MULR-Research and Writing

Subject LAWS50058 (2010)

Note: This is an archived Handbook entry from 2010.

Credit Points:

12.50

Level:

5 (Graduate/Postgraduate)

Dates & Locations:

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2010:

Summer Term, Parkville - Taught on campus.

Pre-teaching Period Start	not applicable
Teaching Period	not applicable
Assessment Period End	not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol	not applicable
Census Date	not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail	not applicable

Semester 1, Parkville - Taught on campus.

Pre-teaching Period Start	not applicable
Teaching Period	not applicable
Assessment Period End	not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol	not applicable
Census Date	not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail	not applicable

Semester 2, Parkville - Taught on campus.

Pre-teaching Period Start	not applicable
Teaching Period	not applicable
Assessment Period End	not applicable
Last date to Self-Enrol	not applicable
Census Date	not applicable
Last date to Withdraw without fail	not applicable

Practical experience with ad hoc guidance from the Subject Coordinator.

Timetable can be viewed here. For information about these dates, click here.

Time Commitment:

Contact Hours: Not applicable.
Total Time Commitment: 144 hours.

Prerequisites:

733-510 Legal Method and Reasoning; 733-511 Principles of Public Law; 733-512 Torts; 733-513 Obligations; 733-514 Dispute Resolution; 733-515 Constitutional Law, 733-516 Contracts; 733-517 Property.

Enrolment requires the permission of the Subject Coordinator. To obtain such permission, the student must undertake in writing to the Subject Coordinator to make a substantial intellectual contribution to the Melbourne University Law Review during the semester that the student is enrolled in the subject.

Corequisites:

None.

Recommended Background Knowledge:

None.

Non Allowed Subjects:

A student cannot have previously completed or currently be enrolled in the subject Melbourne Journal of International Law (MJIL) - Research and Writing.

Core Participation Requirements:

For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills, and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to providing support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/.

Coordinator

Assoc Prof David Brennan

Contact

Melbourne Law School Student Centre
Email: law-studentcentre@unimelb.edu.au
Tel: +61 3 8344 4475

Subject Overview:	This subject is available only to students who are Members of Melbourne University Law Review (MULR) and are committed to a position involving a substantial intellectual contribution to MULR during the enrolled semester. A substantial intellectual contribution will typically involve taking responsibility for the sub-editing of material accepted for publication, such editing to be typically done in respect of at least one lengthy article (in excess of 10,000 words in length) or multiple shorter articles (each under 10,000 words in length). This contribution is assessed by a hurdle requirement. This subject permits students to provide evidence of what the student has learnt about the nature of legal research from undertaking their tasks within MULR. This evidence takes the form of the writing task specified below, requiring engagement with legal scholarship.
Objectives:	On completion of this subject, students should: Be able to write in a style suitable for a generalist university law journal publication; State an informed personal perspective or position relative to a discrete area of legal research published in the journal; Identify, recognise and contrast attributes of different varieties of legal research — such as critical legal studies, doctrinal, multi-disciplinary or empirical; Be able to describe and discuss the broad state of the research field relevant to the journal; Perceive the diversity of what classifies as legal research, including its underlying philosophies and approaches; Decide where their personal views and approaches are placed relative to that body of research; Be aware of trends in legal research, including what drivers may influence those trends; and Appreciate differences in legal research in terms of approach and quality.
Assessment:	As a hurdle requirement, the provision of a work-log (1,000 words) to the Subject Coordinator specifying in outline the substantial intellectual contribution made to MULR in the enrolled semester and detailing the work undertaken by the student. To complete the subject, the Coordinator must accept the work log as satisfactory. In deciding whether or not the contribution is satisfactory, the Subject Coordinator may consult with those who were appointed as the Editors of MULR in the semester that the student was enrolled in the subject. Written work of 5,000 words. The work must be on a research question (developed by the student in consultation with the subject coordinator) and in a genre that make it suitable for publication in the MULR. (The word limit will be regarded as recommended rather than compulsory and no student will be disadvantaged by exceeding the limit.)
Prescribed Texts:	None.
Breadth Options:	This subject is not available as a breadth subject.
Fees Information:	Subject EFTSL, Level, Discipline & Census Date
Generic Skills:	On completion of the subject, students should have developed the following generic skills (and graduate attributes): Attitudes towards knowledge that include valuing truth, openness to new ideas and ethics associated with knowledge creation and usage; The capacity for close reading and analysis of a range of sources; The capacity for critical and independent thought and reflection; The ability to collect and evaluate information; The capacity to communicate, both orally and in writing; The capacity to plan and manage time; and Intercultural sensitivity and understanding. In addition, on completion of the subject, students should have developed the following skills specific to the discipline of law: Analysis of the nature and quality of legal research, including an ability to: - Read legal research in a critical and informed manner; - Critically engage with new ideas; - Understand and apply ethics in academia; - Situate a particular piece of legal research within a broader body of scholarship and within a particular style or approach; and - Develop and express a personal position on legal research. Legal writing skills, including an ability to: - Use and synthesise legal research; - Be able to convey a coherent appraisal of legal research; and - Produce complex pieces which offer comprehensible analysis of legal research.

Download PDF version.