Aims

Apart from the specific requirements of any particular seminar, in a third-year degree course it must satisfy the following conditions: the seminar is a pedagogical tool by which students can assess their own work from a minimum of four different perspectives: research, the drafting of a paper, oral presentation and participation in discussions.

Main themes

There is great flexibility in the organisation of the seminar (number of classes, organisation of weekends, etc.). However, for a seminar with 15 students, there must be a total of 30 hours of group classes and the method adopted must allow considerable time for group discussion. Whatever time of year the seminar begins, a preliminary meeting must take place in the two weeks immediately after the start of the academic year, when the subjects will be allocated, or at least suggested to the students. Even if the submission of a written paper is required before or at the oral presentation, it must still be possible for students to revise their texts, and the date for final submission of papers must be the same for everyone. The standard of the written submission must be that of a paper or article suitable for publication. It must include original references. Any failure to meet the standard of scientific probity (plagiarism) will be severely penalised. The course tutor will check for style and for any grammatical errors. The length of the written work may vary according to circumstances, but it must be between 20 and 50 pages and long (the maximum may be extended for a group submission). Any paper produced by a group must include individual contributions from each member. All tasks relating to a seminar must be completed by the end of April.