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What do I need to know about the Honours Dissertation?

Students are required to produce an extended study with a strong research content on a specified topic to be chosen by them in consultation with an individual supervisor. This topic may be something that derives from courses studied within the Honours programme, while not duplicating any element of the programme, or it may be a topic entirely outwith the programme, providing the department can offer the necessary supervision.

The principal activity for the dissertation is individual research. Each student is assigned to a supervisor who will give advice and guidance through individual tutorials.

At the beginning of the first semester of Level 3, all students required to undertake the Honours Dissertation must see the course co-ordinator to identify a potential dissertation topic and be assigned to a supervisor. The student must then see the supervisor to discuss the proposed dissertation topic in more detail. This meeting with the supervisor must take place no later than week 6 or the first semester.

In the second semester the student must have at least two meetings with the supervisor, normally at the beginning and the end of the semester, so that progress in the preparation of the dissertation can be reviewed and a plan of work and the organisation of the dissertation agreed. Failure by the student to attend the minimum of two meetings with the supervisor in the second semester will result in the withdrawal of a class certificate for the course.

The title for the dissertation must be approved in writing by the course co-ordinator following the initial meeting with the supervisor in the second semester.

General Advice

Avoid broad generalised topics. Topics such as 'Latin American Dictatorships' or 'Women in the Spanish novel' need to be fined down to manageable proportions which enable you to demonstrate that you have undertaken individual research to produce the dissertation. So you might choose more precisely 'The relationship between Trujillo and Franco' or 'Gender boundaries in Esther Tusquets' Siete miradas en un mismo paisaje.'

Try to identify a topic as early as possible and begin to think about and collect related material. Do not leave work on the dissertation until the summer vacation between Junior and Single Honours. You should have a very clear idea of what you want to do and how you need to do it by the end of the second semester of your Junior Honours year. The writing up process can then be completed, hopefully hassle-free, during the following summer vacation.

Ensure that your dissertation is well-presented, both typographically and linguistically. Unclear writing and spelling errors make a bad impression and will be penalised. Make sure you use the spell check on your word-processing package. Also try the grammar check, although this is not always really effective; but it will make you think about your use of language.

The department has produced a Guide on Writing & Presenting Essays & Dissertations which may help you with various technical, grammatical, and formatting questions that you might have. This is also available either from the Languages Secretariat. If you are using a campus-networked PC, you are further encouraged to look at the helpdisk available on your "G" drive.

When preparing for the dissertation, make sure you keep full and accurate notes and records of your reading, so that when you come to write up some months later you have the necessary information readily available.

Always make backup copies of your work.

The Pamela Bacarisse Prize

Your dissertation will be eligible for the Pamela Bacarisse Memorial Dissertation Prize, awarded to the year's best dissertation. The 2000 winner of the prize was Anne Pinkerton, with a dissertation on the film director Julio Medem and the 2001 winner is Isobel Macdonald, with a dissertation entitled "The Translation of Cultural Revival into Political Resistance among Indigenous Peoples in Southern Mexico and the Impact on National Politics."

Hispanic Studies, School of Language & Literature
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