Programme Title

MLibArts Liberal Arts

Final Award
(exit route if applicable for Postgraduate Taught Programmes)

Master of Liberal Arts

Programme Code

LIB-MLBA

UCAS Code

Y300

HECoS Code

100065

ATAS Clearance Required

No

Mode of Study

Part Time

Type of Programme

Undergraduate Master

Length of Programme

8 Academic Year(s)

Total Credits for Programme

480

Exit Awards available

Teaching Institution

Queen's University Belfast

School/Department

Arts, English and Languages

Framework for Higher Education Qualification Level 
www.qaa.ac.uk

Level 7

QAA Benchmark Group
www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements

Accreditations (PSRB)

Does the Programme have any approved exemptions from the University General Regulations
(Please see General Regulations)

N/A

Programme Specific Regulations

At each Level students take 120 CATS. The programme involves four designations of modules:

• Liberal Arts modules – these are core modules
• interdisciplinary modules – these are modules of an interdisciplinary nature
• pathway modules are normally discipline-specific modules which form part of either a discipline-specific or thematic pathway
• optional modules are modules available to students
Modules may be multiple designations

Students will be notified each academic year of the optional modules being offered in the following academic year. Students are advised that not all optional modules will necessarily be offered in each academic year. Also, the delivery of a module may be subject to a minimum number of enrolments as well as unforeseen circumstances (eg illness of a member of staff). The range and content of optional modules will change over time as degree programmes develop and students' choice of optional modules may also be limited due to timetabling constraints.

Students with protected characteristics

N/A

Are students subject to Fitness to Practise Regulations

(Please see General Regulations)

No

Learning Outcomes: Cognitive Skills

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

1. link varied pedagogical approaches to their degree pathway
2. differentiate between discipline-specific approaches to the subject

3. explore ways in which the uses of the past relate to their degree pathway
4. engage with material, oral, textual and visual versions of the past
5. demonstrate an in-depth awareness of issues of plurality and diversity within the arts and humanities
6. contextualise their studies to date within a pedagogical framework defined by and dedicated to plurality
7. recognise and demonstrate the relations between cognate disciplines in the arts and humanities and their contribution to diversity in society

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Seminars offer a variety of tutor-led and student-led learning opportunities as well as a more sustained opportunity to debate and evaluate a breadth of knowledge gained independently from directed reading and from the sharing of resources and information. (1, 2, 4)
Class discussion, in which analysis and interpretation of issues, texts and contexts takes place, allows the students to develop a comparative understanding of different approaches to material. It allows for both tutor- and student-led opportunities for the discussion and comprehension of directed reading and secondary source information.
Student-centred learning situations encourage the ability to present and summarise knowledge to peers in a coherent, structured form, and to further enhance organisational and inter-personal skills.

Lectures offer students both an overview of a particular subject and discipline-specific insight on any given issue that informs student-led discussion in seminars and group work.

Methods of Assessment

Progress through the degree is one in which the autonomous learning undertaken by students is gradually increased, from lecture/tutorial based teaching at stages 1 and 2, to student-centred learning, through 2- or 3-hour seminars, at stages 3 and 4.
At each stage of learning, essays require that students demonstrate coverage of material, appropriate methods of analysis, the ability to discriminate between arguments, and the ability to form an independent argument. They test students’ ability to collect, order and shape information, and to recognise ways in which to present and prioritise material. Essay lengths vary dependent upon the requirements of the particular module and the stage of student progression.

Across the diverse disciplines available on the programme, with students able to choose from a number of pathway fields, subject-specific requirements will assess cognitive skills and support student learning.

The use of online journals will hone students’ digital literacy skills while offering week-to-week summaries of learning to date, allowing understanding of knowledge to be aligned with application in relevant contexts.

Group work improves collective responsibility, teamwork and leadership skills, while peer assessment components require that students engage with the learning and assessment criteria in specific but also facilitative ways.

Coursework must be submitted in a specified form, to fixed deadlines, thus teaching students to learn to prioritise assignments and objectives and to hone their organisational and time-management skills.

