: [email protected] and Tweet
@Birkbeckunion
Visit the website at http://www.birkbeckunion.org/
Student Union Societies

Clubs and societies are groups of students, Birkbeck staff and ex-students/graduates who come together
for a common interest or purpose. The Students' Union support a number of clubs and societies across a
broad spectrum of activity areas with hosting events, room bookings, subsidy of charitable activity through
grants and supporting the running of clubs and societies. New clubs and societies can be started at any
time, provided there is a uniqueness of purpose and a level of support in the student body for such a club
or society.
If you are interested in setting up a student SU Society, please contact [email protected] for more
information or go to: http://www.birkbeckunion.org/
12
Lamp and Owl magazine
You may want to get involved with Birkbeck's primary student-produced printed paper, the Lamp & Owl:
https://www.birkbeckunion.org/groups/lamp-and-owl-magazine
https://www.lampandowl.co.uk/
Staff-student exchange and student feedback

In the first term, we invite up to two students to act as representatives for each year group. These
representatives will take part in our staff-student exchange, a group consisting of staff and student
representatives from each year group that meets at least twice a year to discuss issues arising from the
course or from the Birkbeck experience more generally. If you have issues to raise, the student
representatives can do this for you (anonymously) at the meeting. If you are interested in taking on this
role, please contact the Programme Director, Dr Mpalive Msiska: [email protected]
At the end of each course, all students are asked to complete a feedback questionnaire. This is very
valuable for the School, as it allows staff to see what aspects of courses have been successful, and where
improvements could be made. The School greatly values student involvement in course organisation and in
all aspects of School activities, and we are always eager to hear your views.
Career Development - Information, Advice, Workshops & Courses

Full information about Careers support for Birkbeck students is available online at
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/careers-service/
There is a students’ employability space within Student Central on Malet Street (beside the Birkbeck main
building). You can contact Employability Advisers to arrange an appointment by email to:
[email protected] The service might include having your CV reviewed for specific roles you may be
applying for or to get advice on upcoming interviews. For more in-depth support, there is a free Careers
Coaching programme to which students may apply.
A number of free Careers workshops are available to Birkbeck students on subjects such as:
 Networking
 Making a career change
 CV & interview Masterclass
 Identify and Sell your Transferable Skills
 Working with Recruitment Agencies
For more information about these (and to book a place) please see workshops and events at:
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/careers-service/
Careers resources are also available to access online via My Birkbeck for students.
C2 Education, part of The Careers Group, University of London, offers great expertise and experience in
working with students and graduates of all ages and at all stages of career development. They offer online
careers resources which all students may access:
Online Careers Resources: www.careerstagged.co.uk/

C2 Education website: www.thecareersgroup.co.uk/
Birkbeck Talent: recruitment service

Birkbeck Talent is a professional recruitment service aimed exclusively at assisting Birkbeck students to
find employment opportunities.
Birkbeck Talent is committed to helping students make the most of their Birkbeck experience by graduating
with excellent qualifications and relevant work experience. They are university-owned and -operated -
driven purely by providing students with an excellent service and finding the right roles for students.
See: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/birkbeck-talent-service
13
Timetable 2019/20
Autumn Term Spring Term Summer Term
Monday 30 Monday 13 January to Monday 27 April to

September to Friday Friday 27 March 2020 Friday 10 July 2020
13 December 2019
6-7.20
MONDAY
7.40-9
6-7.20
TUESDAY
7.40-9
ENHU008S4 ENHU008S4
ENHU008S4
Key Concepts in Key Concepts in
Key Concepts in
Cultural Analysis: Cultural Analysis:
6-7.20 Cultural Analysis:
The Production of The Production of
The Production of
the Human the Human
the Human
continued continued
WEDNESDAY
ENHU003S4 ENHU003S4
ENHU003S4
Methods in Cultural Methods in Cultural
Methods in Cultural
7.40-9 Study: Crossing the Study: Crossing the
Study: Crossing the
Disciplines Disciplines
Disciplines
continued continued
6-7.20
THURSDAY
7.40-9
FRIDAY 6-8.00
14
Core Module Information – BAAH Year 1
ENHU008S4 Key Concepts in Cultural Analysis: The Production of the Human
BA Humanities Level 4 Module 1 (Core)
Key Concepts in Cultural Analysis: The Production of the Human, 2019-2020
Module convenor:
Dr Mpalive Msiska ([email protected])
Time: Wednesdays 6.00-7.20pm

Module Code: ENHU008S4
Introducing the course
The aim of the course is to discuss what it means to be human in changing historical, social, and political
conditions. ‘The human’ is a dynamic and historically, geographically, socially and racially contingent
category; not a universal, or a fixed and immutable category or essence. The course will introduce you to
texts which articulate, question, and challenge ideas of ‘the human’ in specific historical conditions and
varying modes of social production and reproduction.
The course helps you develop the ability to read critically, discuss and question key concepts in the
Humanities, as well as place them in historical, social and intellectual contexts. These critical skills will
support you in your subsequent studies throughout the degree, both in Humanities and the other chosen
subject.
The course will be taught by lectures and seminars.
Through the course students will:
 Be familiar with key articulations of the question of the human

 Analyse these ideas through considering their explication in certain works.
 Consider the ways in which concepts have shaped culture and knowledge.
 Consider the transmission of ideas across cultures and historical periods, the development of traditions
of thought, as well as critiques of these ideas.
 Develop an awareness of the context of production and the power dynamics underlying concepts of the
human in particular texts, practices, disciplines, institutions.
Assessment:
1 critical commentary (1,500 words) worth 20%;
1 assessed short essay (2,000 words) worth 35%;
1 assessed long essay (2,500 words) worth 45%
The responsibilities of students

In advance of lectures and seminars you are expected to do the primary reading for the course indicated by
Reading below. You are then expected to follow up with the secondary reading. Please bring the text with
you to seminars along with some notes on the points the text raises. When you are preparing for
lectures and seminars it can be helpful to ask: how does this text articulate the category of the human?
How does it compare to other cultural phenomena? If the points you have noted are not addressed in the
lecture that does not mean that there is anything wrong with them. Take them to the seminar and raise
them there.
Prior Reading:
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You are strongly recommended to spend some time prior to the course acquainting yourself with some of
the texts on the syllabus (especially some of the longer works such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein). You
may also wish to read J. M. Coetzee’s The Lives of Animals (London: Profile Books, 1999), which
investigates some of the boundaries between the animal and the human, or Tony Davies’s book Humanism
in the Routledge New Critical Idiom series (1997), which reflects upon the emergence of the related
concepts of ‘the human’ and ‘humanism’ (see Further Reading).
Course Outline
AUTUMN TERM
Week 1, 2nd Oct 2019: What is The Human?

Lecturer: Dr Mpalive Msiska
This introductory lecture will introduce you to the key themes of the module and, most importantly, prompt
you to start questioning some of the underlying assumptions we make about the category of The Human.
Week 2, 9th Oct 2019: The Human Subject

Reading
Foucault, Michel, ‘What is an Author?’, in Josue V. Harari, Textual Strategies: Perspectives in Post-
Structuralist Criticism, (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1979), pp. 141-60. Also in The Foucault Reader
ed. Paul Rabinow (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1991).
Secondary Reading
Burke, Sean, The Death and Return of the Author: Criticism and Subjectivity in Barthes, Foucault and
Derrida (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1998)
Gutting, Gary, The Cambridge Companion to Foucault (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994)
Foucault, Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1991)
Mills, Sara, Michel Foucault (London: Routledge, 2003)
Rabinow, Paul, 'Introduction', in The Foucault Reader, ed. Paul Rabinow (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1991),
pp. 3-29
Strozier, Robert M., Foucault, Subjectivity and Identity (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2002)
Instructions and advice on the first assignment will be made available in this lecture
Week 3, 16th Oct 2019: Seminar: The Human Subject
Week 4, 23rd Oct 2019: Beastly Human Power

Lecturer: Dr Stephen Clucas
Reading
Machiavelli, Niccolò, The Prince, trans. George Bull (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 2000).
Secondary Reading
Skinner, Quentin, Machiavelli: a very short introduction (Oxford: Oxford Paperbacks, 2000).
---, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought: Volume 1, The Renaissance, (Cambridge: Cambridge
University press, 1979, reprinted).
Viroli, Maurizio, Machiavelli (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998).
Pocock, J. A., The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican
Tradition (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975, reprinted).
Week 5, 30th Oct 2019: Seminar: Beastly Human Power
Coursework Deadline (Critical Commentary, worth 20%): Submit via Moodle by 2pm on Friday 1 st
November 2019. Please retain your coursework submission ID as proof of submission.
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Week 6, 6th Nov 2019: READING WEEK – no class
Week 7, 13th Nov 2019: Mind, Body, and Brutality: Descartes

Reading
Descartes, Meditations, 1-VI, in Meditations on First Philosophy, edited by John Cottingham, Cambridge
Texts in the History of Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp.12-62.
Secondary Reading
Lili Allanen, ‘Reconsidering Descartes's Notion of the Mind-Body Union’, Synthese, 106:1 (1996): 3-20
[JSTOR]
Lex Newman, ‘Unmasking Descartes's Case for the Bête Machine Doctrine’, Canadian Journal of
Philosophy, 31:3 (2001): 389-425 [JSTOR]
Mary Midgley. Beast and Man: The Roots of Human Nature (London and New York: Routledge, 1979)
Desmond M. Clarke, Descartes’s Theory of Mind (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003)
Bernard Williams, ‘Introductory Essay’ and John Cottingham, ‘General Introduction: The Meditations and
Cartesian Philosophy’, in Meditations on First Philosophy, edited by John Cottingham, pp. vii-xxxviii.
A.O. Rorty (ed.), Essays on Descartes’s Meditations (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1986).
John Cottingham (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Descartes (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1992).
Week 8, 20th Nov 2019: Seminar: Mind, Body, and Brutality
Week 9, 27th Nov 2019: Human Rights, Their Scope and Limits
Reading
Paine, Tom, Rights of Man (1791)
Wollstonecraft, Mary, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
Secondary Reading
Hunt, Lynn, Inventing Human Rights: A History (New York: Norton, 2007)
Keane, John, Tom Paine: A Political Life (Bloomsbury, 1995, new ed. 2009)
Lorch, Jennifer, Mary Wollstonecraft: the making of a radical feminist (New York: Berg, 1990)
Moore, Jane, Mary Wollstonecraft (Plymouth: Northcote House, 1999)
Philp, Mark, Tom Paine (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989)
White, R.S., Natural Rights and the Birth of Romanticism in the 1790s (Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave,
2005)
Week 10, 4th Dec 2019: Seminar: Human Rights, Their Scope and Limits
Week 11, 11h Dec 2019: Essay Writing Skills

SPRING TERM
Essay Deadline (worth 35%): Submit via Moodle by 2pm on Wednesday 15th January 2020. Please
retain your coursework submission ID as proof of submission.
Week 1, 15th Jan 2020: Constructing the human I: Frankenstein

