Information for Prospective Honours Students in Media 2007/8: Division of SCMP
Honours Convenor: Catherine Simpson
Email: Catherine.Simpson@mq.edu.au
Phone: 9850 8871
Office: W6A
All prospective Honours candidates should in the first instance contact Catherine Simpson.
Honours in Media gives students the opportunity to enhance the knowledge and skills acquired at undergraduate level through a further year of academic study. The Honours degree involves an additional two semesters of full-time study and consists of three seminar units followed by a semester where students work under the close supervision of a staff member on a thesis which can include a media production such as writing, screen production or radio.
The Honours year is considered excellent preparation both for further postgraduate research work (ie Masters by Research or PhD) and/or for those who intend to work in the media/film/cultural industries and desire to entice employers with more than a standard three year undergraduate degree. In terms of the level of research, intellectual demands and workload, Honours is more challenging than undergraduate study. Nevertheless most students find Honours the most rewarding, inspiring and enjoyable year of their studies. The number of students in Honours is much smaller than regular undergraduate classes so students work more closely with academic staff members and also with their fellow students.
In the past few years students have completed theses on topics as diverse as ‘Media Power and Defamation’, ‘Sound in Lord of the Rings trilogy’, ‘Product Placement and Australian Television’, ‘Singaporean broadcast media’, ‘Tactical Media’, ‘Euthanasia and Internet Regulation’, ‘Australian Cinematographers’ and their films and scripts have gone on to win awards. Following the Honours degree our graduates have also been employed in a variety of fields, for example: radio producers for 2UE, music critic for Jazz Australia, in PR at AusFilm, short story writer and researcher for Australian Associated Press. We currently have five graduates from previous Honours years who have continued on to do PhDs with us and also have jobs as tutors and Associate Lecturers in the department.
The Department of Media offers Honours as one-year full-time or an equivalent part-time degree.
Here are some good reasons for doing Honours. You:
- have enjoyed many of your undergraduate media coursework units and would like to further explore a particular area of interest
- intend to do further academic research (such as a Masters or a PhD) and think that Honours is the best pathway to achieve this
- intend to apply for a scholarship to do a Masters or PhD
- think it would help your employment opportunities to gain the additional research and analytical skills that this year will provide you with
- you have an insatiable thirst for knowledge and love every minute of university life.
Application Procedure:
Application forms for Honours in 2009 are available from the Admissions Officer, Janelle Woodward in the Undergraduate Studies Section who has a particular responsibility for Honours. The form requires that the student state their proposed topic of study for their Honours thesis, and provide a short outline or proposal describing it. This form then needs to be returned to, Janelle Woodward (phone: (02) 9850 7273 fax: (02) 9850 7249
Email: jwoodward@reg.mq.edu.au).
The Honours website is now updated for Semester 1, 2009 applications.
See: http://www.reg.mq.edu.au/undergrad/current/honours/
The deadline for applications for commencing Honours in 2009 is Friday 31st October 2008.
If students have a good idea of an academic they intend to work with on their thesis then it is advisable to make an appointment with this person as soon as possible to see if they will be available the following year/semester.
Entry Requirements:
Students wishing to enrol in Honours must have completed their undergraduate program and obtained an overall GPA of 3. This does not guarantee entry to honours as students also need to have a good idea of what thesis topic they intend to pursue in second semester and also need to be able to put together a clear coherent proposal.
Students who don’t meet these GPA requirements may also be considered in special circumstances and/or if they have a particularly good proposal. Please see the Head of Department or the Honours convenor if you don’t meet the formal requirements but are very keen to be accepted into the program.
Enrolment Procedure:
By completing and returning the Commonwealth Assistance Form to accept your offer of a place in Honours in the coming semester, you will automatically be enrolled in the Media Honours programme. Please note that even though you will do individual units over the course of first semester you are not required to formally enrol in them. You will not have to attend an enrolment session. Tax invoice and confirmation of your enrolment will be posted to your mailing address approximately 10 days before the commencement of semester. Please check if you enrolment details are correct, and if there is a discrepancy please notify Janelle Woodward as quickly as possible.
Officially you will not receive any grade for Honours until the end of the year; ie after you have submitted your final project and completed all assessment items in each unit. The Honours convenor or your individual seminar convenors will be able to tell you what mark you received for your particular units at the end of first semester. Please note that if you want to enrol in this degree part-time you must consult the Honours convenor before doing so as seminar units are generally only offered in first semester in the Media Department.
For information regarding Honours' scholarships, see here.
Administrative Queries during your Honours Year:
For all administrative queries during the course of the Honours year; things such as withdrawals, suspensions, extensions to candidature, or deferment, please contact Janelle Woodward. Her details are listed above. If Janelle is not available, other staff in the Undergraduate Studies section can help you and the general contact number is: 9850 7314.
Requirements:
The Honours year consists of the successful completion of three seminar units in first semester from a choice of Honours units on offer in the Media Department and those on offer in the Department of Cultural Studies, and a Thesis in second semester. In 2006 a unit was also offered through the Department of History. These units are conducted as seminars which are like small tutorials. However there is more expectation placed on students to be able to initiate discussion and direction of work in these classes than at undergraduate level. Assessment will vary from unit to unit, but in most cases students can be expected to present a seminar paper (and submit a written version 1500-2000 words) and complete a final essay (of 4-5000 words). Details of these seminar units will be available at the beginning of first semester.