Feedback is provided for each type and instance of assessment and students may seek dedicated feedback sessions with course tutors. The Personal Tutor system facilitates student reflection upon academic performance and assists in developing strategies for improvement. Peer assessment reinforces student awareness that the feedback process is not a one-way system from staff to student but is embedded within the practice of tertiary level education.

Presentational skills, including digital, electronic and visual aids are key to the success of the mini-conference assessment in the final year; formative skills in this regard are embedded in the use of video blogs as an assessment component in some core Liberal Arts modules. The submission of online and presentational materials for assessment requires students to keep professional as well as academic standards in mind at all times.

Learning Outcomes: Knowledge & Understanding

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

1. demonstrate understanding of a range of different disciplines
2. understand through a range of discipline-centred conceptions the multiple ways we can use and interpret the past
3. demonstrate understanding of the multiple public roles of the arts and humanities and the challenges facing them in the twenty-first century
4. demonstrate critical understanding of how their discipline contributes to the contemporary world
5. explain how their learning, and a study abroad or placement, combine in diverse and multiple ways
6. demonstrate a developed critical understanding of an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary area of study

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures offer students both an overview of a particular subject and discipline-specific insight on any given issue that informs student-led discussion in seminars and group work.

External Visits provide students with real-world experience of the many and varied roles that the arts and humanities play in society.
Class discussion, in which analysis and interpretation of issues, texts and contexts takes place, allows the students to develop a comparative understanding of different approaches to material. It allows for both tutor- and student-led opportunities for the discussion and comprehension of directed reading and secondary source information.
Student-centred learning situations encourage the ability to present and summarise knowledge to peers in a coherent, structured form, and to further enhance organisational and inter-personal skills.

The supervised dissertation allows students the opportunity to develop in-depth engagement with a particular issue or theme relevant to their degree under the guidance of a member of academic staff.

Methods of Assessment

In the criteria for assessment of written and oral work particular attention is paid to the student’s awareness of different methodological approaches and debates.

A range of assessment methods ensures that these skills are evaluated in different ways. Subject-specific requirements will ensure that assessments are based on in disciplinary knowledge and will assess and support student learning through formative and summative assignments.
Formative written work assists the development of understanding, critical judgment, and independent thought, both through the feedback given, and through the process of writing itself.
Summative assessments provide key moments to measure attainment of knowledge and to develop discipline-specific understanding; subject feedback will assist students in their progression in their chosen pathway.
Essays require that students demonstrate coverage of material, appropriate methods of analysis, the ability to discriminate between arguments, and the ability to form an independent argument. They test students’ ability to collect, order and shape information, and to recognise ways in which to present and prioritise material.

The online journal hones students’ digital literacy skills while offering week-to-week summaries of learning to date, allowing understanding of knowledge to be aligned with application in relevant contexts. For those students opting to take the Placement module, the online journal is a weekly record of the student’s own reflective learning within a work-based environment and complements the final essay or employer-guided project as a key component of assessment and student attainment.

Group work improves collective responsibility, teamwork and leadership skills, while peer assessment components require that students engage with the learning and assessment criteria in specific but also facilitative ways.

Presentational skills, including digital, electronic and visual aids are key to the success of the mini-conference assessment in the final year; formative skills in this regard are embedded in the use of video blogs as an assessment component in some core Liberal Arts modules. The submission of online and presentational materials for assessment requires students to keep professional as well as academic standards in mind at all times.

Learning Outcomes: Subject Specific

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

1. understand the diverse methods and approaches of arts and humanities subjects at university level
2. demonstrate advanced engagement with one or more chosen subjects
3. utilise critical vocabularies and engage with different critical and theoretical perspectives across a range of cognate subjects
4. demonstrate awareness of key debates concerning the development of arts and humanities disciplines and of liberal arts as a methodology in itself
5. display familiarity with bibliographic conventions and be able to research, reference and present written work according to the requirements of one or more subject areas
6. read primary and secondary texts with a developed awareness and appreciation of their contextual, formal, structural and generic properties and how they produce particular discipline-specific information

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures offer students both an overview of a particular subject and discipline-specific insight on any given issue that informs student-led discussion in seminars and group work.