Lecturer: Dr Olivia Ferguson
Reading
Shelley, Mary, Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, (1818)
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[The best edition is Frankenstein, edited by D.L.Macdonald and Kathleen Scherf (Peterborough, Canada,
1999 2nd edn), which contains many contemporary materials]
Secondary Reading
The ‘Frankenstein’ Notebooks: A Facsimile Edition of Mary Shelley’s Manuscript Novel, 1816-17, ed.
Charles E. Robinson, 2 vols (New York: Garland Publishing, 1996)
Baldick, Chris, Frankenstein’s Shadow: Myth, Monstrosity and Nineteenth Century Writing, (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1987) Botting, Fred, Gothic, (London: Routledge, 1996)
Craciun, Adriana, ‘Writing the Disaster: Franklin and Frankenstein’, Nineteenth-Century Literature, 65:4
(March 2011), 433-80.
Levine, George, & U.C. Knoepflmacher, eds., The Endurance of Frankenstein: Essays on Mary Shelley’s
Novel (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979)
Malchow, H.L., Gothic Images of Race in Nineteenth-Century Britain, (Stanford: Stanford University Press,
1996)
McLane, Maureen, Romanticism and the Human Sciences (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000)
Moretti, Franco, ‘Dialectic of Fear’, in Signs Taken For Wonders (London: Verso, 1988), pp. 83-108
Paulson, Ronald, ‘Gothic Fiction and the French Revolution’, in English Literary History, 48 (1981), 545-
554.
Ruston, Sharon, Shelley and Vitality (New York and Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2005)
Week 2, 22nd Jan 2020: Seminar: Constructing the human I
Week 3, 29th Jan 2020: Constructing the human II: Marx

Lecturer: Prof. Esther Leslie
Reading
Marx, Karl, ‘Estranged Labour’, from The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts 1844:
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm
Secondary Reading
Marx, Karl, Selected Writings, ed. by David McLellan, 2nd edn (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), in
particular ‘Alienated Labour’, pp.85- 95.
Cowling, Mark, The Communist Manifesto: New Interpretations, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,
1998).
McLellan, David, Marx (London: Fontana 1975).
Carver, Terrell, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Marx (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991).
Fromm, Eric, Marx’s Concept of Man (London and New York: Continuum, 2003).
Elster, Jon, An Introduction to Karl Marx (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986).
McLellan, David, The Young Hegelians and Marx (London: Macmillan, 1969).
Sayer, Sean, Marxism and Human Nature (London: Routledge, 2007).
Ameriks, Karl, ‘The Legacy of Idealism in the Philosophy of Feurbach, Marx, and Kierkegaard’, in The
Cambridge Companion to German Idealism, ed. by K. Americks (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2000), pp.258-281.
Eagleton, Terry, Ideology: An Introduction (London: Verso, 1991). Koffman, Sarah, Camera Obscura: Of
Ideology (London: Athlone Press, 1998).
[A Note for Users: For some of you the reading for this week may be your first encounter with Marx in
particular and with ‘theoretical’ texts more generally. From this point in the course you will need to work on
developing methods of analytical reading appropriate to such texts. As usual, prepare for the lecture by
reading the primary text. In dealing with such material you will find it helpful to (a) take detailed but
compressed notes summarising the argument (b) noting points and questions to raise in the seminar and in
discussion]
Week 4, 5th Feb 2020: Seminar: Constructing the human II
Week 5, 12th Feb 2020: From Evolution to Eugenics

Lecturer: Dr Heike Bauer
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Reading
Darwin, Charles, The Origin of Species: By Means of Natural selection or the Preservation of Favoured
Races in The Struggle for Life (1859), ‘Introduction’:
http://www.literature.org/authors/darwin-charles/the-origin-of-species/.
Nordau, Max Degeneration (1895), Chapter 1: ‘The Dusk of Nations’ (pp. 1-7):
http://archive.org/details/degeneration035137mbp
Francis Galton, ‘Eugenics: Its Definition, Scope and Aims’, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 10, No. 1
(1904), pp. 1-25. You should read at least the opening two pages of the article:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2762125
For a very good, brief overview of the debates see the ‘Degeneration’ section in The Fin de Siècle: A
Reader in Cultural History, c.1880-1900 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) edited by Sally Ledger,
and Roger Luckhurst.
Secondary Reading
Burdett, Carolyn, ‘Eugenics Old and New’, New Formations, 60 (2007), pp. 7-11.
Chen, Michelle, ‘Fit For Citizenship? The Eugenics Movement and Immigration Policy’, Dissent, Vol. 62,
No. 2 (2015), pp. 73-86: http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.lib.bbk.ac.uk/article/578657
Hodge, Jonathan and Gregory Radick, eds., The Cambridge Companion to Darwin (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2003), esp. Robert J. Richards chapter, ‘Darwin on Mind, Morals, and Emotions’, pp. 92-
115.
Howard, Jonathan, Darwin: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001).
Ledger, Sally, ‘In Darkest England: The Terror of Degeneration in Fin de Siècle Britain’, Literature and
History, 4.2 (1995), pp. 71-86.
Richardson, Angelique, Love and Eugenics in the Nineteenth Century: Rational Reproduction and the New
Woman (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), esp. the Introduction.
Rose, Hilary and Stephen (eds), Alas Poor Darwin: Arguments Against Evolutionary Psychology (London:
Vintage, 2001).
Week 6, 19th Feb 2020: READING WEEK - no class
Week 7, 26th Feb 2020: Seminar: From Evolution to Eugenics
Week 8, 4th Mar 2020: Under the Human Surface: Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious
Reading
Freud, Sigmund, The Interpretation of Dreams, ed. by Angela Richards, (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books,
1991).
[extracts from chapters 3, 4 and 6a and b]
Secondary Reading
Stephen Frosh, Key Concepts in Psychoanalysis (British Library, 2002)
Marcus, Laura, ed., Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams: New Interdisciplinary Essays
(Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999).
Phillips, Adam, Promises, Promises: Essays on Literature and Psychoanalysis (London: Faber and Faber,
2000)
Storr, Anthony, Freud: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001)
Thurschwell, Pamela, Sigmund Freud, Routledge Critical Thinkers (London: Routledge, 2000).
Vice, Susan, ed., Psychoanalytic Criticism: A Reader (London: Polity Press, 1995).
Wollheim, Richard, Freud (London: Fontana Press, 1985).
Week 9, 11th March 2020: Seminar: Under the human surface: Sigmund Freud and the Unconscious
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Week 10, 18th March 2020: Undoing Gender
Lecturer: Dr Olivia Ferguson
Reading
Read Butler’s own summary of the concept of ‘gender performativity’ in Vasu Reddy, ‘Troubling Genders:
Subverting Identities: An Interview with Judith Butler’, Agenda: Empowering Women for Gender Equity, No.
62, Vol. 2.1 (2004), pp. pp. 116-117: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4066688 .
Then read Butler, Judith, ‘Beside Oneself: On the Limits of Sexual Autonomy’, in her Undoing Gender (New
York: Routledge, 2004), pp. 17-39.
Secondary Reading
Butler, Judith, and Elizabeth Weed, ‘Introduction’ to their (eds), The Question of Gender: Joan Scott’s
Critical Feminism (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2011), pp. 1-10.
Connell, Raewyn W. and Rebecca Pearse, ‘Understanding Gender’, in their Gender: In World Perspective
(Cambridge Polity. Any edition), pp. 3-7.
Sarah E. Chinn’s review of Undoing Gender in Women’s Studies Quarterly, Vol. 35, No 1/2 (2007), pp. 315-
318, provides an good overview of some of the main issues discussed in the book
http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.lib.bbk.ac.uk/stable/pdf/27649679.pdf?_=1468573770831
Week 11, 25th March 2020: Seminar: Undoing Gender
SUMMER TERM
Week 1, 29th April 2020: Humans as self-performers/Inside and Outside the Colonial Space: Franz
Fanon and the self as other
Reading
Fanon, Frantz, ‘The Fact of Blackness’, in Black Skin, White Masks, transl. Charles Lam Markmann (1967;
repr. London: Pluto Press, 1986).
Fanon, Frantz, ‘Concerning Violence’, in The Wretched of the Earth, trans. Constance Farrington
(Harmondsworth, Penguin: 1967 and 2001).
Secondary Reading
Fanon, Frantz, The Wretched of the Earth, trans. Constance Farrington (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books,
2001).
Read, Alan, ed., The Fact of Blackness: Frantz Fanon and Visual Representation, (Seattle: Bay Press,
1996).
Silverman, Max, ed., Frantz Fanon’s Black Skin, White Masks: New Interdisciplinary Essays, (Manchester,
MUP, 2006).
Gibson, Nigel C., ed., Rethinking Fanon: The Continuing Dialogue (Amherst, NY: Humanity Books, 1999).
Gordon, Lewis R., Fanon and the Crisis of European Man: An Essay on Philosophy and the Human
Sciences (London: Routledge, 1995).
Week 2, 6th May 2020: Seminar: Humans as self-performers/Inside and Outside the Colonial Space
Week 3, 13th May 2020: Closing Lecture: The Posthuman

Lecturer: Dr Grace Halden
The question of what it means to be human has occupied human thought from early philosophy. But, what
does it mean to be human in the 21st Century? How can we define the human? What does it mean to be
'post' human? Looking at ideas of the cyborg, transhuman, and posthuman, we will explore the tricky
20
question of 'human' in both biological and artificial entities. If it is problematic to define what human is, can
we ever assign this privileged 'title' to an artificially intelligent lifeform?
Reading
Please read: www.ctheory.net/articles.aspx?id=409
Secondary Reading
Rosi Braidotti, The Posthuman (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2013)
Cary Wolfe, What Is Posthumanism? (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010).
Clark, Andy, Natural-Born Cyborgs. Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2003)
Hayles, N. Katherine, How We Became Posthuman (London: University of Chicago Press, 1999)
Pepperell, Robert, The Posthuman Condition: Consciousness Beyond the Brain (Bristol: Intellect, 2003), p.
1.
Deadline for second essay (45%): Submit via Moodle by 2.00pm on Wednesday 27th May 2019.
Please retain your coursework submission ID as proof of submission.
Guide to the Assessment
This Guide has been written to help you complete the assessments for the first-year Arts and Humanities
course ‘Key Concepts in Cultural Analysis: The Production of the Human’.
Critical Commentary (1,500 words) worth 20% of the mark

You will be given a choice of three short passages from the work of Michel Foucault, Niccolò Machiavelli
and René Descartes. Choose one of them and write a commentary on this passage in approximately
1,500 words.
Rationale: This exercise trains you in the close reading of primary texts; it asks you to think about how to
use primary texts as a starting point, and to incorporate close analysis in your own argument. The
commentary is a stepping-stone between reading and writing and a crucial ingredient for a good argument
and a good essay.
Deadline: Autumn Term, end of week 5: Friday 1st November 2019
Essay 1 (2,000 words) worth 35% of the mark

Writing an essay requires you to develop a coherent line of argument in response to an essay question
from a list distributed by your tutor. Read the list carefully before you choose the question you wish to
answer. Your claims need to be supported by reference the primary text(s), building on the close reading
techniques you developed through the critical commentary. Make sure you analyse and embed quotations
from primary texts or critics in your own line of argument. See pp. 92-93 for further guidance about essay
writing.
Deadline: Spring Term, week 1: Wednesday 15th January 2020
Essay 2 (2,500 words) worth 45% of the mark

See guidance above under essay 1 and also below, pp. 92-93.
For more guidance on the presentation of coursework, including the recommended style-sheet for
bibliographical references, see pp. 96-103.
Deadline: Summer term, week 5: Wednesday 27th May 2020
21
Learning Development Tutor
BA students in their first year of study are encouraged to seek study skills support from the School of Arts
Learning Development Tutor, Dr Fleur Rothschild. Please see the link below to information about Dr
Rothschild and study skills courses, which she offers:
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/arts/about-us/key-staff/learning-development-tutor
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ENHU003S4 Methods in Cultural Study: Crossing the Disciplines
BA Humanities Level 4 Module 2 (Compulsory)
Module Convenor:
Dr Agnes Woolley ([email protected])
Seminar Leaders: TBC
Time: Wednesdays 7.40-9.00pm

Module Code: ENHU003S4
Access your student timetable to check for class locations on your My Birkbeck profile:
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/guides/help/class-information
Course Description
What is cultural studies? What does it mean to study ‘the arts’? What methods can we use to analyse and
critique cultural texts like films, novels, journalism, visual arts and advertising?
This course aims to answer these questions and will provide the skills you need to study an Arts and
Humanities degree. Its aim is to get you thinking critically about the world around you and to equip you with
methods for doing so.
This course works closely with your other Core Course 'Key Concepts in Cultural Analysis: The Production
of the Human'. In Autumn term, the focus will be on developing skills and exploring what we do as cultural
critics, the Spring and Summer terms will focus on applying these skills to ideas and concepts drawn from
‘Production of the Human’.
Methods in Cultural Study combines tutor-led study skills with the fostering of independent and peer-based
learning. This is a Blended Learning course and will mainly be delivered through Workshops and Seminars.
There will also be some elements and tasks online. You are required to engage online as well as in the
‘face to face’ sessions.
Learning Outcomes
 Research and reference correctly and to avoid committing plagiarism.

