Logo UAB
2022/2023

Master's Dissertation

Code: 43011 ECTS Credits: 9
Degree Type Year Semester
4313768 Analysis and Management of the Artistic Heritage OB 0 A

Contact

Name:
Buenaventura Bassegoda Hugas
Email:
bonaventura.bassegoda@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)

Other comments on languages

El Trabajo de fin de Máster se puede presentar en catalán, castellano, italiano, francés e inglés.

Prerequisites

Knowledge of the basic tools of the research activity.

Capacity for organization and planning.

Objectives and Contextualisation

It is about carrying out a Dissertation of original and specific research on a freely chosen subject related to the different fields of study of the Master - history and theory of the arts; management and conservation of artistic heritage; art criticism and dissemination of art; collecting and art market -. The Dissertation will be supervised by a professor from the Art Department. To ask for advice on the subject of the dissertation and its tutoring, at the beginning of the course the student may ask for advice from the coordinator of this module (also coordinator of the master's degree), or go directly to one of the professors of the Art Department that is knowledgeable about the subject on which the student wants to do the dissertation. It can be the case of a Dissertation that, due to its theme, is included in two specificities. in which case we can recommend the student to do his Dissertation with two tutors.

a)      When judging the work, the following aspects will be assessed:

  • the degree of maturity that the student demonstrates in the approach, analysis and presentation of the subject.
  • the degree of elaboration, precision and clarity of the arguments, the descriptions of works and the analysis of the historiographic, critical, theoretical or archival texts.
  • the adequacy and variety of bibliographic or documentary sources used to develop the research, and the degree of efficiency demonstrated when it comes to locating, using and analyzing them.
  • the critical spirit and the will to introduce a personal and innovative point of view when studying the subject.
  • the quality of the writing and the correction of the edition and presentation.

b)      In case of plagiarism:

Plagiarism means copying someone else's work - the content, the wording, the findings, the ideas - by passing them on as their own, that is, without indicating the source.

  • If the tutor detects plagiarismin the final text of the Dissertation, he will not approve it for reading. If you detect plagiarism at an earlier stage during the realization period, before receiving the final text of the Dissertation, you can immediately suspend the work supervision. In these cases, the tutor's refusal will receive confirmation from the Docència Màster Commision that will take action in this regard.
  • Si el tribunal de lectura del trabajo detecta plagio: la calificación del trabajo será un 0. If the accademic board detects plagiarism: the exam grade will be a 0.

c)     In addition to Catalan and Spanish, the work may be submitted in English, French or Italian.

d)      Missing spelling and grammatical mistakes that make it difficult to understand the text will lower the grade of the dissertation. We will be rigorous in judging this aspect of the Dissertations. As is the case in communication sciences and in the other humanities disciplines, in art studies it is essential to have a good level of expression and writing.

Competences

  • Define, plan and carry out a research project in the field of art history and artistic heritage that is critical, original and in line with current scientific practice.
  • Discriminate between important research and dissemination of culture.
  • Find links between concepts and knowledge in different areas of art history that previously had not been observed.
  • Honestly and realistically evaluate the rigorousness of one's own work.
  • Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  • Organise time and resources to conduct research projects: setting goals, timing and tasks to be completed.
  • Show mastery of language, expression and rhetorical devices in the preparation and presentation of research projects and professional tasks.
  • Systematically assimilate and synthesise the information that is of the greatest importance for research and professional practice.
  • Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Apply knowledge of the different fields within art history, creating a precise concept map.
  2. Discriminate between important research and dissemination of culture.
  3. Honestly and realistically evaluate the rigorousness of one's own work.
  4. Integrate knowledge and use it to make judgements in complex situations, with incomplete information, while keeping in mind social and ethical responsibilities.
  5. Organise time and resources to conduct research projects: setting goals, timing and tasks to be completed.
  6. Show mastery of language, expression and rhetorical devices in the preparation and presentation of research projects and professional tasks.
  7. Systematically assimilate and synthesise the information that is of the greatest importance for research and professional practice.
  8. Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.
  9. Write a master's dissertation with conceptual findings that are precise and significant.

Content

The student will develop a specific research work throughout the course, advised by a teacher.

Methodology

Structure, extension and characteristics of the Master's Dissertation:

 a)      The body of the Dissertation, that is to say the text, must have an approximate length of 25,000 words, this is the guideline that the Academic Board of the Master gives as a reference. Naturally, depending on the type of Dissertation, the text may far exceed this number of words or be a little shorter, but should not fall below 20,000 words. The bibliography, the documentary appendix (optional), the illustrations with captions or any other type of documentary material that accompanies the Dissertation do not count within this 25,000 word guideline.

 b)     The outline of the Dissertation will be drawn up under the supervision of the tutor. However, as a general guideline, the text should contain: a presentation explaining the objectives and the reasons that led him to choose a certain methodology or study strategy; the core of the work organized in a series of sections designed to expose the content of the Dissertation in the way that seems most logical and appropriate; and conclusions in which you reflect on the results of your study, the learning that the making of the Dissertation has meant for you and the new questions that you ask yourself at its conclusion.

