MA Politics, Media and Performance(Taught Masters Degree)

Course Handbook 2014/15

Coriolan/us, Dir. Mike Pearson and Mike Brookes, National Theatre Wales, RAF St Athan, August 2012. Photo: Simon Banham ©

Department of Theatre, Film and Television StudiesAberystwyth University

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MA Politics, Media and Performance

Handbook Overview

Welcome

1. Description 3

2. Outline of academic structure 4

3. Module Information 5

4. Dates session 2014/2015 10

5. Assessment dates session 2014/15 11

6. Staff contact details 12

7. Other useful contacts 13

8. Departmental Style Guide (referencing) 14

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MA Politics, Media and Performance

Welcome

Welcome to the MA Politics, Media and Performance in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies and the Department of International Politics!

By choosing to come to Aberystwyth University, you have joined an exciting team of students, researchers and scholars. We take research and post-graduate study enormously seriously here and hope you will become a vibrant member of our team.

We intend your MA studies to be one stage of your academic (and creative) development. By achieving your first degrees you have already demonstrated your own excellence as students. We hope to build on that excellence with the ultimate goal of helping you develop into a performance practitioner, researcher and scholar. This will partly be achieved by working with us extensively in class, but we also do encourage all post-graduate students to become involved in other areas of the Institute’s research communities. For example, we arrange a number of research seminars (combining internal and external speakers) throughout the year that you are all encouraged to attend, especially the Distinguished Speaker Lecture and Seminar series run by Performance and Politics international (PPi), the University’s dedicated research hub for work on politics, media and performance . We shall also keep you informed of any performance events or conferences that may be of interest to you. Postgraduate students are encouraged to attend these events and fully participate in the artistic and intellectual life of the departments as a whole. And so we hope that your studies here are both fruitful and enjoyable.

The following pages contain important and useful information to help and guide you so that you will successfully complete your MA. This handbook is intended as a reference book and guide for all students and staff associated with the Masters programme in Politics, Media and Performance. We have tried to keep it to the point, which means that for some purposes you will need to consult other documents:

The Departmental Taught Postgraduate Handbook The University’s “Code of Practice for Taught Postgraduates” available on-line

at http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/grad-school/docs-handbooks/

The University’s Postgraduate Information – The Graduate School available on-line at www.aber.ac.uk/en/grad-school/

If you have any questions or comments to make about this handbook please e-mail the postgraduate administrator, Ceris Medhurst-Jones (ekj@aber.ac.uk). We have tried to cover everything that we think may be of importance for your time here at Aberystwyth. Please let us know if there is information we should add or if anything is misleading or wrong.Wishing you every success with your studies!

Professor Adrian KearCo-Director, Performance and Politics international research centre (PPi)MA Politics, Media and Performance Co-ordinator

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MA Politics, Media and Performance

1. Description

This Masters degree scheme builds on longstanding research collaboration between the Department of International Politics and the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies and develops the synergies that have emerged in the course of that work. It offers graduates in the humanities (Performance Studies, Fine Art, Film, Cultural Studies, Philosophy, Literature or Media) and in the social sciences (Politics, International Politics, Sociology, Anthropology) the opportunity to work together at the intersection of performance, media and politics to develop an advanced understanding of cutting-edge contemporary thinking in critical international and postcolonial politics, performance, film studies and media.

This programme is jointly taught by International Politics and Theatre, Film and Television Studies staff and administered by the Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies within the Faculty of Arts.

There can be little doubt that film, creative media and performance do not just reflect but produce particular political realities and can be used for political ends. The recent events of the Arab Spring demonstrated the role that digital media play in the form and conduct of political activism, and the events of 9/11 in 2011 showed how spectacle impacts on politics and may be manipulated for various ends. All this highlights the need for informed, critical and creative scholarship that is not constrained by any disciplinary divide between performance, media and politics, and that goes beyond a framework that equates theatre with politics or sees politics as a performance. Scholars of politics have recognised the importance of examining, and indeed employing, cultural and media forms in their work. Equally, scholars of film, media and performance are examining the relevance of critical conceptualisations of the political in their practice.