 Write at undergraduate level by reading texts critically and comprehending, evaluating, and using
criticism competently.
 Understand the principles of essay structure by knowing what an argument is, how to develop it
through presenting ideas in a logical sequence, and how paragraphs work.
 Recognize and use interdisciplinary approaches in cultural analysis.
 Analyse and discuss the borders and divisions of knowledge through texts, objects, practices.
 Situate an idea within a tradition of controversy and generate alternative views that have been or
could be argued around it.
 Consider a document as evidence of historical activity and to situate and locate an object / artefact /
document within an archive.
 Analyse and articulate the relationship of artefacts to historical (re) construction An understanding of
the role of experience and subjectivity in cultural analysis.
23
Assessments:
Close Reading 500 5% DEADLINE: 2 pm on

words Wednesday 30th October,
Close read a short text of your choice. Do not look 2019 (Week Five, Autumn
up any internet cribs or analyses. Concentrate on Term)
what the work says and how it says it. Consider use
of language, imagery, viewpoint, argument etc.
Field Report 1000 20% DEADLINE: 2 pm on

words Wednesday 4th December,
Produce a report on your field work in a library, 2019 (Week Ten, Autumn
archive, collection, exhibition or site of your choice. Term)
Your introduction will provide a context to your
chosen subject and object, you will describe your
‘critical approach’, what key idea/s are you using to
‘frame’ your research? Also provide brief evaluations
of the relevant physical and online sources. Your
conclusion will be a brief reflection on how you
would proceed this plan to a project.
Visual Analysis 1000 25% DEADLINE: 2 pm on

words Wednesday 15th January,
Analyse a visual text of your choice (e.g. a film, 2020 (Week One, Spring
advert, photograph, visual art work). You must Term)
include references to at least TWO academic
secondary sources to support your analysis. Your
bibliography should include at least five items.
Be sure to include at least one illustration, either at

the start of your analysis or appended after the
bibliography.
Essay Plan 500 10% DEADLINE: 2 pm on

Words Wednesday 27th March,
Write an essay plan for the final essay on this (approx) 2020 (Week Eleven,
course. This task is to help you focus your ideas for Spring Term)
the final essay. It can take any form most useful to
you: bullet points, short paragraphs, mind
map/spider diagram etc. Include a statement of your
argument and details on the primary and secondary
sources you plan to use.
Final Essay 2000 35% DEADLINE: 2 pm on

words Wednesday 20th May,
Essay questions will be provided. 2020 (Week Four,
Summer Term)
Online Course: ‘Avoiding Plagiarism’ 5% To be completed before

Week Seven, Spring Term
(Monday 24th February)
24
Assessment Notes:
 All assessments should be submitted, and will be marked, online using Turnitin on Moodle. Please
retain your coursework submission ID as proof of submission. ALWAYS read the written feedback
on your work and look for comments noted directly on the text.
 All assessments are due by 2 pm on the day of submission (see assessment outline above
for individual deadlines).
 ‘Avoiding Plagiarism’: when you complete this online module on Moodle you will simply need to
complete it and then log out. There is no ‘submission’ as such and the fact you have logged in and
completed the module is sufficient for us to record a mark for you.
 BA students in their first year of study are encouraged to seek study skills support, if needed, from
the School of Arts Learning Development Tutor, Dr Fleur Rothschild.
 When you write a piece of academic work you need to adopt a system of referencing. The
Department of English, Theatre and Creative Writing adopts the MHRA Style Guide (which is
available online for free, see also guide to references and bibliographies in the Arts and Humanities
handbook on page 34). If you choose to use alternative systems of referencing (the self-enrolled
‘Avoiding Plagiarism’ course, for instance, uses Harvard), it is imperative that you follow the
reference format consistently and exactly.
Course Outline
*All content listed is indicative; seminar leaders and lecturers will update Moodle with details of individual
sessions*
Autumn Term
Week One: Welcome and Introduction (Dr Agnes Woolley), 2.10.19

- Previous experiences of education
- Approaching degree-level study: what is a seminar? What is a lecture?
- An introduction to cultural analysis
- Independent study and time management
- Demonstration and training in the use of Moodle, the College’s Virtual Learning Environment.
Week Two: Close Reading of the Text (Associate Tutor TBC), 9.10.19
- Reading comprehension
- Reading primary sources
- What is close reading?
- What is a text?
Week Three: Narrative and Narration (Associate Tutor TBC), 16.10.19

- How does narrative work?
- Genre, form and storytelling
- Narrators
- Closure
Required Reading: Wayne Booth, The Rhetoric of Fiction (London: University of Chicago Press, 1961),
150-165.
Useful Reading: Gérard Genette, Narrative Discourse Revisited, (Cornell University Press: New York:
1988, Seymour Chatman, Story and Discourse (Cornell University Press: New York: 1978), H. Porter
Abbot, The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative (Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, 2002).
25
Week Four: Becoming a Researcher (Dr Agnes Woolley), 23.10.19
- Sources and how to find them: library, e-journals etc. Preparation for Literature Review assignment.
- Reading primary and secondary sources.
- Note taking
- What is a scholarly source? Appropriate/inappropriate sources
- An introduction to using special collections and archives.
- What is expected of students at degree level?
Week Five: Authorship (Associate Tutor TBC), 30.10.19

*DEADLINE: Close Reading, 500 words, 5%*
- What is an author?
- Pseudonyms
Required Reading: W. K. Wimsatt and Monroe C. Beardsley ‘The Intentional Fallacy’ and Roland Barthes,
‘Death of the Author’, in The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism (London: Norton, 2001)
Week Six: Reading Week
Week Seven: Essay Writing and Developing an Argument (Dr Fleur Rothschild), 13.11.19
- Workshop on planning, structuring and writing an essay. The session may incorporate individual or
group tutorials.
- Look at assessment criteria
Useful Reading: Peter Barry, 'The Essay: Crossing the Four Frontiers', English in Practice: In Pursuit of
English Studies (London: Bloomsbury, 2014).
Week Eight: Reading and using criticism (Associate Tutor TBC), 20.11.19
- What are the types of criticism?
- How to use criticism in an essay
- Different types of publications
- Historicisation of theoretical contributions.
- What is an appropriate academic source?
Week Nine: The Rhetoric of the Image (Dr Stephen Clucas), 27.11.19
- How do we read images?
- Introduction to ‘Semiotics’.
- Focus on the language of advertising
- How might we ‘decode’ a visual advertisement or cultural product? There will be online tasks in
preparation for this session.
Required Reading: Roland Barthes, ‘The Rhetoric of the Image’, Image, Music, Text, ed. and trans.
Stephen Heath (New York: Hill and Wang, 1977), pp. 32-51
Roland Barthes, ‘Depth Advertised’, in The Eiffel Tower and Other Mythologies, trans. Richard Howard
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997), pp. 47-8
Please also look at John Berger’s Ways of Seeing 1972 Extracts online via Google Books.
Week Ten: An Introduction to Film Analysis (Dr Agnes Woolley), 4.12.19

*DEADLINE: Field Report, 1000 words, 20%*
- Film and politics
- What is unique to film?
- What is the relationship between the visual, the aural and the textual?
- How film circulates, how it changes through the film festival system
Week Eleven: Theory (Associate Tutor TBC), 11.12.19

- What is critical theory?
26
- Approaching theory
- How to write with theory
Required Reading: Peter Barry, ‘Introduction’ and ‘Chapter One: Theory before “theory” – Liberal
Humanism’, in Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory (Manchester: Manchester
University Press, 1995).
Useful Reading: Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (Oxford: Blackwell, 1983).
SPRING TERM
Week One: Referencing, Plagiarism and Sources (Dr Fleur Rothschild), 15.1.20
*DEADLINE: Analysis of a Visual Text, 1000 words, 25%*
- How to avoid plagiarism
- How to reference appropriately
Week Two: Discourse (Associate Tutor TBC), 22.1.20

- What is a discourse?
- You will engage with different types of discourse on Human Rights (academic, journalistic, personal
testimony etc.) and consider the values of each.
- Notions of interpretation, context and rhetoric.
- There will be tasks online.
Week Three: Theorising the Human, Marx (Professor Esther Leslie), 29.1.20
- Marx’s and his critics, his texts continue to generate much debate with positive and negative
responses.
- The role of argument, of agreement and disagreement in cultural analysis. Do we believe everything
that we read? Of course not. How do we challenge it?
- Who is writing what and for whom and when? We will also reflect on the span of time passed
between the original production of a text and our reading of that text
Week Four: Othering the human (Dr Mpalive Msiska), 5.2.20

- ideas of the ‘other’ and the ‘self’
- on what basis are we, as students/tutors, able to make judgements and evaluations of cultural
forms?
- issues of cultural relativism and universalist assumptions
Week Five: Disciplining the Human (Dr Heike Bauer), 12.2.20

- ideas about the human within and across particular disciplinary and discursive contexts.
- How do ideas move, for example from scientific debates to popular culture?
- What issue arise when specialist concepts are adapted into everyday discourse?
- What kinds of questions do you need to ask when examining certain ideas about the human, their
history and the contexts that shaped them?
Required Reading: Cathy N. Davidson and David Theo Goldberg, ‘A Manifesto for the Humanities in a
Technological Age’, The Chronicle Review of Higher Education (13 Feb. 2004):
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David_Goldberg3/publication/247936320_A_Manifesto_for_th
e_Humanities_in_a_Technological_Age/links/549058140cf214269f266721.pdf
Week Six: Reading Week
Week Seven: Archiving the Human: The Burden of Representation (Dr Olivia Ferguson), 26.2.20
*DEADLINE: Essay Plan, 250 words, 10%*
- issues of representation.
- documentary as a genre
- nineteenth and twentieth century cultures of exhibition and display.
27
- Contemporary forms of display may also be considered.
Required Reading: John Tagg, ‘The Burden of Representation’ (Basingstoke: Macmillan Education, 1988).
Week Eight: Dreaming the Human, Psychoanalysis (Dr Olivia Ferguson), 4.3.20
- The uses of the unconscious in popular culture.
- What roles do our dreams play in our relationship to things? Are dreams legible? How are they
talked about?
- Through visual and literary materials we will explore various ways in which, on the one hand, an
unconscious of the text, and on the other hand, an unconscious of the reader/writer, have been
proposed.
- the ‘dreamworld of capitalism’ in the modern and contemporary era.
Week Nine: Historicising the Human (Associate Tutor TBC), 11.3.20

