DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS
UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENT HANDBOOK
2016/2017
For enquiries please contact:
Department of Classics
Royal Holloway, University of London
Egham Hill, Egham
Surrey TW20 0EX
Mrs Margaret Scrivner, Department Manager (Classics)
Email: m.scrivner@rhul.ac.uk
Telephone: 01784 443203
Mrs Sue Turnbull, Faculty Administrator (Classics)
Email: sue.turnbull@rhul.ac.uk
Telephone: 01784 443417
Disclaimer
This document was published in September 2016 and was correct at that time. The Department* reserves the right to modify any statement if necessary, make variations to the content or methods of delivery of programmes of study, to discontinue programmes, or merge or combine programmes if such actions are reasonably considered to be necessary by the College. Every effort will be made to keep disruption to a minimum, and to give as much notice as possible.
* Please note, the term ‘Department’ is used to refer to ‘Departments’, ‘Centres’ and ‘Schools’. Students on joint or combined degree programmes will need to use two departmental handbooks.
An electronic copy of this handbook can be found on your departmental website (www.royalholloway.ac.uk/classics/informationforcurrentstudents/home.aspx) where it will be possible to follow the hyperlinks to relevant webpages.
For enquiries please contact: 3
1.1Welcome 4
1.2How to find us: the Department 5
The Department of Classics is located on the first floor of the International Building (IB). Access during working hours is from the lobby at the top of the outside stairway on the south side of the building opposite the Student Union. Teaching staff and administrative staff offices are located here, including the departmental office shared with the School of Modern Languages, Literature and Culture. The International Building can be found on the College campus map as building 15. 5
1.3Map of the Egham campus 5
1.4How to find us: the staff 5
1.5How to find us: the Departmental offices 6
1.6Staff Contacts and Research Interests 7
2Communication 9
2.1Email 9
2.2Post 10
2.3Telephone and postal address 10
2.4Notice boards 10
2.5Personal Advisers 11
2.6Questionnaires 12
2.7Location of the Classics Department 12
2.8Meetings with members of staff 12
3Attendance and Absence 13
3.1Dates of terms 13
3.2Reading weeks 13
4Degree Structure 19
4.1Classics degree programmes 20
4.1.1Educational Aims of Programmes 20
4.1.2Programme Structure 21
4.1.3Single Honours 21
4.1.4Combined Honours programmes with a Minor component in Philosophy 24
4.1.5Joint Honours 25
4.1.6Courses taught in the Classics Department 30
4.1.7Course choices 30
4.1.8 Year 1 (Stage 1) 31
4.1.9 Introductory Courses (0.5 unit = 15 credits) 31
4.1.10Year 2 (Stage 2) and Year 3 (Stage 3) 32
4.2Guide to Taught Courses 32
4.2.1 Language Courses 32
4.2.2 Introductory Courses 33
4.2.3Year 2 and Year 3 Courses 35
4.2.4Courses from outside the department 48
4.2.5Courses in other London colleges 48
4.3Course registrations 48
4.4Change of programme 48
4.5Exchange Programmes 49
5Facilities 49
5.1Libraries 49
5.2Photocopying, printing and computing 50
5.2.1Photocopying 50
5.2.2Printing 50
5.2.3Computing 50
6Information Retrieval 50
6.1Buying books 51
6.2Which translation to use? 51
6.3Libraries 51
6.3.1The College library 51
6.3.2Institute of Classical Studies Library 52
6.4Text collections 52
6.5Collections of ancient texts 53
6.6Dictionaries & encyclopaedias 53
6.6.1Dictionaries 53
6.6.2Specialist dictionaries and lexica 53
6.6.3 Encyclopaedias 53
6.7Journals 54
7Teaching and Learning 54
7.1Introduction 54
7.2Teaching methods 54
7.3Tutors and Feedback 55
7.4University teaching and learning 56
7.5The Credit Weighting Scheme & Independent Guided Study Time 56
7.6The British system used in Royal Holloway 56
7.7Centre for the Development of Academic Skills (CeDAS) 57
1.1.1Academic Skills for All 57
1.1.2Academic English for International Students 57
1.1.3Academic Skills for your subject 57
CeDAS also run workshops that are embedded into the curriculum of academic programmes. These have proven to be highly effective because the skills you learn are closely connected to particular academic tasks - especially writing tasks - within a specific discipline. Further details about this provision are to be found in the course information of participating departments. 57
57
1.1.41-to-1 Writing Tutorials 57
1.1.5Maths and Statistics Support 58