This taught Masters combines the research strengths and longstanding collaboration of two world-leading departments to allow students from either background to develop an advanced understanding of the place of media, film and performance in contemporary politics, and vice versa. Students from politics and international politics will have the opportunity to develop skills in media analysis and practice, and specialise in film, performance, or creative media, and those from film, performance and media will gain a deeper understanding of contemporary theories and practices of politics, and specialise in a particular area, for example, Latin America, Africa, or the Middle East, or in a particular aspect of international politics, for example, postcolonialism, or critical international relations. Graduates from other disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, cultural studies and philosophy will also have the opportunity to engage with these exciting and intensely political new synergies.

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2. Outline of academic structure

The year is divided into three semesters. Individual module handbooks and the weekly timetable will be distributed at the beginning of each semester.

Semester 1

Core (40 credits) Students must take the following modules:

TPM1720 Politics, Media and Performance: Making Connections (core module)

TPM1420 Research Practices (Performance) OR TFM4620 Research Methods in Film and Television Studies

Options Students must choose one 20 credit module in Semester 1 and three 20 credit modules in Semester 2 (or equivalent totalling 60 credits). Students are required to take at least one of these options from each department over the two semesters: Theatre, Film and TV (TPM or TFM modules), International Politics (IPM or GWM modules)

Semester 1 (choose one 20 credit module):

IPM4120 Post-Western International Relations

IPM4820 Dissident Perspectives on World Politics

TFM4420 Film and Representation

TPM1220 Compositional Practices

Semester 2 (choose an equivalent of 60 credits)

IPM1320 Postcolonial Politics (*strongly recommended*)

IPM4220 The State through the Ages

IPM8420 Islam and Modernity

TFM2320 Audience Cultures and Practices

TFM2420 From Avant-Garde to Documentary

TPM1540 Production Project (*TPM1220 Compositional Practices is a pre-requisite*)

TPM1820 Engaging Publics

Semester 3

Core (60 Credits) Students must take the following module:TPM0860 Research Project (dissertation)

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3. Module Information:

TPM1720 Politics, Media and Performance: Making Connections Semester 1Co-ordinator: Prof Adrian Kear (ack@aber.ac.uk)

This module introduces a range of contemporary theories, conceptual frameworks and practical methodologies in the exploration of interdisciplinary approaches to the analysis of the convergences and interstices between politics, media and performance. The module will focus on selected events – historical and aesthetic – that require and enable us to think through the relation between politics, media and performance. The examination of case-study materials will highlight the how we might think through image, event, action and situation in a way that draws attention to their historically and politically contingent construction and formation.

TPM1420 Research Practices Semester 1Co-ordinator: Prof Adrian Kear (ack@aber.ac.uk)

This module will consider how contemporary performance and theatre practices have been studied and outline ways that students may undertake their own, independent research. It invites students to consider what it means to be conducting research in performance and theatre, about wider questions of research and about the discipline of theatre and performance studies. It also enables students to test some of the approaches through short practical investigations, making use of the extensive research facilities available at Aberystwyth. In completion of the module, students will submit a coherent and realistic proposal for their final Research Project (TPM0860)

TFM4620 Research Methods in Film and Television Studies Semester 1Co-ordinator: Professor Birgit Beumers (bib2@aber.ac.uk)

The module combines encounters with a range of key research methodologies within film and television studies (relating to forms of textual, historical and empirical research) with a focus on what it means to conduct research, about wider questions of research and its practical demands, and about the relation of research to issues of disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity. The module will begin with a session which encourages students to think about the broad purposes of research methods both within and outside of film and television studies, and will end with a session where students will be asked to reflect on the purposes of a dissertation literature review and, in preparation for their second assignment, to put forward their initial dissertation proposal ideas. Throughout the module, students will be asked to return to and reflect on discussions about the purpose of research methods conducted in the first session (as they encounter and evaluate different research methodologies), and will also be given the space, in three one hour tutorial sessions, to discuss how their dissertation plans are progressing and how they are drawing on what they have learnt on the module in order to put these plans into action. Students will be encouraged to make use of research facilities available in Aberystwyth (in particular, the National Library of Wales and the e-learning resources available via the Hugh Owen Library) throughout the module.