- ‘What are the uses of history’?
- How do we think about historical texts, how we use them, what questions we ask of them. What are
the implications of ‘natural history’, ‘universal history’, ‘national history’, ‘microhistory’?
- How general or particular is history?
- How does ‘human history’ change when elaborated from statistical evidence (demographics)?
- What eludes that kind of approach and what other stories can we tell when we focus in ‘close-up’ on
the life of an individual, a village, a species, or the spread of a virus?
Week Ten: Gendering the Human, (Dr Olivia Ferguson), 18.3.20

- constructions of femininity and masculinity, and explore
- debates about transgender and intersex.
- challenging the assumption that there is one binary truth about gender, examining instead how such
an idea is naturalised, and to what effect.
Week Eleven: Value (Dr Mpalive Msiska), 25.3.20

- How do we evaluate works of art?
- What criteria do we use?
- Canonicity
Useful Reading: T. S. Eliot, ‘Tradition and individual talent’ http://www.bartleby.com/200/sw4.html

Toni Morrison, ‘Unspeakable Things Unspoken: The Afro-American Presence in American Literature’
http://tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/m/morrison90.pdf
Steve Edwards, Art and It’s Histories: A Reader (New Haven, Conn.; London: Yale University Press in
association with The Open University, 1999).
Janet Wolff, The Social Production of Art (London: Macmillan, 1981).
Summer Term
Week One: Postcolonial Human (Dr Agnes Woolley), 29.4.20

- Postcolonial theory and criticism
- ‘writing back’
- Decolonising the canon
Week Two: Defining and Classifying the Human / Animal (Dr Grace Halden), 6.5.20
- problems of classification, naming and labelling
- the idea of the posthuman
- human / animal question
Useful Reading: J. M. Coetzee, The Lives of Animals (Princeton N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1999).
Week Three: Reflections (Dr Agnes Woolley), 13.5.20
28
- Course evaluation
- Reflection on participation and learning development
- Next steps
- Celebration!
Week Four: *DEADLINE: Essay, 2000 words, 35%*
Learning Development Tutor

BA students in their first year of study are encouraged to seek study skills support from the School of Arts
Learning Development Tutor, Dr Fleur Rothschild. Please see the link below to information about Dr
Rothschild and study skills courses, which she offers:
29
School of Arts Module Descriptions
You will be contacted by Birkbeck’s Business Systems Team when you are required to choose your
modules for the upcoming academic year. This is normally within a few days of enrolling for the course.
Allocations are made on a first come first served basis, and we cannot always guarantee you will be
allocated to your first choice, especially if you enrol late. We ask you to list a minimum of 3 Option modules
in order of preference. Students on Year 1 of the part-time 6-year degree will not need to select options.
If you have any content queries regarding your choices for this/next year, please feel welcome to contact
your personal tutor (listed on your student profile) or the BA Arts and Humanities programme administrator.
NB If you are studying full-time and would like to take beginners language as one of your options in Year 1,
you should note that it won’t be possible to progress onto intermediate language modules in Year 2 unless
you take a second year/Level 5 (weighted) option in your first year of study instead of one of your Level 4
(unweighted) options. Therefore, if you are studying full-time and wish to progress throughout your degree
from beginner level to more advanced level language skills, please contact us to discuss how to incorporate
this into your study plan in order to avoid disappointment later: [email protected]
School of Arts options for BA Arts and Humanities first year students in 2019-20 are listed below
(hyperlinks to online descriptions are embedded in the title of each module):
MODULE NAME CODE LEVEL CREDITS TERM(S) DAY TIME
Television: History and FFME005S4

Future ACB 4 30 1,2 Monday 19:00-21:00
FFME002S4
Introduction to Cinema CCB 4 30 2, 3 Monday 18:30-20:30
FFME002S4
Introduction to Cinema ACB 4 30 1,2 Tuesday 18:30-20:30
FFME002S4
Introduction to Cinema BCB 4 30 1,2 Thursday 18:30-20:30
Introduction to Public FFME031S4
Relations and Marketing ACB 4 30 2 Monday 18:00-21:00
Introduction to Public FFME031S4
Relations and Marketing BCB 4 30 3 Monday 18:00-21:00
Working with the Film ARMC240S4
Camera AAA 4 30 3 Tuesday 18:00-21:00
Visual Art: Histories,
Networks and ARMC120S4
Organisations AAA 4 30 1 Tuesday 18:00-21:00
FFME007S4
Journalism in British Life BCD 4 30 1 Thursday 18:00-21:00
FFME025S4
Screenwriting BCB 4 30 2 Tuesday 19:00-21:00
FFME025S4
Screenwriting ACD 4 30 1 Thursday 19:00-21:00
Arts and Media: An FDME006S4
Introduction AAA 4 30 2 Tuesday 18:00-21:00
ARMC157S4
The Politics of Culture AAA 4 30 1 Monday 18:00-21:00
30
Introduction to FFME027S4
Journalism Practice ACB 4 30 3 Tuesday 18:00-21:00
Media Studies: Key
Thinkers and ARMC217S4
Approaches AAA 4 30 2 Thursday 18:00-21:00
ARMC231S4
Cinema Today AAA 4 30 3 Thursday 18:00-21:00
Lec: 18:00-
ARVC205S4 19:20 Sem:
Art History: A Survey AAA 4 30 1,2,3 Monday 19.40-21:00
AHVM091S4
Debates in Art History AAA 4 30 1,2,3 Thursday 19:30-21:00
AREL062S4
French 1 AAA 4 30 1,2,3 Tuesday 18:00-21:00
AREL067S4
French 2 AAA 4 30 1,2,3 Tuesday 18:00-21:00
AREL067S4 Friday & 18:00-21:00
French 2 Intensive ZAA 4 30 1,2 Saturday 15:00-18:00
LNLN022S4
Imagining France AAA 4 30 1,2 Monday 19:30-21:00
Understanding Culture:
Languages and Texts LNLN021S4 4 30 1,2 Friday 18:00-19:30
AREL065S4
German 1 AAA 4 30 1,2,3 Thursday 18:00-21:00
AREL074S4
German 2 AAA 4 30 1,2,3 Thursday 18:00-21:00
Cultural Perspectives on AREL042S4
German History AAA 4 30 1,2 Monday 19:30-21:00
ARMC161S4
Japanese 1 CAA 4 30 1,2,3 Thursday 18:00-21:00
ARMC161S4
Japanese 1 DAA 4 30 1,2,3 Friday 18:00-21:00
ARMC164S4
Japanese 2 BAA 4 30 1,2,3 Tuesday 18:00-21:00
ARMC164S4
Japanese 2 CAA 4 30 1,2,3 Saturday 10:00-13:00
Rethinking Japan:
Introduction to Modern
Japanese Society and LNLN023S4
Culture AAA 4 30 1,2 Monday 19:30-21:00
ARCL039S4
Italian 1 AAA 4 30 1,2,3 Friday 18:00-21:00
ARCL040S4
Italian 2 AAA 4 30 1,2,3 Saturday 10:00-13:00
Introduction to Italian ARCL044S4
Culture (Level 4) AAA 4 30 1,2 Monday 19:30-21:00
31
Studying the Hispanic,

Luso-Brazilian and LNLN016S4
Native American Worlds AAA 4 30 1,2 Monday 19:30-21:00
ARIB106S4
Spanish 1 AAA 4 30 1,2,3 Tuesday 18:00-21:00
ARIB106S4
Spanish 1 BAA 4 30 1,2,3 Friday 18:00-21:00
ARIB115S4
Spanish 2 DAA 4 30 1,2,3 Thursday 18:00-21:00
ARIB115S4 Friday & 18:00-21:00
Spanish 2 Intensive ZAA 4 30 1,2 Saturday 15:00-18:00
ENHU004S4
Critical Foundations 4 30 1, 2 Monday 19:30-21:00
AAA
Performing Theatre
AREN096S4
Histories: Critical 4 30 1, 2 Tuesday 18:00-21:00
AAA
Practice I
ENHU006S4
Reading Literature 4 30 1,2,3 Monday 18:00-19:30
AAA
ENHU002S4
Theatre Languages 4 30 1, 2 Monday 18:00-19:30
AAA
ENHU007S4
Writing London 4 30 1,2,3 Tuesday 18:00-19:30
AAA
Module choices for the coming academic year (Year 2 and onwards)
You will be contacted by your Department in late spring/early summer in regards to the modules you would
like to take for the coming year. These module choices will be selected online via your My Birkbeck student
profile. Once online module selection opens, please do not delay in submitting your choices as modules are
allocated first by year of study and then by date of submission. Students are grouped by year with the
earliest submission gaining highest priority within that year. There is a strict deadline in place within the
School of Arts. This date will be made clear to you on when choosing your modules. Students submitting
after this date will have modules allocated to them based on degree requirements.
You can approach your personal tutor or the course convenor and other tutors for advice at any time. It is
your responsibility to make sure that you pace your study correctly and make every effort to fulfil the
programme requirements. If in doubt, do ask the programme director, your personal tutor, the administrator
or any other tutor.
NB Students must be aware that some Departments use pre-requisites, so it is advisable to discuss this
when meeting your personal tutor to make your course choices for the following year if you wish to
specialize in a particular discipline in the School of Arts. It is your responsibility to organise your timetable
of modules, to avoid clashing choices.
32
Coursework Submission, Presentation of Essays,
Marking and Plagiarism
Please note: If you are taking options from other Departments/Schools different procedures may apply.
Please check with the relevant Department/School before submitting your essay.
All work should normally be computer-generated (using a format compatible with Microsoft Word, or a pdf)
unless you are told explicitly that an assignment may be hand-written. All work should be submitted double-
spaced. Please note that the word count should include footnotes but excludes the bibliography.
Put your name and/or student ID number and the title of the module (e.g. Production of the Human or
Methods in Cultural Study) at the top of the essay, and ensure you include the title of the essay or the
question as set out on the list of essay topics. Word count should be indicated at the end of the essay.
You may, exceptionally, IN ADDITION to electronic submission via Moodle, be asked to submit a paper
copy in which case instructions will be provided by your tutor via Moodle and/or in class. You should also
always retain a copy yourself.
Please note that electronic submission is normally required by 2pm on the day of the deadline with
hard copies (if requested) due by 6pm on the same day.
Please note that we require electronic submission of your work for the following reasons:
 Work will be marked online via turnitin;
 Electronic submission is essential for purposes of moderation (second marking and External
Examiner scrutiny);
 All work submitted online is automatically screened for plagiarism;
 We are required to retain a copy of all student work for up to five years after graduation.
You will lose access to your marked work on turnitin once you complete your studies so it is good practice
to download this for your own record after it has been marked.
For further information and instructions on how to submit essays using Moodle please see
Appendix A or visit the ITS Help Desk in Malet Street building.
Return of Coursework
Coursework will normally be marked and returned electronically within four weeks from the stated
submission date or the date of handing in. Larger modules and modules with numerous seminar groups,
such as core modules, could take longer due to the number of students involved. There may also be a
delay if Birkbeck is closed or if there are extended holidays during that four week period.
Essays are not normally sent back to students by post. If online submission/return has not been
used, your lecturer will advise the method by which your work will be returned – normally this will
be in class.
Please do not telephone or email to ask whether your essay has been marked unless the marking
period as above has elapsed.
Late Submission of Coursework