1.1.6Online Resources 58
There are several online resources to support students' academic skills development and language learning. Here are some subscription resources available to Royal Holloway students. 58
2The Study Environment & Managing Study Time 58
1.1Studying in the library 59
1.2Managing your study time 59
8How to read for what you want in a book/journal article 60
8.1Some common abbreviations: 61
8.2Skim reading for something specific 61
8.3Using online resources 62
9Taking Notes from Reading 62
9.1What kind of notes are they?: 62
9.2What are the notes for? 62
9.3Using notes again 63
9.4Making your notes easily re-usable 63
9.5Noting sources 63
9.6Storing notes 63
10Taking Lecture Notes 64
11Seminars 65
11.1Preparation before the seminar 65
11.2What to do in a seminar 66
12In-Class Presentations 66
13Essay Writing 68
13.1General Points 68
13.2What to do when given an essay title 68
13.3How to ‘decode’ the essay title 69
Some titles use ‘examiner’s code-words’ that imply a certain approach. You will see the ones common in your subject area by looking at past examination papers and coursework essay titles. Here are a few samples: 69
13.4Tackling the essay itself: PLANNING 69
13.5After the plan – the writing: first stages 70
13.6Relevance: what is it? 70
13.7Writing Style 70
13.8Cohesion and logic. 71
13.9The main body: how to structure the essay 72
13.9.1Persuading 72
13.9.2Arguing 72
13.9.3Simple explanation 73
13.9.4More subtle explanation 73
13.10Conclusions 73
13.11General Word-Processing Tips 73
14Extended Essays/Dissertations 74
15Language Learning 75
16The Advanced Literary Commentary (Original Language) 76
16.1Content & approach 76
16.2Detailed commentary 76
17Departmental Style Guide 77
17.1Students with recognised writing issues 78
17.2Layout 78
17.3Word Count 79
17.4Quotations 80
17.4.1Short Quotations 80
17.4.2Long Quotations 80
17.4.3Special cases – verse and inscriptions 81
17.5References 81
17.5.1Referencing Academic Work 82
17.5.2Referencing Ancient Sources 83
17.5.3Referencing Inscriptions 83
17.5.4Referencing Illustrations 84
17.5.5Referencing Web Pages 85
17.6Bibliography 86
1.1.1Ancient sources 87
1.1.2Authored books 88
1.1.3Edited books 88
1.1.4Chapters In or contributions to edited volumes 89
1.1.1Journal articles 90
1.1.2Electronic journal articles 90
1.1.3Websites 90
18Playing the Examinations Game…to win 91
18.1Revision Timetable 91
18.2Preparing the time allocation within the exam 92
18.3General revision hints 92
18.3.1While revising 93
18.3.2The night before 93
18.3.3Just before the exam 93
18.4At your examination desk 93
18.4.1Once the exam starts 93
18.4.2Some ideas for essay plan formats 94
18.4.3General hints on exam essay structure 94
18.4.4What to do if time is running out 95
18.4.5Advice for Language Papers: 95
18.4.6At the end of writing 96
18.5After the exam 96
18.6Some final remarks 96
19Assessment Information 96
19.1Illness or other extenuating circumstances 96
19.2Submission of written work 97
19.3Extensions to deadlines 98
19.4Penalties for late submission of work 98
19.5Anonymous marking and cover sheets 99
19.6Penalties for over-length work 100
19.7Return of written coursework 100
19.8Assessment offences 100
19.8.1Plagiarism 101
19.9Marking of illegible scripts 102
20.10 Progression and award requirements 102
20.11.1 Coursework Essays 103
20.11.2 Language-based exercises 105
20.11.3 Written Exams 107
20.12 Examination results 110
20Student Support 110
20.1Non-academic related enquiries & support 110
20.2Students in need of support (including disabled students) 110
20.3Student-Staff Committee 111
20.4Students’ Union 112
20.5Careers and Employability 112
20.5.1The College Careers Advisory Service 112
20.5.2The Classics Department & Employability 112
20.6Careers information 113
20.7Non-academic policies 113
20.8Complaints and academic appeals procedure 113
21Health and Safety Information 113
21.1Code of practice on harassment for students 113
21.2Lone working policy and procedures 114
22Equal Opportunities Statement and College Codes of Practice 114
22.1Equal opportunities statement 114
22.2College codes of practice 115
23 Undergraduate Activities 115
23.1Classics Department and Classical Society 115
23.2Community Action Programme 115
23.3Opportunities to Study Abroad 116
23.4Departmental prizes and awards 116
1 Introduction to the Department
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