BA Philosophy Guide

Our Aims

The chief aim of the department is to provide a complete education in philosophy. By the end of the course you should have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the core components of the subject, as well as of other, more specialist, areas that you have chosen to study.

It is our aim also to equip you with the intellectual skills that are promoted by the study of philosophy. These include the ability to analyse complex arguments and issues, to critically engage with them, to approach problems constructively and imaginatively, and to communicate with clarity in both writing and speech. These skills are extraordinarily valuable tools whatever career you choose and their possession will qualify you to do many things.

Our teaching system is modular, and your performance is assessed continuously throughout your course. The final degree classification is determined on the basis of these assessments. Our aim is ensure that these assessments, together with the final classification, are fair and comparable to assessments in the general UK university system.

The structure of the courses

You can study philosophy at undergraduate level either as a single-honours course or as part of a combined honours course with another subject. Our undergraduate courses are three years long, except for combined honours courses with a language subject, which include, in addition, a year abroad.

Each year you will normally follow eight modules, four each term. If you are a combined-honours student, half of these will be in philosophy. Students in their second and final years also have the option of taking some modules in other departments. If you are a combined honours student, this may or may not be your other department.

In the first year, all single-honours students follow the same eight level I modules, four each term. Combined-honours students choose four of these, two each term. In the second and final years no modules are compulsory, but you need to satisfy a distribution requirement to ensure a sufficiently broad coverage of the subject. In the second year you’ll take mostly level II modules, in the final year mostly level III modules. In order to graduate you need to pass a minimum number of level III modules.

More detailed information about the structure of the courses can be found on the summary regulations here and the schemes of award here.

Teaching

Each module involves two contact hours a week. In level I and Level II modules, this consists of a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar. Lectures are attended by all students doing the module. Seminars are normally taught in groups of no more than 15 students. While lecturers often welcome student participation in lectures, their main purpose is the delivery of the content of the module. In seminars, by contrast, the emphasis is on discussion, and you will be expected to take an active part. Level III modules involve a two-hour teaching session each week, which different lecturers organise in different ways. The level I tutorial module and the level III dissertation module don't follow this pattern.

Attendance

Attendance at lectures and seminars is compulsory, and a register will be taken at seminars. If your attendance falls below a certain level you could be barred from taking the assessment for the module and counted as not having completed the module. If you are unable to attend a seminar, you must contact the instructor as soon as possible to explain your absence.

Personal work

Attending lectures and seminars is only a small part of what you need to do. You are free to decide, perhaps for the first time, how to organise most of your work, and you need to make sure that you are doing a sufficient amount of work. You are a full-time student and you should be working full-time on your degree.

You need to read the texts that are being discussed in the the modules you are taking, as well as relevant background works. In philosophy reading is part of understanding the content. But your approach to reading should be critical and analytical, guided by the aim of evaluating what is said. This requires deep and concentrated thought and you must plan your work so that you allow time for this. You should also start working on your essays and preparing for your exams in good time. You also have to do your weekly logic homework.

London has a very active philosophical life, with philosophical events open to the public almost every day. Some of these might be of interest to you, especially towards the end of your course. Updated information on philosophy events in London can be found here.

Assessment

Autumn-term modules are normally assessed by essay, spring-term modules by exam. The main exceptions to this pattern are the level I tutorial module and logic modules and the level III dissertation module. Exams for spring-term modules take place in the summer term.

For most modules you have the option of submitting a practice essay towards the middle of the term. This essay is not counted for the assessment of the module.

Any paper submitted by you is presumed to be original work that has not previously been submitted for another course. You should therefore, as a rule, avoid writing on topics that you have written on previously. If you consider that there is good reason for you to revisit a topic, or to overlap with previously submitted work, then you must consult, and obtain prior written approval from, the course tutor. If permission is granted, the onus will nevertheless remain on you to avoid mere duplication.

Lateness

Essays have to be submitted by the deadline. For first term modules assessed by essay the deadline is the first day of second term by 4pm. For second term modules assessed by essay the deadline is the first day of third term by 4pm.