Students intending to complete a thesis must also complete a compulsory Thesis Preparation Workshop in first semester. This workshop is ungraded but attendance is compulsory for all students in the Honours year.
Breakdown of Marks:
Seminar units:
3 units worth 20% each = 60%
Thesis: 40%
The units on offer in the Media Department will be detailed at the first Honours Meeting.
The Thesis:
The Thesis constitutes 40% of your overall grade for your Honours year.
The options you have are as follows:
a) Thesis: In the Media Department, the thesis is required to be between 12 000-15 000 words in length. It is important that students produce a highly professional piece of work with attention to layout, typography, spelling, punctuation and bibliographical sources. The Thesis Preparation Workshop offered in first semester will cover aspects of presentation and methods of research required for an Honours thesis. Please make sure you attend this workshop and if you have any questions raise them in this workshop.
b) Thesis Involving a Media Production: In 2009, Honours supervision will be available in the following media writing production areas: Radio Production, Screen Production, Screenwriting, Writing for Print. Consistent with the requirements for theses with a media writing/component at postgraduate level, Honours theses with a media writing/production component must include theoretical work in the form of a critical commentary of at least 6-7500 words with all the above aspects of presentation (listed in section a) of thesis ) considered.
Please note that the development of candidates’ skills in critical thought and inquiry in the academic discipline of Media is a major objective underlying the B.Media Honours program. Consequently, Honours theses involving a media writing/production component are expected to display a considerably higher degree of both conceptual and craft skills than media writing fproduction work produced as part of undergraduate coursework subjects.
Given the particular research skills and resources required, students wishing to produce a thesis with a media writing/production component should show evidence of sustained high achievement (preferably Ds and HDs) in the undergraduate media writing/production subjects relevant to the proposed thesis, together with a capacity for independent research.
Please Note: Screen Production Students: If you intend to make a screen work as a production component of your thesis you will need to consult with Dr Maree Delofski (tel. 9850 8761 or maree.delofski@mq.edu.au) before you apply to study Honours – i.e. at the end of the year before your intended start.
SUPERVISION OF THESIS OR THESIS INCLUDING A MEDIA PRODUCTION
Generally you will meet with your supervisor once or twice a month in second semester or as you and your supervisor deem appropriate. Your supervisor should be able to guide you in terms of planning your work, your general topic, further readings you should do and the formal requirements of the thesis. Supervisors are also expected to read drafts of chapters as you finish them and return them to you within a reasonable timeframe (2-3 weeks turnaround approx) with some feedback to improve your work. Please note that it is not your supervisor’s responsibility to chase you up if you are not meeting mutually agreed upon deadlines. It is your responsibility. You are also strongly encouraged to consult with other members of staff who may have particular expertise in your area. As staff are often very busy, it is best to make appointments with your supervisor or other members of staff.
In second semester students will work on their own thesis or thesis including a media production. This will be undertaken with the assistance of a supervisor. We encourage you to discuss potential topics or projects with available staff. It is helpful to have begun thinking about your topic prior to commencing first semester as coursework demands on students during this semester will not give you much time to either think about it or do any work on it. You should have decided on a supervisor (in consultation with the Honours convenor) by the beginning of April. If you have not done so please see the Honours convenor immediately. Please also note that it is important to choose someone who you think you will be able to work with successfully. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a few meetings before second semester starts so you can get a feel for their style of supervision.
Supervisors and supervisees must report by email to the Honours Convenor in weeks 5 and 9 of second semester to indicate that Honours Thesis supervision is in place and progressing appropriately.
Grading:
Instead of the undergraduate system of HDs, Ds etc Honours uses a different system. The percentage points are indicated in the section below this one.
First Class: excellence in all three criteria (subject content, research and execution, and presentation) and very clearly worthy of a postgraduate scholarship.
Second Class Division 1: Very competent but with some imperfections on at least one of the above criteria. Candidate considered capable of research and worthy of a research scholarship.
Second Class Division 2: Competent but some evident inadequacies in at least two of the above criteria. Candidate unlikely to make a good independent researcher and would not generally be considered worthy of a scholarship.
Third Class: Evidence of a serious attempt at a thesis but with some major inadequacies in the three criteria.
Fail: Unsatisfactory. Project does not fulfil the three criteria.
Grading Scales and Percentages:
All Honours components (coursework and thesis) will be graded in the following way. Results will be expressed in terms of the Honours grade, preceded by discriminations of High, Mid or Low (eg Mid Iii), + a percentage equivalent. The grades and their percentage equivalents are as follows:
| Grade | % |
| High I | 95 - 100 |
| Mid I | 90 - 94 |
| Low I | 85 - 89 |
| High IIi | 80 - 84 |
| Mid IIi | 75 - 79 |
| Low IIi | 70 - 74 |
| High IIii | 65 - 69 |
| Mid IIii | 60 - 64 |
| Low IIii | 55 - 59 |
| High III | 50 - 54 |
| Mid III | 45 - 49 |
| Low III | 40 - 44 |
Decision for Final Grades:
At the end of second semester, the Honours Committee will make decisions on overall grades for each student in the Honours program taking into consideration the thesis as well as the seminar components. After this time the student can receive notification of their thesis results from Justine Martin from the Media Dept and pick up copies of the examiners’ reports on the thesis. You will receive formal notification of your overall results in the mail or online.