UCL ACC + MA History Dissertation Writing Course

The History Department and UCL’s Academic Communication Centre are running a 6-week dissertation writing course specifically for History MA students.   

The course will take place weekly on Mondays over 6 weeks, from Monday 9 June (UCL week 42) to Monday 14 July (UCL week 47). Each session will be 2 hours, 3-5pm. The venue is:  ACC LG01, 26 Bedford Way, on the Bloomsbury campus. 

The course will help you step back and consider how and why we write, and the particularities of crafting a history dissertation. Every session will involve some practical work and you should come away from each with some writing towards your thesis completed. We will cover:  

• The shape of a history dissertation 

• Crafting a research space and developing your argument  

• Making the most of meetings with your supervisor, taking on feedback and revising your work 

• The form of introductions, including historiography/literature reviews, and sources & methods sections 

• Shaping your chapters, and how to write about primary sources  

• Conclusions and abstracts  

• Psychological challenges of writing, and strategies to overcome them  

• Editing and proofreading your work 

This is a practical and interactive course, providing guidance, structure, and a space to think about – and do – writing together. It complements your meetings with your supervisor, where you will be discussing your specific research; and the 1:1 writing tutorials offered by the ACC – sign up to these to get feedback on your own writing. 

All participants need to come to every session. It’s open to students on any MA programme in the History department. It is focused on crafting a dissertation, so if you are a Public History student undertaking ‘Creating Public History’ for your final project, speak to your supervisor/personal academic tutor for advice on whether the course would be useful for you.