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IPM4120 Post-Western International Relations Semester 1Co-ordinator: Professor Mustapha Pasha

The module introduces students to the meta-theoretical underpinnings of Western IR and the difficulty of incorporating alternative perspectives without unpacking the great divergence between assumed Western and non-Western approaches. CONTENTS: 1. Introduction: Situating Post-Western International Relations; 2. Cosmological Doctrines; 3. Colonial Cartography; 4. Teleology and the Idea of History; 5. Knowledge/Power/History; 6. The Great Divergence; 7. Before Westphalia; 8. Retrieving the Subject; 9. Decolonial Futures; 10. Lineaments of Post-Western International Relations

IPM4820 Dissident Perspectives on World Politics Semester 1Co-ordinator: Dr Inanna Hamati-Ataya

The module examines the core features of different post-positivist traditions (Critical Theory, Social Constructionism, Poststructuralism/Postmodernism, Critical Feminism, Postcolonialism, and Reflexivism) by highlighting their epistemic-ontological stances, methodologies, and distinctive themes, as well as their historicity, the stakes of their intellectual project, and their socio-political and ethical commitments. It then turns to an assessment of their theoretical and empirical contributions to knowledge of global realities, and a critical engagement with their criticisms of IR's assumptions, modes of explanation, and values. CONTENTS: 1. Mapping Dissidence in IR: Insights from the History and Sociology of the Discipline; 2. The Frankfurt School and Social Critique; 3. Critical IR Theory; 4. Social Constructionism; 5. From Conventional to Critical Constructivist IR; 6. Genealogy and Deconstruction; 7. Poststructuralism/Postmodern IR; 8. Critical Feminist IR; 9. Postcolonial IR; 10. From Reflexivity to Reflexivism

TFM4420 Film and Representation Semester 1Co-ordinator: Dr Paul Newland

Film and Representation is designed to interrogate the many ways in which films represent a variety of different peoples, objects and phenomena. In doing so, the module focuses on film as a cultural form that mediates reality; re-presenting aspects of this reality through moving pictures and sound. We will consider how class, race and gender have been constructed, interrogated, and critiqued by films. Attention will be paid to the ideological mechanisms of different modes of cinematic representation, and aesthetic and historical developments. We will ask questions such as: how are spaces and places represented on film? How are historical moments represented on film? How, in an increasingly complex, globalized world, can individual identity be depicted? How are marginalisation, exclusion and difference worked through in films? How is this done aesthetically and politically? How does film operate as a form that can facilitate embodied ‘affect’? How do films generate emotional responses? How far can film operate as visual and/or sonic poetry? Can film be philosophy? In order to attempt to answer these often difficult questions we will draw on a range of methodological approaches including semiotic theory (e.g. Saussure; Lévi-Strauss; Barthes), theories of discourse (e.g. Foucault), and phenomenology. We will also draw on theoretical work on ideology and hegemony (Althusser and Gramsci).

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TPM1220 Compositional Practices Semester 1Co-ordinator: Dr Karoline Gritzner (kgg@aber.ac.uk)

This is a practical, participatory module that explores and enacts strategies, methodologies and techniques of making contemporary performance. Each session will concentrate upon a specific aspect of the compositional process and culminate in the creation of a short performance work that demonstrates the principles under examination. Whilst particular emphasis is placed upon the professional practices of staff involved, models and frameworks will also be drawn from key contemporary European theatre and performance makers.

IPM1320 Postcolonial Politics (*strongly recommended*) Semester 2Co-ordinator: Professor Jenny Edkins

This module provides an advanced introduction to the fascinating and intriguing study of postcolonial politics. Introduced as an area of study in Aberystwyth over ten years ago now - when postcolonialism was generally only studied in relation to comparative literature - postcolonial politics has become a wide-ranging and much debated field. It embraces critical development, explorations of continuing and often invisible neocolonial attitudes and practices, and possibilities for resistance, and it explores these topics through literature, film, art and music as well as the written word. CONTENTS: 1. Anticolonialism and Nationalist Struggles; 2. Colony Meets Metropole: Madness and Civilisation; 3. Decoloniality: Situated Knowledges; 4. Orientalism and Hybridity; 5. Subaltern Studies and Provincialising Europe; 6. Identity, Race and Diaspora; 7. Sex, Gender and Queering Postcolonialism; 8. Governmentality, Discipline and Development; 9. Metropole meets Colony: Politics, Inequality, Ethics; 10. Postcolonialism Without Guarantees?

