humanities phds: required to take credits?

lfqnic · 23-09-2013 7:17am #1

Hey,

Does anyone out there in the humanities know if we are required to take 10 ECTs as part of our research degree? My supervisor seems to think they are introducing this either this year or next, but no-one seems to know for sure.

GRMA!

short paragraphs · 23-09-2013 8:10am

I know the English phds are currently up in arms as we've been told it's a new requirement, even for those who are already a year into their degree. From my (admittedly confused) reading of what we've been told, 10 credits have to be completed in the first 18 months. But mainly, it's effective from now, hence general uproar.

lfqnic · 23-09-2013 11:52am

Ah balls. Thanks very much, that's very helpful. They're amazingly backwards about coming forward with information like this. You wouldn't happen to know if we are allowed to take them from within our own departments (assuming we haven't already done the course(s) in question)?

short paragraphs · 23-09-2013 1:40pm

It's mad - people have already registered for a traditional PhD only to be told it's now structured and they'll just have to suck it up.

I think once it has some relevance to what you're doing in your own research you can take modules from other departments (depending on availability) but I snuck in as a March registration before this new rule becomes an issue so I'm not completely sure. It might also depend on the department you're in as well. Your best bet is probably to talk to the director of graduate studies in your department and see what they say.

lfqnic · 23-09-2013 3:31pm

So very Trinity. Thanks for your help, hope you manage to evade it!

Ravelleman · 24-09-2013 11:47am

It'll hardly kill a new entrant to get 10 credits in 18 months. I already have 5 more or less in the bag with minimal effort.

lfqnic · 24-09-2013 12:00pm

Kill them - no, distract them - easily. I'm already teaching, which means I have more contact hours now than I did in my final year as an undergrad! It's not the end of the world but we should be told about it, which I haven't yet been, officially. (Incidentally, I think you're in my school - were you aware of it?)

short paragraphs · 24-09-2013 12:02pm

I don't think the workload is the issue here. It's the fact that people applied and were accepted on to a traditional PhD and are now being told in the first week of term that they're actually doing something different.

Certainly for those already a year into their studies, it's a bigger issue because the nature of their degree has been changed all of a sudden without any consultation.

humanities phds: required to take credits?

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