Assessment

The course is assessed on the basis of two coursework essays, together totalling 8000 words. You need to write one essay in each term I do not set essay questions. It is up to you to formulate a suitable question. I strongly encourage you, as early as possible in the term, to come and see me, either after class or in my office hour, to discuss what you might write about, possible sources, and potential pitfalls.

Submission of Coursework

Two copies of each essay must be handed in to the History Department reception, with a completed 3-part coversheet, which will be date stamped. The pink copy of the cover sheet will be returned to you as a receipt/proof of submission. Please keep this in case of any query. Essays that are not stamped will receive a mark of 0. Please note that the Department cannot take any responsibility for work which is not handed in personally. If, for unavoidable reasons, you are unable to hand work in personally, you are advised to contact the Postgraduate Administrator (David Ferguson, david.ferguson@ucl.ac.uk) in advance and use a postal or courier service which provides proof of delivery. Work may not be submitted by e-mail. You are advised to keep a copy of any course work submitted.

Deadlines

For Full time and second year Part-time Students
The official deadlines for your essays are: 4 pm on Monday 10th January (first essay) and 4 pm on Tuesday 3rd May (second essay). You will be penalized if you fail to meet this deadline, unless you have been granted an extension by the Chair of the Board of Examiners.

For First Year Part time Students only: The official deadline for your essays is 4 pm on Monday 23rd May. You will be penalized if you fail to meet this deadline, unless you have been granted an extension by the Chair of the Board of Examiners.

You should aim to get your essays in well before the deadlines, not least because of delays caused by faults with computers, printers, photocopiers etc. Do not expect everything to work smoothly. You are expected to plan accordingly. If printing at home, make sure you have a spare toner cartridge for your printer. Computer problems are not accepted as grounds for an extension.
Penalties for Late Submission
1 The full allocated mark will be reduced by 5 percentage points for the first working day after the deadline for the submission of coursework.

2 The mark will be reduced by a further 10 percentage points if coursework is submitted during the following six days.

3 Coursework that is submitted later than seven days after the deadline, providing it is submitted before the end of term 3 will be recorded as zero but the assessment will be considered to be complete.

Where there are extenuating circumstances that have been recognised by the Board of Examiners or its representative, these penalties will not apply until the agreed extension period has been exceeded.

Extensions to these deadlines on the grounds of illness etc. can only be granted by the Chair of Examiners on the receipt of a completed extension form and supporting information such as a medical certificate, which should normally reach him before the deadline. If you encounter difficulty with your work, you should speak to your Course Tutor as soon as possible.
Penalties for excessive length

1 Assessed work that is more than 10% longer than the prescribed word count will not be accepted for submission (i.e. it will not be date-stamped or otherwise recorded as formally submitted), but immediately returned to the student with instructions to reduce the word length. The work may then be resubmitted, noting that penalties for late submission will apply.

2 For work which exceeds the upper word limit by 20% or more, a mark of zero will be recorded although the assessment will be considered to be complete.

3 If submitted work is subsequently found to have an inaccurately stated word count and to exceed the upper word limit by at least 10% and by less than 20%, the mark will be reduced by ten percentage points. However the mark cannot be reduced below the minimum pass mark, assuming that the work merited a pass. (i.e. the penalty will not be used to fail a student because they have exceeded the stated word count by more than 10% but less than 20%.)

Legibility
All essays must be well presented and clear. Please leave wide margins and use double-spacing to allow teachers to write comments. Proof-read word-processed work carefully, and do not rely entirely on spell-checkers - they can introduce mistakes, particularly with proper names.

Plagiarism
Essays, while based upon what you have read, heard and discussed, must be entirely your own work. It is very important that you avoid plagiarism, that is the presentation of another person’s thoughts or words as though they were your own. Plagiarism is a form of cheating, and is regarded by the College as a serious offence, which can lead to a student failing a course or courses, or even deregistration. Please see the departmental graduate handbook for further guidance on avoiding plagiarism. (Students not registered in the History Department should ask at the Departmental Office for a copy of the Department’s guidelines or download a copy of the departmental graduate handbook from the ‘current students’ section of the history website www.ucl.ac.uk/history).
Any quotation from the published or unpublished works of other persons must be clearly identified as such by being placed inside quotation marks and students should identify their sources as accurately and fully as possible in footnotes.
Recourse to the services of “ghost-writing” agencies (for example in the preparation of essays or reports) or of outside word-processing agencies which offer correction/improvement of English is strictly forbidden and students who make use of the services of such agencies render themselves liable for an academic penalty.

You should note that UCL has now signed up to use a sophisticated detection system (Turn-It-In) to scan work for evidence of plagiarism, and the Department intends to use this for assessed coursework. This system gives access to billions of sources worldwide, including websites and journals, as well as work previously submitted to the Department, UCL and other universities.

Teaching

We will meet each week for a two hour seminar on Thursdays at 2pm in Room G.10 in the UCL History Department.

Each week one or more students will do an oral presentation to the class. Presentations should be no more than five minutes long and should make use of some kind of visual aid. The purpose of presentations is to set out the key analytical problems to be analysed that week.

It is essential that you read as systematically and widely as possible. The following books, available at Waterstones, will be helpful throughout the course:

Adam I. P. Smith, The American Civil War (Palgrave, 2007)

Richard J. Carwardine, Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power (New York: Knopf, 2006)

The leading journals in the field, which can be accessed online, are Civil War History and American Nineteenth Century History