External Visits provide students with real-world experience of the role that the arts and humanities play in society.

Class discussion, in which analysis and interpretation of issues, texts and contexts takes place, allows the students to develop a comparative understanding of different approaches to material. It allows for both tutor- and student-led opportunities for the discussion and comprehension of directed reading and secondary source information.

Student-centred learning situations encourage the ability to present and summarise knowledge to peers in a coherent, structured form, and to further enhance organisational and inter-personal skills.

The supervised dissertation allows students the opportunity to develop in-depth engagement with a particular issue or theme relevant to their degree under the guidance of a member of academic staff.

Writing skills tutorials and workshops develop a student’s ability to structure and write a coherent and lucid essay. Research skills in online bibliographical searches and the use of archives and libraries are developed through research skills workshops. Students also have the opportunity to attend classes in database management.

Formative work – both written and oral – enables students to combine the knowledge and skills developed through lectures and tutorials, and to formulate, and receive feedback on, their own independent arguments.

Module and programme information and style sheets guide students in their choice of, access to, and citation of relevant secondary materials.

Methods of Assessment

Essays require that students demonstrate coverage of material, appropriate methods of analysis, the ability to discriminate between arguments, and the ability to form an independent argument. They test students’ ability to collect, order and shape information, and to recognise ways in which to present and prioritise material.

Across the diverse disciplines available on the programme, with students able to choose from a number of pathway fields, subject-specific skills will be assessed with appropriate assignments designed to measure attainment and support student learning.

The online journal hones students’ digital literacy skills while offering week-to-week summaries of learning to date, allowing understanding of knowledge in a specific subject or module to be aligned with application in relevant contexts.

Group work on the core Liberal Arts modules will enhance the cohort dynamic and improve collective responsibility, teamwork and leadership skills. Peer assessment components require that students engage with the learning and assessment criteria in specific but also facilitative ways that meet the programme aims and objectives.

Coursework must be submitted in a specified form, to fixed deadlines, thus teaching students to learn to prioritise assignments and objectives and to hone their organisational and time-management skills.

Feedback is provided for each type and instance of assessment and students may seek dedicated feedback sessions with course tutors. The Personal Tutor system facilitates student reflection upon academic performance and assists in developing strategies for improvement. Peer assessment reinforces student awareness that the feedback process is not a one-way system from staff to student but is embedded within the practice of tertiary level education.

Presentational skills, including digital, electronic and visual aids are key to the success of the mini-conference assessment in the final year; formative skills in this regard are embedded in the use of video blogs as an assessment component in some core Liberal Arts modules. The submission of online and presentational materials for assessment requires students to keep professional as well as academic standards in mind at all times.

The dissertation is a sustained piece of independent research that draws together the multiple fields of learning on the programme in the analysis and discussion of a student-chosen topic. The application of subject-specific skills learned over the course of the programme will be central to the genesis of this independent research project as well as its supervision, development and final completion.

Learning Outcomes: Transferable Skills

On the completion of this course successful students will be able to:

1. demonstrate a capacity for appropriate problem-solving in relation to contemporary debates
2. engage in classroom debate and group work and foster a stimulating intellectual environment producing engaged critical responses to the issues raised on the module
3. demonstrate critical self-reflection on the learning process ALL LA
4. incorporate learning into discussion of issues and texts
5. to advocate for the arts and humanities as key components of any society and articulate the value of the arts and humanities in society
6. demonstrate developed awareness of the roles that arts and humanities subjects play in the wider world
7. demonstrate effective oral communication, presentation and group work skills
8. structure, manage and adapt strategies for self-directed independent research
9. write coherent, structured, and relevant responses to specific questions
10. apply theoretical concepts of study to workplace scenarios
11. provide peer support and constructive feedback through group work
12. demonstrate enhanced group and teamwork skills based on open and supportive communication and the ability to provide constructive peer feedback
13. construct and present an appropriate and relevant case study
14. write cogent, well-illustrated assignments, which display originality of consistent thinking and application of ideas, concepts and theories
15. demonstrate the skills needed to conduct an independent line of research
16. demonstrate advanced skills of setting and solving research questions
17. demonstrate an advanced ability to make links between subjects of study and develop interdisciplinarity more critically

Teaching/Learning Methods and Strategies

Lectures offer students both an overview of a particular subject and discipline-specific insight on any given issue that informs student-led discussion in seminars and group work.