c)      The index will be placed at the beginning of the Dissertation

d)      Pages and photographs must be conveniently numbered (Fig. 1, Fig. 2,... etc), including those in the appendices.

e)     The captions of the illustrations must include the author and title of the work and the name of the institution where the work in question is located; if the work does not belong to any collection, then the detailed origin of the photograph will be indicated: name of the image database, book (author and title), periodical publication (title of the article, title of the publication, number, year and page) and if the photograph is yours, then "photograph of the author / a".

 f)      Size and quality of illustrations. Illustrations should be of sufficient size and quality to be able to see details without forcing the eye. Avoid the "chrome" format. If this is going to be a problem for you due to the increase in the cost of printing, the Master's coordination recommends that you print the illustrations in black and white and that you enclose, in the printed copies of the works to be delivered by the members of the reading tribunal, a CD including the colour photographs, conveniently numbered, in a single PDF.

 

Organization of the work, monitoring, presentation and reading:

a)     By December 9 at the latest, you must have interviewed your tutor and chosen the topic of the work. Once you have chosen the tutor and the topic, you must notify the professor Rafael Cornudella.

b)     Elaboration of the work's outline. The tutor will help you to define the theme, solve doubts, specify the study strategy and will also make the relevant comments on the script.

First outline of the Dissertation. As you know, the evaluation of Module 1 consists of presenting the Project of the work.  The project must contain:

1. A presentation of the objectives, the reasons for the choice of topic and the questions you ask yourselves from the beginning.

2. A first outline of the Dissertation, that is to say, a first reasoned scheme of the work, a first sketch where the aspects that you wish to treat in your Dissertation are stated. To elaborate this first scheme you will count on the advice of your tutors.  Naturally, as you advance in the research, you can modify certain aspects of the initial script.

3. A first compilation of the sources that you are consulting or should consult to carry out the work. Depending on the subject matter of your work, these sources can be of many types: bibliographic, archival, video, photographic, interviews with people, etc-.

4. Finally, the project must also have a plan, in which you explain how you have been organizing the work from the beginning and how you plan to develop the different tasks that remain to be done until the conclusion of the work. We recommend that you do the most detailed and precise planning possible.

The deadline for submission of the Project is 8 February 2022. Two copies will be submitted: one for the coordinator of Module 1, Professor Rafael Cornudella, and the second for your tutor in the format he indicates.

c)     Monitoring of the Dissertation production. Once the scheme and study strategy have been defined, the process of work follow-up tutorials begins. The tutor must be aware at all times of the evolution of your work through the interviews that you will hold on a regular basis throughout the course. You must meet at least once a month. You can request the tutorial, either by meeting directly with the teacher during his office hours, or by e-mail. In each case, your tutor will indicate when you should give him a part or parts of the work and the complete draft of the Dissertation in order to make the necessary observations and corrections. If a student stops meeting with his tutor during the second semester and goes to him in the last weeks of the course to present the draft of a text made without the teacher's advice, he may consider that he does not assume the direction of a work that he has not followed regularly and has notbeen able to supervise correctly. In these cases the paper may not be submitted. In order to be able to present the dissertation in one of the calls of the following course (February, July, September), the student will have to re-register for the dissertation and carry out the tutorials that he agrees with his tutor.

 d)    Delivery of the Master's Dissertation. The work can only be deposited and defended with the approval of the guardian, therefore, before the delivery of the 3 copies of the Dissertation to the members of the court, the guardian must have received the final text in sufficient time to be able to review it. The tutor has the power to recommend not to submit work that he considers incomplete or insufficient, or to disallow it, in case of plagiarism or other serious irregularities of an academic nature. The latter cases will be transferred to the Master's academic board - composed of the coordinators of Modules 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7 and the head of the Department of Art and Musicology.

 Deadline for submission of work is 15 July 2022

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Supervised      
Tutorials for monitoring the Master's Dissertation 50 2 1, 3, 2, 6, 5, 4, 9, 7, 8

Assessment

  • Examining boards. The boards will be composed of the work tutor and two other teachers, specialists in the field of study of the Dissertaion. The appointments of the examining boards of the Dissertations is the responsibility of the tutors of the works.

  • The oral defense of Dissertation is public. The period for reading Dissertations runs from 1 to 8 September 2022. The public reading session will be distributed as follows:
  1. Presentation of the Dissertation: the authors will have about 20 minutes to present their work.
  2. Comments and questions from the members of the examining board.
  3. Authors' replies and explanations.

The average duration of the oral labour defence is one hour.

For the awarding of the final grade, the Master's dissertation weighs 80%, while the oral defence weighs 20%.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Master's Dissertation 80 % 173.5 6.94 1, 3, 2, 6, 5, 4, 9, 7, 8
Oral defence of Dissertation 20 % 1.5 0.06 3, 6, 4, 9, 8

Bibliography

   

Throughout the preparation and elaboration of the work, the director and the student will determine the specific bibliography to consult.

Software

There is no specific programme