The Ghost in the Machine

Assessment

Assessment for this course is done on the basis of coursework, consisting of two essays and one presentation, the latter to take place during a seminar.


1) 2 ESSAYS

Lists of essay topics for essay 1 and for essay 2 will be provided. The students can make suggestions, but they should be approved by the convener (Blay).

Essay marking: essays will be marked on:
1) Content, make sure you (re)present arguments clearly, that names are spelled right and dates, notions and other data are correct.
2) Spelling and grammar should be up to standard.
3) Structure is very important in any academic writing, take care of it. This is also related to content and clarity of the arguments presented.
4) Clarity. Make sure the essay is clearly written.
5) Referencing and bibliography. In the seminars, some time will be spent on how to write references and bibliographies.
!!! Take care not to plagiarise! Plagiarism is passing off someone else’s work as your own. This will be noticed and is a grave violation of academic practice, which will be dealt with accordingly. Always give a reference when you cite or paraphrase someone else’s work.

In sum, the essay should be clearly written, fluent, informative, logical and critical.

ESSAY 1
The first essay counts for 30 % of the total mark of this course.
Length: 1000 words (excluding bibliography).
The essay taps into learning objectives 1,2,3 and 4 (see above).
! Hand-in date to be confirmed. A list of topics will be provided shortly.


ESSAY 2
The second essay counts for 40 %. This is more than the first essay, because by now you should have some more experience, you will have had feedback on the first essay, and, most importantly, the topic of this essay will be interdisciplinary, which requires more work.
Length: 1000-1500 words (excluding biblio).
Essay 2 taps into all learning objectives, with particular emphasis on nr 5. Whether your second esssay shows an understanding of interdisciplinarity will be an important criterion while marking this essay.
Again: Hand-in date to be confirmed, and a list of topics will be provided shortly.

2) A PRESENTATION

Each student is required to give one 15 min presentation to the seminar group. The mark counts for 30% of the total for the course.
Topics will be provided (you can also suggest your own. Again, please confirm first). Topics should be related to lecture and seminar topics of the week in which you present, so that they can provoke and serve discussion. Guidelines for presenting will be given in the seminar, and you will get feedback on your presentation. In marking the presentation, attention will be paid to the content as well as delivery. The material should be represented in a clear, structured, understandable manner. Make sure to be around 15 minutes. Preparation and practicing are absolutely crucial to making a presentation go well. You can use overheads, handouts or data projection, but you are not obliged to do so. If you plan to give a presentation with data-projection, please inform the tutor at least one week beforehand, so it can be ensured that there is a projector in the room, and a laptop if you need one.
The presentation taps into learning objectives 3 and 4 above. Have a look at those for more guidelines on what and how to present.