 Strict penalties are applied when an essay is submitted late. These are normally waived only for medical reasons, provided that documentary evidence is submitted.

http://moodle.ucl.ac.uk/

There is a dedicated moodle page for the submission of all BA modules assessed by essay which is separate from the individual module pages. The BA submission page can be found here.

Modules

Selection

At the end of your first and second year you will need to decide which modules you are planning to take the following year. You will need to complete a form when you meet your personal tutor sometime in May. They will need to check that your choice satisfies the course requirements. Your personal tutor will also give you advice about your choices.
Then, during the summer, you will need to register for your chosen modules on Portico.

Click here for an overview of Portico and here for more detailed instructions.

Being ‘Complete’ in a Module

At UCL there is an important difference between failing a module – even if a module has been irredeemably failed after both the first and the second attempts – and being ‘incomplete’ in the assessment for a module: it is possible to fail a module permanently, while nevertheless ‘completing’ it. The difference can be very significant.

In order to be ‘complete’ in a module, students must have been academically assessed in all of the examined elements relating to the module on at least the first or the second attempt. In other words, the student must have seriously attempted all relevant assessment at least once, instead of being absent and/or failing to submit work. Merely attending an examination without making a credible attempt that can be academically assessed or submitting empty pages or negligible work that cannot be academically assessed does notcomplete the assessment.

Completing all modules, even if some modules may have been failed, is very important: In order to progress from year 2 to year 3 a student must be complete in all year 1 modules; in order to progress from year 3 to year 4 a student must be complete in all year 2 modules. If students become permanently ‘incomplete’ in a module, they may therefore no longer be able to progress and will have to leave UCL. Final-year students who become ‘incomplete’ in a module by failing to attempt a re-sit after already having failed to complete all elements of assessment on the first attempt will no longer qualify for a classified honours degree and may only qualify for an unclassified ordinary degree.

Results

Assessed work is marked on a scale of 0 to 80, except in logic courses, where work is marked on a scale of 0 to 100. The pass mark is 40. If you fail a module, you will have the opportunity to resit the examination in the summer term of the following year (except PHIL1014 - Intro to Logic 1 which is resat in December the following year) . For essay based modules you will be given the opportunity to resubmit at the next possible opportunity.

You should expect to receive your autumn-term marks the week after reading week in the spring term and your spring-term marks towards the end of the summer term. Marks are made availble on the moodle submission site where essays were uploaded.

In marking assessed work, instructors use these criteria. Your degree classification is a function of your module marks. First-year marks count less than second-year marks, and second-year marks less than third-year marks. More detailed information can be found here.

Personal tutors

Each student is assigned a personal tutor within the department, and will normally keep the same personal tutor throughout their course.

The aim of the personal tutor is to provide help for the tutee in relation to the course, but also to be available for a pastoral role if necessary.

In the first year your personal tutor will see you individually at the start of the academic year, at the start of the second term, and at the end of the summer term.  The meeting at the end of the year is particularly important because it will be when you compete your module choice form about the folowing year. Personal tutors will also meet their tutees at the end of the autumn term and at the end of the spring term.

In subsequent years personal tutors will meet their tutees at least three times. Of these meetings one will be at the start of the autumn term, and another will be at the end of the summer term.

Personal tutors will also be available to be seen at other times by arrangement with the tutor.

The departmental tutor

The departmental tutor, Lucy O'Brien, is in charge of undergraduate education in the department. You may contact her if you need to discuss general issues about the course and your involvement in it. Lucy will contact you if there is any cause for concern about your performance, attendance, etc.

As Lucy O'Brien is on Sabbatcial for the first term 2012/13 José Zalabardo will be interim Departmental Tutor for that term (Monday 24 September 2012 - Friday 14 December 2012).

Communication

The department will only communicate with you by email. We can only write to you at your UCL account, so you need to check your UCL account regularly, or arrange for your UCL email to be forwarded to another account of your choice.

Members of staff have office hours, which are posted on the web each term. You can see them at those times without making an appointment. To see members of staff outside their office hours it is usually best to contact them by email to make an appointment.

More information

You will find additional information in the following pages:

Summary of undergraduate regulations

Members of Staff and their research interests

Modules offered this season

Undergraduate Prizes

Careers Service

Student Psychological Services

Student Support Pages

Frequently Asked Questions

Ways to Get Feedback