Coursework is not just part of the assessment: it is a vital part of the learning process. Strict deadlines are
set to help you to keep up momentum, to spread the demands of the courses you are taking and to ensure
that you have time to make constructive use of the feedback on essays. The deadlines also help to even out
the marking load in order to make it possible for us to return the essays to you as quickly as possible, so
that you can have the comments from one essay before submitting the next.
33
All Schools and Departments across Birkbeck have moved to a system whereby students are not permitted
to ask for extensions to coursework deadlines. If for some reason you are unable to submit a piece of work
by the stipulated deadline, you should consult the Mitigating Circumstances policy from the Quick Links at:
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/exams
This form gives you space to describe the circumstances that have prevented you from meeting the
deadline, and requires you to provide supporting evidence (such as a medical certificate). It is advisable to
discuss the situation with your personal tutor before submitting the form.
Mitigating Circumstances forms should be emailed to the course administrator or handed in to the
Department office as soon as possible before the deadline. If this is impossible (e.g. if adverse
circumstances arise close to the deadline), then the form should be submitted within 14 days of the
missed deadline.
When you receive a late submitted piece of assessed work back from the markers, you will find that you
have been awarded two grades. This will be the grade the markers consider the work to be worth and also
the pass mark (40%), if the work achieves a pass mark or above, to signify that this mark is capped due to
late submission. When the Mitigating Circumstances Sub-Board has met and considered your form, you will
be told which of these marks will stand. If your claim has been accepted, the essay will receive the grade it
has been deemed worth. If your claim is rejected, you will receive the pass mark.
In February and at the end of the academic year, in June, before the first meeting of the BA Board of
Examiners, two meetings are held in which all medical and other ‘evidence’ is considered. The February
meeting will look at evidence relating to assignments unsubmitted (or submitted late) between October and
end of January; the June meeting will consider all subsequent unsubmitted (or late) assignments.
Mitigating Circumstances that may be taken into account

Circumstances that may be taken into account by the Mitigating Circumstances Sub-Board might include
major disruptive events or life-changes affecting yourself or those close to you, for example: new
parenthood, divorce, crime, serious illness or operation, bereavement, or unanticipated and unavoidable
professional obligations. If a disability or a condition such as dyslexia has been incurred or diagnosed or
disclosed part-way through your studies, this should also be notified. Further guidance on what may
constitute acceptable mitigating circumstances is available as an appendix to the policy, available from
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/rules. You should note, however, that this is not an exhaustive
list, and that each case will be treated on its merits by the Mitigating Circumstances Sub-Board. If you are
in doubt as to whether the circumstances you have experienced are likely to be agreed as reasonable
justification for late submission or under-performance, please discuss this with your Personal Tutor.
Computer disasters
It is your responsibility to keep back-ups of your work, not only after your essay is completed but also while
you are writing it. Please note that loss or failure of your computer is not acceptable as ‘mitigating
circumstances’ for the late or non-submission of essays or coursework. You must also take care to upload
the final version of your coursework (including bibliography) as otherwise a draft will be marked and you will
lose marks.
Birkbeck Assessment Policy

It may also be useful to familiarise yourself with the Birkbeck online assessment pages and awarding
regulations. Please see the following links for further information:
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/registry/policies/regulations
If you have problems with your email, assignment upload or technical login please go to the ITS office
located in the Library lobby in the Malet Street building. Your administrator cannot help you with technical
issues. You cannot access Moodle if you have not enrolled. Do not wait until the last minute to
address enrolment issues. Please contact your administrator immediately if you are encountering
enrolment problems as they must be resolved without delay.
34
The MHRA style sheet: a short guide
Your essays must conform to the style described below. This style sheet follows the MHRA Style Guide
(London: Modern Humanities Research Association, 2013), which should be consulted for further
explanation. Libraries hold copies of this style guide, and you can buy it in good bookshops (including
Waterstones, Gower Street). It can also be downloaded for personal use from
http://www.mhra.org.uk/Publications/Books/StyleGuide/download.shtml
Titles referred to in the essay text
Italics, or underlinings (use one or other, not both), are used for the titles of all works individually published
under their own titles: books, journals, plays, longer poems, pamphlets, and any other entire published
works. The titles of chapters in books or of articles in journals should be enclosed within single quotation
marks. The titles of poems or essays which form part of a larger volume or other whole, or the first lines of
poems used as titles, should also be given in single quotation marks:
Middlemarch, In Memoriam, King Lear

‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’, ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’, ‘The Miller’s Tale’
Titles of films, substantial musical compositions, and works of art are italicised. Titles of songs and other
short individual pieces are enclosed within single quotation marks.
Quotations
Short quotations (not more than about forty words of prose or two complete lines of verse) should be
enclosed in single quotation marks and run on with the main text. If not more than two complete lines of
verse are quoted but the quotation includes a line break, this should be marked with a spaced upright
stroke (/). For a quotation within a quotation, double quotation marks should be used:
Mrs Grose replies that ‘Master Miles only said “We must do nothing but what she likes!”’.
If a short quotation is used within a sentence, the final full point should be outside the closing quotation
mark; it may also be appropriate to alter the initial capital in such a quotation to lower case:
Do not be afraid of what Stevenson calls ‘a little judicious levity’.
Long quotations (more than about forty words of prose, prose quotations consisting of more than one
paragraph even if less than forty words, and verse quotations of more than two lines) should be broken off
by an increased space from the preceding and following lines of typescript, and indented an inch (normal
new paragraphs of text should always be indented half an inch). They should not be enclosed within
quotation marks. Long quotations should normally end with a full point; even though the original may use
other punctuation, there is no need (except for a question mark or exclamation mark) to preserve this at the
end of a quotation. Omissions within prose quotations should be marked by an ellipsis (three points within
square brackets: […]). Omitted lines of verse should be marked by an ellipsis on a separate line.
References
When you include material in your essay that you have drawn from another work, either from a literary text
or from another critic, you must distinguish your words from someone else’s by using single quotation
marks and, also, you must provide a footnote that gives the details of your source. All quotations,
therefore, will be accompanied by a footnote, but so will any information you include which you have
learned from the essays, articles, history books, reference works and electronic resources you might have
read for your essay. Your marker will want to know what you have consulted for information, and will
sometimes want to look at the source themselves. But the most important reason for citing sources is that
failure to provide full details of sources constitutes an act of plagiarism. It suggests that you are passing off
35
someone else’s work as your own, and this offence carries severe penalties that may lead to your
expulsion from the programme.
Your word-processing software may have a footnote function (usually in the ‘Insert’ pull-down menu).
Numbers for notes are placed after punctuation, such as commas or full stops, and quotation marks: ‘Mrs
Grose replies that ‘Master Miles only said “We must do nothing but what she likes!”’.1 If your computer
does not have a footnote facility, or the facility to place numbers in superscript, then place the number of
the note in brackets: ‘Mrs Grose replies that ‘Master Miles only said “We must do nothing but what she
likes!”’ (1). To convert a number to superscript in Word, highlight it, go to ‘Format’, then to ‘Font’ and tick
the ‘superscript’ box.
The footnotes or endnotes themselves should be set out as follows:
Books
Tom McArthur, Worlds of Reference: Lexicography, Learning and Language from the Clay Tablet to
the Computer (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), p. 59.
The author’s name is given as written on the title page of the book. The title is given in italics (or can be
underlined instead), and the main title is separated from the subtitle by a colon (even if the punctuation on
the title page is different). The place of publication (city, not country) comes next, then the name of the
press (without secondary matter such as ‘& Co.’, ‘Ltd.’). Remember to include the page number your
quotation is drawn from, preceded by ‘p.’ for ‘page’, or ‘pp.’ for ‘pages’.
Jean Starobinski, Montaigne in Motion, trans. by Arthur Goldhammer (Chicago: University of

Chicago Press, 1986), p. 174.
Emily Dickinson: Selected Letters, ed. by Thomas H. Johnson, 2nd edn (Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1985), pp. 194-97.
If the book you are using has been translated or edited by someone, you should include their name, as
above. However, it is the main author, rather than the translator or editor, whose name appears at the
beginning of the note (here Starobinski, rather than Goldhammer). If you are using a book of letters or
diary entries, for example, that contains the name of the main author within it (as here with Dickinson’s
Selected Letters), you do not need to repeat the author’s name at the beginning of the citation.
You should also specify which edition of a book you are using, if it is not the first edition of the work in
question (here, the second edition of Dickinson’s Selected Letters), because different editions may contain
different material, or have different page numbering.
Dictionary of the Middle Ages, ed. by Joseph R. Strayer and others (New York: Scribner, 1982), VI
(1985), 26.
If the work you are citing is a reference work, such as a dictionary or a guide to English literature, the
reference should begin with the title of the work, rather than the name of the editor. If there are more than
three editors or authors of a work, use the first name on the title page and ‘and others’. If one volume of a
multi-volume work has been used, the volume number should be given in roman numerals (here six has
been turned into VI). ‘p’ is usually omitted if a volume number is given.
Chapters or articles in books
1Henry James, ‘The Turn of the Screw’, in The Turn of the Screw and Other Stories, ed. by T.J. Lustig (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 197.
36
Martin Elsky, ‘Words, Things, and Names: Jonson’s Poetry and Philosophical Grammar’, in Classic
and Cavalier: Essays on Jonson and the Sons of Ben, ed. by Claude J. Summers and Ted-Larry
Pebworth (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1982), pp. 31-55 (p. 41).
The title of the chapter or article is put in single quotation marks and followed by the word ‘in’, then the
name of the book, with full publication details. The first and last page numbers of the article or chapter
should be given, preceded by ‘pp.’, and finally, the page number to which you are referring should be given
in brackets, preceded by ‘p.’, or, if you are referring to more than one page, ‘pp.’.
Articles in journals
Richard Hillyer, ‘In More than Name Only: Jonson’s “To Sir Horace Vere”’, Modern Language
Review, 85 (1990), 1-11 (p. 8).
The name of the article is followed directly by the name of the journal in which it appears, without the ‘in’
used for chapters in books (see above). After the title of the journal, give the volume number of the journal
(without writing ‘volume’ or ‘vol.’) and if the volume number is given in roman numerals, convert it to arabic
numerals (here ‘85’, rather than ‘LXXXV’. Follow this with the year in which the volume was published (here
1990), the first and last page numbers of the article (and when referring to journal articles rather than book
chapters, don’t use ‘pp.’), and finally, the page number to which you are referring, in brackets and preceded
by ‘p.’ or ‘pp.’.
Articles in newspapers and magazines
Michael Schmidt, ‘Tragedy of Three Star-Crossed Lovers’, Daily Telegraph, 1 February 1990, p. 14.
The method of citation is the same as for journal articles, except that the date of the newspaper should be
given, in place of the volume number and year.
Passages from plays