External Visits provide students with real-world experience of the many and varied roles that the arts and humanities play in society.

Class discussion, in which analysis and interpretation of issues, texts and contexts takes place, allows the students to develop a comparative understanding of different approaches to material. It allows for both tutor- and student-led opportunities for the discussion and comprehension of directed reading and secondary source information.

Student-centred learning situations encourage the ability to present and summarise knowledge to peers in a coherent, structured form, and to further enhance organisational and inter-personal skills.

Engagement with Personal Tutors promotes student reflection upon academic performance. Personal Tutors also discuss career options with students; and the Schools work closely with the Careers Liaison Officer to present students with information on possible careers.

Group projects are used to encourage students to collaborate with peers, negotiate the demands of teamwork and develop their understanding of a topic.

Student preparation for seminars/tutorials requires them to read a variety of material and discuss this with their peers and the tutor. They may make individual or group presentations analysing the material in class.

Writing skills tutorials and workshops develop a student’s ability to structure and write a coherent and lucid essay. Research skills in online bibliographical searches and the use of archives and libraries are developed through research skills workshops. Students also have the opportunity to attend classes in database management.

The supervised dissertation allows students the opportunity to develop in-depth engagement with a particular issue or theme relevant to their degree under the guidance of a member of academic staff.

Writing skills tutorials and workshops develop a student’s ability to structure and write a coherent and lucid essay. Research skills in online bibliographical searches and the use of archives and libraries are developed through research skills workshops. Students also have the opportunity to attend classes in database management.

Methods of Assessment

Progress through the degree is one in which the autonomous learning undertaken by students is gradually increased, from lecture/tutorial based teaching at stages 1 and 2, to student-centred learning, through 2- or 3-hour seminars, at stages 3 and 4.

Essays require that students demonstrate flexibility in relation to assessment requirements and appropriate time-management skills in order to complete the task in full and on time. They test students’ ability to collect, order and shape information, and to recognise ways in which to present and prioritise material. At each Stage, students learn the important skills of discrimination in relation to relevant resources and the varying demands placed upon them by different assessment lengths and deadlines.

The online journal hones students’ digital literacy skills while offering week-to-week summaries of learning to date, allowing understanding of knowledge to be aligned with application in relevant contexts.

Group work improves collective responsibility, teamwork and leadership skills, while peer assessment components require that students engage with the learning and assessment criteria in specific but also facilitative ways.

Coursework must be submitted in a specified form, to fixed deadlines, thus teaching students to learn to prioritise assignments and objectives and to hone their organisational skills to ensure the subject- and programme-specific requirements are met with due consideration given to planning, drafting and peer or tutor consultation.

Feedback is provided for each type and instance of assessment and students may seek dedicated feedback sessions with course tutors. The Personal Tutor system facilitates student reflection upon academic performance and assists in developing strategies for improvement. Peer assessment reinforces student awareness that the feedback process is not a one-way system from staff to student but is embedded within the practice of tertiary level education.

Presentational skills, including digital, electronic and visual aids are key to the success of the mini-conference assessment in the final year; formative skills in this regard are embedded in the use of video blogs as an assessment component in some core Liberal Arts modules.

The Placement module provides students with work-based experiential learning: the online journal will be a space in which key transferable skills and the reflective learning accrued during a “hands-on” role in an arts sector employer or institution is recorded and updated across the semester.












The dissertation is a sustained piece of independent research that draws together the multiple fields of learning on the programme in the analysis and discussion of a student-chosen topic. It tests a student’s originality, initiative, and resourcefulness in a number of key areas: project design; collaborative engagement (with supervisor); archival, library and digital researching; resource management; delivery of a final project to appropriate academic standards.