Arts PhD Research Workshop

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2012:

120 hours

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 course are articulated in the Course Description, Course Objectives and Generic Skills of this entry.
The University is dedicated to provide 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/

This fortnightly two-semester workshop, taught in discipline-cluster groupings, provides a cohort experience for first-year PhD students, develops learning in their core disciplinary fields and assists them with preparation for Confirmation.

Employing a variety of modes - discussion of readings, presentations from academic staff and distinguished visiting scholars, teaching of concepts, theories and methods - it will enhance students' ability to progress to the level of intellectual autonomy and awareness of the contemporary scholarly context needed for successful completion of PhD research in Arts.

Completion of this subject with a grade of H2A or higher is a hurdle requirement for Confirmation.

Students who successfully complete this subject will have:

• an enhanced awareness of the contemporary research literature relating to their thesis topic,
• demonstrated the ability to critically evaluate the contemporary research literature relating to their thesis topic,
• an advanced knowledge of the critical, theoretical and methodological skills necessary to undertake their thesis,
• an enhanced awareness of the range of contemporary scholarship in their disciplinary or interdisciplinary area,
• an advanced ability to present their research proposals and findings to others, and
• an ability to formulate their research proposal in a clear, persuasive and effective way that will communicate both to specialists in their sub-field and more broadly.

• Two 1,250 word literature reviews, each worth 25%, with one due towards the end of each semester
• One 2,500-word research essay, mid-second semester, 50%

Hurdle requirement that all students attend 75% of Workshop classes each semester.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

The workshop will contribute to developing the skills and capacities identified in the University-defined Graduate Attributes for the PhD, including:

• an advanced ability to initiate research and to formulate viable research questions,
• a demonstrated capacity to design, conduct and report sustained and original research,
• the capacity to contextualise research within an international corpus of specialist knowledge,
• an advanced ability to evaluate and synthesise research-based and scholarly literature,
• an advanced understanding of key disciplinary and multi-disciplinary norms and perspectives relevant to the field,
• highly developed problem-solving abilities and flexibility of approach,
• the ability to analyse critically within and across a changing disciplinary environment,
• the capacity to cooperate with and respect the contributions of fellow researchers and scholars,
• a profound respect for truth and intellectual integrity, and for the ethics of research and scholarship,
• an advanced facility in the management of information, including the application of computer systems and software where appropriate to the student's field of study,
• an understanding of the relevance and value of their research to national and international communities of scholars and collaborators,
• an awareness where appropriate of issues related to intellectual property management and the commercialisation of innovation, and
• an ability to formulate applications to relevant agencies, such as funding bodies and ethics committees.