Undergraduate Subject Specific Courses
BA Art History
This five-week course provides a review of writing styles ranging from the more eclectic reviews of exhibitions to the more formal style required in assessed essays, and providing the opportunity to extend your Art History/Fine Art subject-specific vocabulary. You will also be able to discuss your essay plans and early drafts with the tutor.
BA Art Practice
As part of this course an LSC lecturer attends the Critical Studies class to lead a feedback session with the students focusing on: note-taking skills and extending your Art subject-specific vocabulary, while at the same time you are asked to discuss these concepts more fully. Similarly, you may also be asked to prepare a text taken from the BA Fine Art Critical Studies reader and discuss this in class. You also have the opportunity to discuss essay plans and early drafts with the tutor.
BA Art Practice (Extension Degree)
The purpose of this course is to improve your general command of English and at the same time build up your subject-specific vocabulary. The course is split over two classes each week with one focusing more on reading and writing and the other speaking and listening. In the reading and writing class, lessons are based around ‘Moving Targets’, which provides a comprehensive review of Contemporary Art in the UK. You will read the texts most relevant to your interests and discuss the language and content in class, which you will then summarise as your homework. You may also use these classes to practise your presentation skills, relating your own art practice to the ideas discussed in your Critical Studies classes.
BA Media and Communications
The primary aim of this course is to give international students support in their academic English skills, particularly focusing on academic writing. You are given weekly practice in the various steps of the essay-writing process, ranging from exercises in understanding the title, to researching the assignment, organising ideas, planning and structuring paragraphs, supporting opinions, avoiding plagiarism and ensuring correct referencing and other academic conventions are followed. You will also develop other academic language skills, including understanding lectures, reading and speaking. Presentation skills may be practised too, if required.
A secondary aim of the course is to help international students learn more about the UK media context. We offer a friendly, safe environment to ask questions about media that you might feel too shy to ask elsewhere. The current tutor has experience of working for the BBC, and can help with media vocabulary and technical terms. We will also read about and debate current media issues. The content of the course is to some extent flexible, and can be adjusted according to the needs and interests of the students.
BA Social Work
This course is embedded in the first year of the BA Social Work programme aiming to bridge the gap between your previous experience of writing and what is expected at undergraduate level. The course looks at essay writing as a process, focusing on a different aspect of this process each week. This includes addressing an essay title and making a plan, writing introductions and conclusions, paragraph structure and cohesion, critical analysis, editing, referencing conventions and avoiding plagiarism. There is a strong subject-specific focus when we look at your first essay assignment, and example texts are drawn from Social Work related sources. Report writing is also covered.
Undergraduate Social Sciences
This course is primarily designed for first-year undergraduates from the departments of Sociology and Politics, giving advice and practice on all aspects of academic writing. You are given training in the various stages of the process, ranging from understanding an essay title, to researching the assignment, organising ideas coherently, planning, structuring paragraphs, supporting opinions, avoiding plagiarism and ensuring correct referencing and other academic conventions are followed. You can also develop other academic language skills, including reading, listening and speaking, and presentation skills may be practised too, if required.
Texts from your first year reading lists are incorporated into the above language work, meaning that this class can give the opportunity to discuss any problems you are having with a particular issue. We always encourage you to talk about any difficulties that you may be experiencing as a result of a new academic culture. Feedback from former students indicates that the course provides a non-threatening forum for asking questions you might feel reluctant to ask elsewhere.