These should be referred to by act, scene and line number, e.g. King Lear, iv. 6. 104-110. Note that the act
number is given in Roman numerals and that there are full stops after act and scene numbers. The title of
the play is italicised. You should specify which edition you are using when you first refer to the play and in
your bibliography.
Electronic Resources
Electronic resources can provide useful information for use in your essays. However, their quality and
authority vary widely. While CD-ROM resources available on library computers are generally reliable,
internet resources such as personal websites are much less likely to be—or at least, there is no guarantee
that they are. You should use books and journal articles to check any information you find on the internet,
and the research for your essays should in any case extend well beyond internet resources.
When citing electronic resources, you should follow the style used for printed publications above as far as
possible. Information should be given in the following order: author’s name; title of item; title of complete
work/ resource; publication details (volume, issue, date); full address of the resource (URL), in angle
brackets; date at which the resource was consulted, in square brackets; location of passage cited, in
parentheses.
Kent Bach, ‘Performatives’, in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy <http://www.rep. routledge.com>
[accessed 3 October 2001].
E.E. (Edward Estlin) Cummings, ‘maggie and milly and molly and may’ in Literature Online
<http://lion.chadwyck.co.uk> [accessed 5 June 2001].
37
Subsequent References
When you refer to a source for a second time, you must still provide a footnote or an endnote, but you do
not need to repeat all the bibliographical details. You can give the reference as the surname of the author,
or surname and abbreviated title, if your bibliography holds more than one work by the author: ‘McArthur, p.
63’ or ‘McArthur, Worlds of Reference, p. 63’. If you are likely to refer to a small number of works many
times in an essay (if, for example, you are writing an essay that focuses on one book), you may identify an
abbreviation in the first full reference and include all subsequent references in your own text, e.g.:
Henry James, ‘The Turn of the Screw’, in The Turn of the Screw and Other Stories, ed. by T.J.
Lustig (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 197. Hereafter referred to in the main text as TS.
References to ‘The Turn of the Screw’ would then appear in brackets in your own text:
Mrs Grose replies that ‘Master Miles only said “We must do nothing but what she likes!”’ (TS 197).
Bibliography
All the material referred to in footnotes, and any other material you have consulted, must appear in a
bibliography at the end of the essay. The form is the same as the footnotes, except that the works appear
in alphabetical order, with the surname of the author or editor preceding the first name, and the page
number you referred to in your essay should be omitted (inclusive page numbers of articles in journals and
newspapers, or chapters in books should be retained).
Bach, Kent, ‘Performatives’, in Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy <http://www.rep. routledge.com>

[accessed 3 October 2001].
Elsky, Martin, ‘Words, Things, and Names: Jonson’s Poetry and Philosophical Grammar’, in Classic and
Cavalier: Essays on Jonson and the Sons of Ben, ed. by Claude J. Summers and Ted-Larry
Pebworth (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1982), pp. 31-55.
Schmidt, Michael, ‘Tragedy of Three Star-Crossed Lovers’, Daily Telegraph, 1 February 1990, 14.
Starobinski, Jean, Montaigne in Motion, trans. by Arthur Goldhammer (Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1986)
Summers, Claude J., and Ted-Larry Pebworth, eds, Classic and Cavalier: Essays on Jonson and the Sons
of Ben (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1982)
It is easier for your reader to find information in your bibliography if you do not divide it up into categories of
work (such as ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’): include all works in one list. The only exception to this is archival
material.
Plagiarism
You are reminded that all work submitted as part of the requirements for any examination of the University
of London or Birkbeck College, including coursework, must be expressed in your own words and
incorporate your own ideas and judgements. Plagiarism – that is, the presentation of another person’s
ideas or words as though they were your own – must be avoided at all costs. When writing essays, never
use the ‘cut and paste’ function to move words from the internet or your notes on your reading into your
essay. Only ever use ‘cut and paste’ to move your own words within your own essay. Direct quotations
from the published or unpublished work of others must always be clearly identified as such by being placed
inside quotation marks, and a full reference to their source must be provided in the proper form. Remember
that a series of short quotations from several different sources, if not clearly identified as such, constitutes
plagiarism just as much as does an unacknowledged quotation from a single source. Equally, if you
summarise another person’s ideas you must refer to that person in your text, and include the work referred
to in your bibliography. These rules apply equally to printed sources, such as books and articles, and to
electronic sources, such as Internet sites. Failure to observe these rules may result in an allegation of
plagiarism.
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Birkbeck views plagiarism extremely seriously and there is a range of severe penalties to deal with it, up to
and including expulsion from the degree course. You should therefore consult your tutor or programme
director if you are in any doubt about what is permissible. Recourse to the services of ‘ghost-writing’
agencies or of outside word-processing agencies which offer ‘correction/improvement of English’ is strictly
forbidden, and students who make use of the services of such agencies render themselves liable for an
academic penalty.
Students are reminded that they are required to submit their work through Moodle and the Turn-It-In
programme. All essays submitted to the Department of English, Theatre and Creative Writing will be
checked with Turnitin and/or other plagiarism detection software for plagiarised material. Please keep
copies of all work and bibliographies in case your work is called into question.
Collusion
Like plagiarism, ‘collusion’ is an assessment offence. Any piece of writing you submit must be your own
work. In the humanities, the way you structure your argument and express yourself is an inherent part of
producing work of the required standard, and you will be judged on that, so it is not acceptable to get an
inappropriate level of help in this area.
You may ask friends, family or fellow students to proof-read your work and offer advice on punctuation,
grammar, and presentational issues, but it is not acceptable for someone else to come up with your
arguments for you, or to re-write a draft you have produced.
If your first language is not English, you may find your written work a challenge initially, and it is acceptable
to ask someone to look over your work and give you advice on punctuation, grammar and phrasing.
However, that advice must be minimal and the argument and structure of any assessment must be your
own work, and written in your own words.
It is unacceptable to pay someone to write (or re-write) your essays for you and if you are discovered to
have done so, you risk expulsion from the programme.
Birkbeck and the School Of Arts have a range of services in place to help you improve your academic
writing, so if you are concerned at all and would like some additional support, you should contact your
personal tutor, or contact Dr Fleur Rothschild, the Learning Development Tutor for the School of Arts, or
follow the link to Student Services at: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/facilities/support
39
Common Awards Scheme
Undergraduate Programmes
Introduction
Since 2008/9 the majority of Birkbeck’s undergraduate programmes have been offered under the Common
Awards Scheme (CAS). Programmes therefore have common regulations, and a common structure. This
ensures consistency of practice amongst programmes and also makes it possible for you to take modules
from Departments across Birkbeck which are outside of your normal programme (subject to programme
regulations and timetable constraints).
You are strongly encouraged to read the information provided at the link below. Further details on
programme regulations and Birkbeck policies are available on the website:
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeck/services/rules
Some areas covered by CAS Regulations include:

 Degree Structure
 Degree Classification
 Failure and Re-Assessment
 Plagiarism and Academic Offences
 Mitigating Circumstances
Students are advised to consult also the programme specification document for BA Arts and Humanities
available via this link: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/registry/for-students
PLEASE NOTE: from 2015/16 Birkbeck’s Common Awards Scheme regulations

changed to include an amendment to the regulation of reassessments. From
2015/16 any reassessment awarded is subject to a cap at the pass mark (40%
undergraduate and 50% postgraduate):
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/registry/policies/regulations
40
Marks, degree classification and grade-related criteria
Each piece of written work will be awarded a numerical mark (0 to 100 per cent). You will also receive
written/typed comments in the margins of the essay and on a summary feedback sheet, and markers will
be very willing to discuss these with you.
Work that does not count for assessment (or ‘formative’ coursework) will normally be marked only by one
person; this means that it can be marked and returned to you as quickly as possible.
How the final mark is awarded for a module is usually explained in the course description (for the various
different ‘weightings’ of exams, essays and exercises, see under the relevant module information in this
booklet).
The scale of marks and their classification equivalents is as follows:
Numerical Mark Classification

70-100 First
60-69 Upper Second (2.1)
50-59 Lower Second (2.2)
40-49 Third
30-39 Fail (compensated)
0-29 Fail
Determination of Honours Classification:
The classification of the honours degree to be awarded shall be based on the average of all the weighted
results for completed modules from Levels 5 (single-weighted) and Level 6 (double-weighted) that have
been assigned a mark of 0-100.
Birkbeck sets the class of Degree that may be awarded as follows:
First: 70% or above for the average weighted module results

Upper Second: 60% or above for the average weighted module results
Lower Second: 50% or above for the average weighted module results
Third: 40% or above for the average weighted module results
The final Degree classification agreed through the assessment process is based on academic judgement
and the above calculation is only used as a guide.
Once a student has fulfilled the criteria for the honours degree they may not undertake further modules in
order to improve his/her average result.
Whilst the arithmetical average is the main factor under CAS regulations, a preponderance of marks in a
particular class, with good support, will normally ensure a degree classification in the higher class should
the average result be borderline (i.e. within 2% of a classification). In borderline cases, all modules that
carry credit (including Level 4) may be taken into account when calculating preponderance.
Preponderance is when 180 credits or above (i.e. 50% or more) are in the higher class. The classification of
a degree is at the discretion of the BA Arts and Humanities Sub-Board of Examiners. All marks are
provisional until agreed by the Birkbeck Board of Examiners.
41
Levels and Weightings
For degree classification all modules are assigned a ‘level’ and a ‘weighting’.
Levels:
BA degree programmes are made up of 12 modules, some of which are at level 4, some level 5 and some
level 6. Degree programmes at Birkbeck differ in the number of modules required at each level. In BA Arts
and Humanities you will take 4 modules at Level 4, 4 modules at Level 5 and 4 modules at Level 6. Thus
the balance of levels four, five and six is generally 4-4-4 on this programme.
Weighting:
First year core and option modules (level 4) are weighted at zero, that is, they are not included in the final
degree average. The core second year module (currently Connecting the Arts at level 5), level 5 option
modules and Level 6 half (15 credit) options are weighted at 1. Level 6 (30 credit) optional modules are
weighted at 2.
These weightings come into effect only at the end of the degree course. In final degree classification, when
the exam board works out a student’s average numerical score, weighting is a way of giving more
prominence to work done in the later part of the course. It is based on the idea that students progress
during their course and that progression should be rewarded. Building in a reward for progression is
common practice in universities, and it has been regularly used in other departments at Birkbeck in the
past. It is now an integral part of the Common Awards Scheme.
In final degree classification the weighted average will be used only in the framework of the ‘criteria for
degree classification’ given above.
Please note: The assessment criteria given here apply only to Inter-disciplinary courses run by the
Department of English, Theatre and Creative Writing. It is the responsibility of the student to make sure
they have correct information about assessment criteria in each Department in which they take modules.
Please see the Common Awards Scheme (http://www.bbk.ac.uk/reg/regs/cas) for more detailed
information.
Examiners are invited to assess the following aspects of the work:

 originality of candidate’s ideas, aims and approach
 understanding of literary and critical issues
 quality of analysis
 relevance
 awareness of secondary literature
 coherence and rigour of argument
 clarity of expression and quality of English
 organisation
 presentation
Marking Scheme:
80-100% Possesses all the qualities of first class work, but performed to an exceptional
High First standard in most areas.
Class
May display characteristics more usually found at postgraduate level or that
demonstrate the potential for publication.
70-79% Shows a sophisticated understanding of the question, presenting a highly persuasive
First Class and original response. Displays an outstandingly perceptive knowledge of the primary
text(s) under discussion, making creative, incisive and/or subtle use of quotations.
Presents an elegantly structured argument that displays sustained critical
independence and cogent analysis.
42
Engages critically and imaginatively with secondary literature (whether critical,
theoretical or historical), moving well beyond the material presented in lectures and
seminars and positioning its own argument within academic debates.
Deploys a lively and sophisticated prose style with precision rather than pretension.
Demonstrates an advanced command of critical vocabulary and the rules of grammar,

syntax, spelling and punctuation.
Referencing (including quotations, footnotes and bibliography) immaculately
presented according to departmental criteria.
60-69% Shows a sound understanding of the question, presenting a perceptive and relevant
Upper Second response. Displays detailed knowledge of the primary text(s) under discussion,
making sustained, specific and often thoughtful use of quotations.
Presents a lucid and well-structured argument that displays critical independence and
effective analysis.
Engages critically with secondary literature (whether critical, theoretical or historical)

and/or material from lectures and seminars, doing so in the service of an independent
argument. Deploys a lucid and fluent prose style.
Demonstrates an accurate command of critical vocabulary and the rules of grammar,