IPM4220 The State through the Ages Semester 2Co-ordinator: Dr Brieg Powel

This module explores notions of the state and its alternatives throughout history. This not only allows consideration the formation and historical evolution of the state but also encourages an appreciation of the diversity of state forms which have emerged over the centuries. By exploring non-European and past understandings of the state the module seeks to challenge Eurocentric notions of political community. CONTENTS: 1. Introduction: an overview of the module and definitions of state; 2. Early 'States'; 3. The state and the nation; 4. The state and the economy; 5. The state and war; 6. The state and the population; 7. Beyond the state: 'Cutting off the King’s head'; 8. Review.

IPM8420 Islam and Modernity Semester 2Co-ordinator: Dr Ayla Gol

The module aims to give students: i) an advanced understanding of Islam as a faith, identity and ideology; ii) a critical awareness about the historical experience of colonialism and Western modernity in Muslim societies and; iii) a detailed knowledge of the contemporary challenges encountering both the Islamic world and the West. CONTENTS: 1 Introduction: Islam and IR; 2 Islam and the West; 3 Modernity and Eurocentric history; 4 Alternative modernities; 5 Orientalism Reconsidered; 6 Islam, Identity and Culture; 7 Islam and Women; 8 Islamic Fundamentalism; 9 Islamophobia and Neo-orientalism; 10 Conclusion: Modernising Islam?

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TFM2320 Audience Cultures and Practices Semester 2Co-ordinator: Prof Matt Hills

This module will look at issues raised by how empirical audience cultures and practices have been marginalised in certain theoretical frameworks (e.g. work in the "effects" tradition and that which posits "ideal" audiences on the basis of textual study alone). It will trace how different paradigms have dominated audience studies, and how sociological/psychoanalytic concepts can be utilised. The module will consider the ways in which audiences "resist" and refocus textual meaning (through paratextual orientations), as well as how aesthetic, economic, social and personal values can play a role in the audience-text relation. In particular, this module will investigate how audiences have become objects of moral concern, and just how audiences are commodified as well as being highly active (something explored in relation to social media and digital fandom). We will investigate audiences' own cultural criteria of aesthetics/appreciation alongside discourses of factuality and authority which are central to media culture's DVD/blu-ray commentaries, extras and promotion. Finally, rather then assuming that audiences are 'active' as fans or lovers of screen (and other) media, what of "haters" and even indifferent, disinterested readers/spectators/viewers? Analysing audiences means considering a wider range of affects than have typically been represented in scholarship, as well as theorising the cultural specificity of ourselves -- academics and students -- as audiences.

TFM2420 From Avant-Garde to Documentary Semester 2Co-ordinator: Dr Kim Knowles

The module Avant-Garde to Documentary introduces students to avant-garde filmmaking through the lens of documentary, and also to the myriad ways in which documentary film has drawn on unconventional techniques that align it more with modernist aesthetics than with traditional notions of reportage and objectivity. In this sense the module maps out two intersecting, and often inseparable, histories, allowing students to gain insights into both documentary and avant-garde filmmaking. The module will follow a loosely chronological structure, examining the importance of the factual and everyday to modernist aesthetics of defamiliarisation and the foregrounding of cinematic materials, and then moving on to one of the key, and most enduring, sub-genres of avant-garde documentary: the city film, or 'city symphony.' As the module moves on we will consider the British documentary movement, French cinema verite and John Grierson's work with General Post Office, considering the importance of technology in the development of new and innovative documentary film aesthetics. We will then examine a range of themes and approaches related to the phenomenology of the body, portraiture, science and nature, autothnography, and memory, before considering recent intersections between gallery art and documentary, particularly through the re-embracing of narrative and classical pictorialism, as well as the implications of diverse exhibition spaces and the economies of attention and distraction. Drawing on a range of art historical and documentary film theories, and questions of politics and ethics, the module will provide students with a solid grounding in two boundary-breaking areas of film production.

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TPM1820 Engaging Publics Semester 2Co-ordinator: Prof Mike Pearson (mip@aber.ac.uk)

The module introduces a range of contemporary theories, creative approaches and practical methodologies in order to examine the relationship between research and professional practice in the creative arts and the audiences they address. It examines a range of conceptual frameworks and material practices, from analyses of ‘post-democratic’ discourse to the participatory practices of ‘relational aesthetics’, alongside the development of concrete public engagement strategies to support creative enterprise and sustainable research. The latter will be facilitated by a series of workshops and talks with professional artists, curators, and entrepreneurs.

