The &quot;Ask a Durham Student&quot; Thread :)

simple.

Hi, i changed colleges after recieving my offer in November and have only a letter from my previous college's open day. I still haven't recieved a letter from my new college. What should i do?

It's probably worth giving your new college a ring just to check if they're sending anything.

Reply 1886

Please could someone tell me what the History course is like and what the profs are like. The website has very little info. Thanks.

Reply 1887

Please could someone tell me what the History course is like and what the profs are like. The website has very little info. Thanks.

Reply 1888

SABru

Please could someone tell me what the History course is like and what the profs are like. The website has very little info. Thanks.

I do History... could you be a bit more specific with your questions? The staff are generally all lovely and helpful, and the course outline can be found here:
http://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/faculty.handbook/degrees/frameworks/v100.pdf

Reply 1889

Are there any world class, well published professors is what i'm trying to say.

Reply 1890

and how many essays do you get per fortnight?

Reply 1891

SABru

and how many essays do you get per fortnight?

Yes, there are world-experts in the department, but to be honest that doesn't really affect your experience as an undergraduate as you're not going to be doing things that are right at the heart of current research because you won't have the necessary context, especially in your first 2 years.

You do one essay per module in each of the first 2 terms, which gives a total of six if you do six history modules. This changes slightly depending on which modules you do in your second year, but most modules will have 1 essay each term again. Some have 3, but those don't have an exam.

Reply 1892

River85

SABru

Are there any world class, well published professors is what i'm trying to say.

Well, of course, it's a top department at a top university after all :p:

In the recent RAE (results published just a few weeks ago) 90% of the research submitted was of international quality and 20% was recognised as being world leading (in terms of importance and originality). It joins law, english, physics, geography and a few others as one of its most research intensive departments, with world leading researchers.

But don't think that just because a department or university is research intensive, with world leading academics and researchers, it really means anything. It's only of any real interest to a postgrad. As an undergrad you're not going to be involved in any of this research. Your primary interest is teaching and not research. Great researchers don't always make great teachers. Being research intensive can often have a negative impact on undergrad education. LSE is one possible example of this and UCL too, Harvard certainly is. By contrast, Durham excel more in delivering top quality undergraduate education then as a large, research instiution.

Sorry for the rant, but it's something you should keep in mind. Durham's teaching quality has been rated excellent. But to anwer the question, yes it certainly does have a number of world leading academics.

SABru

and how many essays do you get per fortnight?

You can find out by looking at the faculty handbook (as linked to by girl River). It will give you a summary of each module (content and how they are assessed).

But I think you're only really looking at two essays a year in each module (this isn't unusual across most universities, even top unis like Durham, they aren't as intensive as Oxbridge). You'll also possibly have a couple of formative assesments (these don't count towards your end of year results) and will usually be presentations and things to be given during tutorials. Things may change slightly in second and third year modules.

Reply 1893

River85

You can find out by looking at the faculty handbook (as linked to by girl River). It will give you a summary of each module (content and how they are assessed).

But I think you're only really looking at two essays a year in each module (this isn't unusual across most universities, even top unis like Durham, they aren't as intensive as Oxbridge). You'll also possibly have a couple of formative assesments (these don't count towards your end of year results) and will usually be presentations and things to be given during tutorials. Things may change slightly in second and third year modules.

Formative essays are rare in the history department; they only feature in 3 of the modules that run in 2nd year, and as "mock runs" for the summative essays that replace exams for these.

Reply 1894

River85

*River

Formative essays are rare in the history department; they only feature in 3 of the modules that run in 2nd year, and as "mock runs" for the summative essays that replace exams for these.

Formative essays, perhaps, but aren't you expected to prepare one or two presenations each year? The faculty handbook mentions short formative assignments in the first year. What are those?

Reply 1895

River85

Formative essays, perhaps, but aren't you expected to prepare one or two presenations each year? The faculty handbook mentions short formative assignments in the first year. What are those?

Yes, you may have to do presentations but every module is different. Some require each person to do a short presentation once a term or year, depending on how large the group is, (they aren't graded), and others don't. This year, 2/5 of my "normal" modules require presentations; last year I had to do them for 2/5 of my history modules.

Formative essays were non-existent in my first year, but I've heard of one module that includes one now.

Reply 1896

hannah-03

hey i pretty sure im going to durham and was wondering if anyone could tell me how often is there dressy up events at st cuths because my mother wont buy me a formal dress unless im going to use it again? (sorry for the randomness of this question)

Reply 1897

Aula

18

There are plenty. Also, there will be plenty of society balls and such like that you'll be able to attend, possibly including your department (dependant on which it is).

Reply 1898

Echolife

I've read that Durham has a 64 acre sports ground. How long does it take to walk there from the Bailey colleges?

Reply 1899

River85