Referencing (including quotations, footnotes and bibliography) presented according to

departmental criteria.
50-59% Shows some understanding of the question, and presents a largely relevant response.
Lower
Displays adequate knowledge of the primary text(s) under discussion, often making
Second
relevant use of quotations. Attempts a structured argument, but may be prone to the
general, the arbitrary, the derivative, the incomplete and/or the descriptive.
Makes use of secondary literature (whether critical, theoretical or historical) and

material from lectures and seminars, but not always in the service of an independent
argument. Deploys a fairly fluent prose style.
Demonstrates an adequate command of critical vocabulary and the rules of grammar,

Referencing (including quotations, footnotes and bibliography) largely presented

according to departmental criteria.
40-49% Shows a limited understanding of the question and presents a less than competent
Third Class response that lacks focus.
Displays a barely adequate or sometimes erroneous knowledge of the primary text(s)

under discussion, lacking relevant quotations.
Either fails to present an argument or presents one that is incoherent, incomplete

and/or flawed.
Makes little or no use of secondary literature (whether critical, theoretical or historical)

or uses it inappropriately and derivatively; is heavily reliant on material derived from
lectures and seminars without evidence of independent assimilation of it.
Deploys an inaccurate and unclear prose style.
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Demonstrates an insecure command of critical vocabulary and the rules of grammar,
Referencing (including quotations, footnotes and bibliography) poorly presented

30-39% Shows a scant understanding of the question and presents a minimal or partial
Fail response that is severely limited.
(compensated)
Displays an inadequate or frequently erroneous knowledge of the primary text(s)
under discussion, either lacking quotations or quoting them inaccurately.
Either fails to present an argument or presents unrelated weak assertions or opinions.
Demonstrates little or no reading of secondary literature (whether critical, theoretical or

historical); makes garbled use of material from lectures and seminars that reveals little
coherent understanding of it.
Displays a weak, inept prose style that is sometimes incoherent.
Demonstrates a poor command of critical vocabulary and the rules of grammar,

Referencing (including quotations, footnotes and bibliography) poorly presented

0-29% Shows little or no understanding of the question, and presents an irrelevant or
Fail confused response.
Displays minimal knowledge of the primary text(s) under discussion.

Fails to present an argument or demonstrate any significant analytical ability.
Demonstrates little or no reading of secondary literature; makes no or garbled use of

material from lectures and seminars.
Deploys a rudimentary or incoherent prose style that fails to communicate ideas.
Demonstrates little or no command of critical vocabulary and the rules of grammar,

Referencing (including quotations, footnotes and bibliography) inadequate or absent.
Notes:
 The above table is designed to give an indication of the qualities that are required in the different degree
classifications, and to show the factors that are taken into account when marking degree work. Frequently,
essays do not fall neatly into any one band. For example, an essay might have the ‘lucid and well-structured
argument’ of an Upper Second while deploying the ‘fairly fluent prose style’ of a Lower Second. In such cases
the marker has to weigh these qualities against each other and strike a balance in the final mark and
classification.
 These criteria will be applied when assessing the work of disabled students (including those with dyslexia), on
the assumption that they receive prior learning support. Students who think they might qualify for support
should refer to the Disability Statement in this handbook for further information.
 Markers will apply some of these criteria (particularly those relating to referencing) more leniently when
marking exam scripts; more lapses in the accuracy of written English will also be accepted.
44
Exam Preparation and Support
Exam Essentials
You will find much of the general information you need to know about examination procedures (including
what to do if things don’t go according to plan) at:
Some key points are as follows:
It is your responsibility to make sure you are registered for the correct exams, and you will be contacted by
Registry to remind you of this in November/December. When registering for exams, you will have an
opportunity to notify Registry of any special circumstances affecting you (eg disability, religious observance).
Details of which examinations you have been registered for can be found on your My Studies page. Please
check that they are correct at http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeckprofile. Examinations can be scheduled from
May-June at any point and are allocated centrally. The date cannot be changed after it is set. Dates for
exams will be released in March, and you will be informed as soon as possible of the set dates. Timetabling
for exams is subject to many complex variables, and we are sorry that it is not possible to notify you of the
dates any earlier. You will receive notification of your personalised timetable on your My Birkbeck Profile
page http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeckprofile Students are reminded that they should not schedule holidays
during May-June.
Approaching Exams
You will find a great deal of advice on the Learning Support pages of the My Birkbeck website
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/learning-development where Student Union-run courses are also
advertised.
Past exam papers may be accessed through the Birkbeck Library website at
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/library/exam-papers/exam-papers New courses will not have past exam papers, and
even established courses may have followed a slightly different syllabus in past years; however, looking at
past papers at the appropriate level will still help to prepare you for exams.
Some students suffer from extreme anxiety about exams, and if you are affected in this way it can be helpful
to contact Birkbeck’s free professional counselling service on 0203 907 0700 (http://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-
services/counselling-service). It is best to do this well in advance of the exam period.
Absence from exams, problems or illness during examinations

A range of issues may crop up which could prevent you from attending an exam, or which you feel may
have impaired your performance during the exam. The links at the side of the webpage at
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/exams cover most such eventualities.
In general terms, if you are in an exam and something is the matter, let the invigilator know. If you are
unable to attend an exam please contact your course administrator as soon as possible. They will advise
you to complete a mitigating circumstances form and to submit supporting documentation. If necessary, you
will normally be offered the opportunity to re-sit the examination on the next occasion it is held.
Withdrawal from, or deferral of, examination

If you think you need to withdraw your entry from an examination or defer completion of required
coursework for a particular module, discuss your situation at the earliest opportunity with your personal
tutor. If you still want to withdraw or defer contact your course administrator who will advise you to fill in a
mitigating circumstances form. Without formal permission to withdraw from an examination or to defer
completion of a course, you will be deemed to have failed the examination of that module. If you are
permitted to withdraw, you would normally expect to enter for examination in September or in the following
year and should include the deferred module on your examination entry form in that year.
45
Notification of results of examinations
Details of the notification procedures are found at:
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/exams/results In most years, finalists’ results are published via
individual My Birkbeck profile pages (http://www.bbk.ac.uk/mybirkbeckprofile) on the third Friday in July.
Non-finalists’ confirmed module results, are normally published on My Birkbeck profile pages by the end of
July.
Appeals
Details of appeals procedures can be found at:
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/registry/policies/documents/appeals-policy-and-procedure-taught.pdf In general terms
there is no right of appeal against the results of examinations on academic grounds. Appeals in respect of
individual marks or the final classification can be made only on grounds of procedural errors in the
administration or conduct of the examinations.
Resits/Failure of Examinations
If for any reason you fail the examination of a module you may re-sit the examination, at the next occasion
when the paper is set. Normally this will be in August or September, or the summer of the following year for
first- and second-year modules, but most third- and fourth-year modules are taught in alternate years and
are subject to change.
46
Attendance Framework and eRegisters
Attendance Framework
Consistent and regular student attendance in class (or equivalent) promotes and affords student success.
Birkbeck, University of London expects you to consistently attend all timetabled sessions, including
lectures, seminars, group and individual tutorials, learning support sessions, workshops, laboratories, field
trips, inductions and demonstrations. Some modules have assessed minimum attendance requirements
and most modules in the School of Arts require students to attend a minimum of 75% or three out of every
four classes.
Please ensure you read the full Attendance Framework for the 2019/20 academic year available from:
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/registry/policies/policies-1
eRegisters
eRegisters is Birkbeck’s electronic class register system.
Card readers have been installed in most Birkbeck classrooms, to allow you to record your attendance by
tapping your ID card. You should register your attendance in all your teaching events. Simply tap your ID
card on the reader anytime from 15min before the class starts, to 15min after the class is scheduled
to end.
In locations without card readers, your attendance will usually be recorded manually, and entered into the
system by a member of staff.
You will be able to view your own attendance history on your My Birkbeck Profile. Schools will monitor
attendance as they always have done, and talk to students who they think are at risk due to poor
attendance. This new system simply means they can spend less time taking registers, and more time
teaching.
NB: In some events you may be asked to complete a paper register in addition to tapping your ID card, this
is so we can be sure the new system is working correctly.
Student Engagement
Birkbeck collects student data for the purposes of supporting your engagement with learning and teaching.
This includes activity in Birkbeck computer systems and swiping into teaching venues. If you are not
actively engaging with your studies, the College may contact you to signpost you to Student Attendance
Framework or other services to help you succeed.
47
Personal tutors
Personal tutors are members of our academic staff, who will meet regularly with you throughout your
course. Members of the Humanities academic teaching team will act as personal tutor for students on the
BA Arts and Humanities programme.
Read our policy on personal tutoring at Birkbeck
How can your tutor help?
Your personal tutor is there to advise and support you with all sorts of problems. You'll be able to talk to
your tutor about things like:
 module options and your course of study

