Dissertation

Language

French

Main themes

The dissertation consists of a research work:

• specific as regards the other teaching activities;
  
• methodical, the underlying methodology has been acquired in the basic instruction;
  
• integrated in the programme and limited to the scope of the subject.
  

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	The dissertation must demonstrate the author's ability to describe correctly the results of a personal, objective and methodical work. The length of the dissertation is not a criteria in evaluating its quality. Similar to the other forms of learning, the dissertation is an essential component of the programme to which it belongs. It consists of research work which students should consider as a first step in research in their particular field. Whatever the subject, the dissertation at Master level will enable the student to: carry out a critical analysis and summarise a given scientific topic; put the current state of knowledge in context; present the results of his work justifying the methodological choices, and explaining his hypotheses.

Content

The Master Dissertation is a personal contribution to scientific knowledge.
By this work, which is the crowning achievement of his studies, the student will prove that he has assimilated the specific methodology of the science of the Antiquity, more specifically in the domain of Classical languages, literatures or civilisations.
The student must show himself capable of following the essential stages of scientific research, that is the definition of the problem, followed by
collecting primary sources, bibliography and other research data, to evaluating and interpreting the documents concerned, as well as elaborating a synthesis and reporting on the results obtained.
The main body of the Thesis, excluding bibliography, illustrations and annexes, should consist of 100 to 150 pages (that is between 200.000 and 300.000 characters).

Evaluation methods

The Master Dissertation will be evaluated by a supervisor and two readers. The grade given at the end of the second Master is based on the average of their respective appreciations. In their evaluations, the supervisor and the two readers will pay attention to the following aspects:

• the student's ability to accurately define the topic of study and to correctly point out the research problem or working hypothesis;
• his familiarity with various bibliographical and documentation research tools;
• the quality of the work of collecting and interpreting source material;
• the overall articulation and coherence of the work;
• the soundness, comprehensibility and systematic reasoning used in the written text;
• the degree to which the formal requirements of a scholarly text have been respected.

The student may request an oral defence of his dissertation, which will enable the student to present the principal lines of his research and to answer questions and observations from the promoter and the readers. Account will be taken of the oral defence, of approximartely one hour maximum (presentation and debate) in the final evaluation.

Online resources

Cf. the vade-mecum and the evaluation grid: https://intranet.uclouvain.be/fr/myucl/facultes/fial/tfc-et-memoires-tfe-0-1-2-3.html

Faculty or entity

EHAC