 difficulties meeting deadlines
 exam revision and study concerns
 timetabling difficulties
 problems outside of Birkbeck that may have an effect on your studies
Your personal tutor is assigned to you in Year 1 of your study on the programme. Your personal tutor will
be listed under ‘Academic Support’ on your My Birkbeck student profile. Please check your profile for
contact details of your personal tutor prior to the start of term.
48
Student Support/Student Services
Student Services at Birkbeck encompass a wide range of services within Birkbeck, aimed at supporting
students' learning experience and personal development.
Advice Service
Our trained advisors are on hand to provide information and advice about many aspects of your studies at
Birkbeck including but not limited to: application and enrolment process, applying for government loans and
financial support from Birkbeck, and payment options.
Where we cannot answer questions immediately, we will either get back to you with an answer or refer your
query to a specialist team who can.
Ask us a question, call us on 020 3907 0700 or come along to our drop-in sessions for help and support.
Alternatively, please visit our website for further information.
Careers and Employability Service
We provide comprehensive careers advice, events and information services both in person and online. The
service is free and available to all Birkbeck students and recent graduates.
To find out how we can help you to enhance your career development and employability ask us a question
or visit the Students’ Employability Space. Alternatively, please visit our website for further information.
Counselling Service
We offer a free, non-judgmental and confidential counselling service to support you with emotional or
psychological difficulties during your time at university.
To make an appointment for an initial consultation, please email [email protected] with your
name, student ID, gender and telephone number. Alternatively, please visit our website for information
about the service including a comprehensive selection of self-help resources which may be useful in
gaining a greater understanding of the personal challenges you are facing and the ways in which you can
think about addressing them.
Disability and Dyslexia Service
At Birkbeck we welcome students with disabilities and we are committed to helping you seize the
opportunities that studying here presents. Regardless of your condition, our experienced, understanding
and welcoming staff are here to support you during your studies.
To make an appointment, please contact the Wellbeing Team from your My Birkbeck profile by clicking on
‘Ask us’ and selecting ‘New Ask‘ or call us on 020 3907 0700. Alternatively, please visit our website for
information about a Study Support Plan, Disabled Students’ Allowance, free dyslexia screening and more.
Study Skills
Through a range of workshops, accessible learning materials, and one-to-one meetings, our Learning
Development Service is here to help you to fulfil your potential in a number of ways while studying at
Birkbeck. Visit our Learning Skills module on Moodle for resources that will help you build academic skills
and increase academic performance.
Ask us a question, call us on 020 3907 0700 or visit our website for advice and support with study skills.
49
Mental Health Advisory Service
We provide specialist advice and support in a safe, non-judgemental environment. Like the Counselling
Service, we are here to help you when you are going through emotional or psychological difficulties. The
main difference between our services is that the emphasis of our work is on practical support, rather than
therapeutic interventions, to enable you to progress through your studies.
To make an appointment, please contact the Wellbeing Team from your My Birkbeck profile by clicking on
‘Ask us’ and selecting ‘New Ask‘ or call us on 020 3907 0700. For further information about the service,
please visit our website.
Nursery Service
We understand that studying while caring for a child or children can be especially challenging and so we
offer an affordable, professional evening nursery service, based in our central London campus, for children
aged from two to six years.
For further information and contact details, please visit our website.
50
Study Skills Support and Available Resources
The Department of English, Theatre and Creative Writing is conscious of the fact that many of our students
have experienced an extended break from formal academic study and may need help with developing
effective study habits and practices to maximise their enjoyment of their time in the Department. We are
aware of the preference of many students for the opportunity of face-to-face help and advice. We provide a
continually expanding programme of induction into the basic study skills of reading, listening, note-taking
and essay-writing to academic standards.
Study Skills Programmes
Every Department within the School of Arts has a provision for student support and the programmes vary
as they are targeted at specific degree requirements. Please contact your administrator if you are having
any difficulties in completing your coursework. There is help available to you at every point in your degree,
and we are more than happy to point you in the right direction.
Learning Development Tutor for the School of Arts, Dr Fleur Rothschild
As Learning Development Tutor, Dr Rothschild supplements the assistance offered by Departments in the
School of Arts to students in their first year of study. Her support takes the form of a programme of
workshops and short courses, providing additional guidance on how to enhance study performance. Dr
Rothschild also extends advice and support to individual first-year student through an appointment system
for one-to-one meetings (email [email protected]). For further information see
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/arts/about-us/key-staff/learning-development-tutor.
Helping you get the best possible start to your course
At Birkbeck we want to make sure you get all the help you need to get your studies off to a great start and
to provide you with support during your course. On our Learning Development Service website you can
access a range of online resources to help you:
 consider how you can achieve your goals

 find out what studying at Birkbeck is like
 improve your study skills and succeed on your course
 The online materials are interactive tutorials that are free to use and you can work through them at
your own pace.
For further information on Learning Development Services available within Birkbeck, please see the
website for details: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/student-services/learning-development
Birkbeck Resources
Birkbeck Library
Birkbeck’s Library (http://www.bbk.ac/lib/) has a solid and growing core of books, journals and reference. It is
primarily an undergraduate library, but through a careful acquisitions policy we try to provide general resources
for MA students (although we cannot guarantee that the library covers all areas of interest and work). Most of
our material is for three week loan, but we also have material that is one week loan, one day loan and some
material (marked Reference) cannot be borrowed at all.
The long opening hours allow you to borrow books after classes. There is an e-mail and telephone enquiry,
online reservation and online renewal service, an online catalogue and the eLibrary gives access to
electronic resources such as electronic journals (ejournals), databases and past exam papers.
Should you have any questions about library provision, please contact the Department’s Library Liaison
Representative or the Department’s Subject Librarian.
51
The Library has a separate Periodicals, A/V and “Reading Room Collection”. The latter consists of
photocopies of articles and essential books which have been placed there at a lecturer’s request and are for
reference use only within the Library.
Information about the layout, collections and services, the Library catalogue and access to the Library’s
extensive range of electronic resources is via the Library web site http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/ It is very
important to familiarise yourself with this site. Detailed information about the Library’s resources can be
found in the online Subject Guide.
An introduction to the Library and bibliographical skills is timetabled at the start of your course at which you
will meet the Subject Librarian who looks after the collection. They will introduce you to the Library and its
electronic resources. In addition, the Library has an online tutorial called LIFE (Library Induction for
Everyone) which is always available: http://www.bbk.ac.uk/lib/life/ which has a module in it on ‘Researching
a topic’.
eLibrary
As well as its physical holdings, the Library has a comprehensive range of e-resources including
bibliographic databases (which tell you what has been written on a topic), and electronic journals. Most of
the electronic resources can be accessed from outside Birkbeck using your IT Services username and
password. If you did not receive this upon enrolment, please ask for them at IT Services reception (Malet
Street).
Library Disability and Dyslexia Service

The Library offers a wide range of services and assistive technology for students with disabilities, dyslexia
and mental health conditions. Before you can use our services, you must complete your Study Support
Plan.
Interlibrary loans
The Birkbeck Library also runs an interlibrary loan service to enable you to obtain copies of books and
articles not held in its own collections. As it can take a couple of weeks to obtain copies of requested
materials, you are advised to plan ahead in your general reading and essay preparation so as to make use
of this facility. There may be a small charge for this service.
52
Appendix A: Getting Started with Moodle
Birkbeck uses ‘Moodle’ as its Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) platform. Moodle is used to house course
documentation (handbooks, module outlines, coursework, coversheets etc…) materials (readings,
PowerPoint presentations, slide lists etc…) and for electronic submission and marking of coursework.
You can access Moodle here: http://moodle.bbk.ac.uk/ To log in you need your ITS username and
password, a computer with a connection to the internet and a web browser such as Internet Explorer or
Firefox.
If you are having login problems, but your password is working for other services, please change your
password via the online form at http://www.bbk.ac.uk/its/password (allow one hour after completing this
form, and then log in to the VLE again). If this hasn't resolved the problem please contact the ITS Helpdesk
by submitting an Ask query, telephone (020 3926 3456), or in person (Malet St building, next to the
entrance to the Library).
Please see below some general information on getting started with Moodle:
Browsing your modules
Once logged in, your screen will be similar to that shown below. There are three columns.
 The right column contains the navigation and settings menu. You can expand or collapse items
within this panel.
 The middle column contains announcements and updates about Moodle.
 The right column contains Blocks such as a calendar, online users, etc…
Once you click on “My home” in the navigation panel, you should see the courses to which you are
enrolled in “Course Overview” in the middle column.
53
After clicking on a course title you will see your course in the middle column.
As you browse the contents of a module, a breadcrumb trail will appear above the contents of each page,
as shown
Use the links therein or the Back button on your web browser to go back to previously-visited pages.
Submitting Assignments
Turnitin is a web-based service that checks for ‘originality’. It is used to check your assignment against
other assignments, internet sources and journal articles.
All coursework must be submitted via Moodle.

 Click on the Assignments link within the course module
 You will then see the Summary page with the “Start date, Due date and Post date”.
 Then click on the My Submissions tab and enter a title and browse for the file you want to submit
on your computer. Also, please confirm that this submission is your own work by ticking the box.
 Click on Add Submission.
A window will open with a synchronizing data message. This will close after a few seconds. In the My
Submissions tab you will be able to see the new status, showing that your submission successfully
uploaded to Turnitin.
54
Viewing your mark and feedback
If your tutor has marked the assignments online using GradeMark, students will be able to access their
grades and feedback through the GradeMark icon. This is found on the My Summary page.
Click on the apple icon and a new page will open which contains your tutor’s feedback and General
Comments. You can download your original file by clicking on the arrow on the right.
If you have any difficulties using Moodle please contact ITS Helpdesk via an Ask query.
55
Appendix B: Mitigating Circumstances Form
2019/20
MIT-CIRCS
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Page 3 of 3
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Appendix C: Campus Map
http://www.bbk.ac.uk/maps
59

BA Arts and Humanities Yr1 Handbook

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School of Arts

Published August 2019

 come to an understanding of important ideas and concepts in the study of culture;

Autumn Term Spring Term Summer Term

Birkbeck will close at 6pm on Birkbeck will close at 6pm on

Core/Compulsory Module Coursework Deadlines 2018/19

COMPULSORY: ENHU003S4 Methods in Cultural Study: Crossing the Disciplines

BA Arts and Humanities Staff Contact Details

Name Email Address Phone Number

Web Address Mailing Address

Clare Thomas Debora Quattrocchi

Structure of the Degree

 2 x Humanities modules (both core/compulsory) and 2 x Arts options in Year 1

 2 x Humanities modules (both core/compulsory) and 1 Arts option in Year 1

Connecting the Arts (Core) School of Arts Option Humanities or School of

Level 5 Level 4 Level 5

Humanities or School of Arts Option Humanities or School of Arts Humanities or School of

Level 5 Level 5 Level 6

Humanities Option School of Arts Option Humanities Project (Core)

Level 6 Level 6 Level 6

School of Arts Option School of Arts Option

Connecting the Arts (Core) Humanities or School of Arts Option

Humanities Option School of Arts Option

Humanities Option School of Arts Option

School of Arts Option Humanities Project (Core)

Enrolment: Important Information

My Birkbeck student profile

Fees / Student Loans / Financial Support and Advice

The full Fees Policy may be accessed online at:

Moodle (Birkbeck’s Virtual Learning Environment Platform)

Books: to buy or borrow?

Please note the following as it will be strictly enforced:

Student Union Societies

Staff-student exchange and student feedback

Career Development - Information, Advice, Workshops & Courses

Online Careers Resources: www.careerstagged.co.uk/

Birkbeck Talent: recruitment service

Monday 30 Monday 13 January to Monday 27 April to

BA Humanities Level 4 Module 1 (Core)

Key Concepts in Cultural Analysis: The Production of the Human, 2019-2020

Time: Wednesdays 6.00-7.20pm

Introducing the course

The course will be taught by lectures and seminars.

Through the course students will:

 Be familiar with key articulations of the question of the human

The responsibilities of students

Week 1, 2nd Oct 2019: What is The Human?

Week 2, 9th Oct 2019: The Human Subject

Week 3, 16th Oct 2019: Seminar: The Human Subject

Week 4, 23rd Oct 2019: Beastly Human Power

Week 5, 30th Oct 2019: Seminar: Beastly Human Power

Week 7, 13th Nov 2019: Mind, Body, and Brutality: Descartes

Week 8, 20th Nov 2019: Seminar: Mind, Body, and Brutality

Week 11, 11h Dec 2019: Essay Writing Skills

Week 1, 15th Jan 2020: Constructing the human I: Frankenstein

Week 2, 22nd Jan 2020: Seminar: Constructing the human I

Week 3, 29th Jan 2020: Constructing the human II: Marx

Week 4, 5th Feb 2020: Seminar: Constructing the human II

Week 5, 12th Feb 2020: From Evolution to Eugenics

Week Four: DEADLINE: Essay, 2000 words, 35%