TPM1540 Production Project Semester 2 Co-ordinator: Simon Banham shb@aber.ac.uk

This is a practical production module, which involves the creation of a substantial performance work, conceived, produced and performed collaboratively by the students under the facilitation of a member of staff and/or guest artist. The module introduces students to professional practices and procedures of production: approaches to conception, devising, composition and exposition in the public domain.The pre-requisite for this module is TPM1220 Compositional Practices in Semester 1.

TPM0860 Research Project (dissertation) Semester 3Co-cordinator: Dr Karoline Gritzner (kgg@aber.ac.uk)

The module encourages students to complete their MA through a sustained and detailed research enquiry into specific aspects relating to the intersection of performance, media and politics.Students can either develop a work of practice-based-research in the form of a substantial piece of live performance, with supporting documentation and evaluation, or submit a written dissertation on a research topic of their choice.The submission type, topic and methodology for the research will be identified with the help of a research proposal, to be submitted for Research Practices (TPM1420) or Research Methods (TFM4620) in Semester 1. Submission type, topic and methodology will be approved by the module coordinator and will depend on the availability of suitable resources and supervision. Students will work with the support of an assigned supervisor.

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4. Dates session 2014/2015

Michaelmas Term (1)

Monday 22/09/14 - Saturday 13/12/14

Welcome/Induction/RegistrationMonday 22/09/14 - Friday 26/09/14

Semester 1 TeachingMonday 29/09/14 - Saturday 13/12/14

Christmas VacationMonday 15/12/14 - Saturday 03/01/15

Lent Term (2)

Monday 05/01/15 - Saturday 21/03/15

Semester 1 ExaminationsWednesday 07/01/2015 – Tuesday 20/01/2015

Induction/Preparation for Semester 2Wednesday 21/01/2015 – Saturday 24/01/2015

Semester 2 TeachingMonday 26/01/15 - Saturday 21/03/15

Easter VacationMonday 23/03/15 - Saturday 11/04/15

Easter Term (3)

Monday 13/04/15 – Saturday 30/05/15

Semester 2 TeachingMonday 13/04/15 - Saturday 02/05/15

Reading/Revision WeekMonday 04/05/15 - Saturday 09/05/15

Semester 2 ExaminationsMonday 11/05/15 – Saturday 30/05/15

Deadline of dissertations: 30 September 2015

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The University is usually completely closed over the statutory Christmas, New Year and Easter holidays. Please check holiday times carefully when working on your assessments – you may not always be able to access library and other facilities.

The MA year is a calendar year and not the familiar academic year. It runs from late September to late September. The university is still geared to the academic year and most formal contact for the MA will fall within traditional term times. The summer period is intended mainly for independent work and completion of dissertation projects. This requires considerable forward-planning on your part. Please discuss your summer work schedule with your project/dissertation supervisor.

Please note that some classes will be held during the summer period (dates subject to confirmation). You must check any planned periods of absence with the Postgraduate Coordinator or Postgraduate Administrator.

5. Assessment dates session 2014/15

Please refer to information in the individual module handbooks for confirmed deadlines and assessment criteria for all assignments.

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6. Staff Contact Details

Students are expected to obtain their e-mail log-on name and password from the Hugh Owen Library as soon as practicable after registration. The helpdesk there will guide you to the nearest public workstation. (For information, locations of other public workstations can be found at the following web site: http://www.inf.aber.ac.uk/ns3-uwaonly/wsr_summary.asp). Students should make a point of checking their e-mail messages at least once every day as they may include very important information. Students should always contact members of staff by e-mail and not by letter.

If any problems or questions arise, students should always get in touch first with the relevant module co-ordinators (see module information).

Adrian Kear (01970) 622834(Professor of Theatre and Performance; MA PMP Co-ordinator) ack@aber.ac.uk

Jenny Edkins 621765(Professor in International Politics) jfe@aber.ac.uk

Anwen Jones (Head of Department) 621659aej@aber.ac.uk

Ceris Medhurst-Jones (Research Administrator) 621517ekj@aber.ac.uk

Catrin Davies (Departmental Administrator) 622644ctd@aber.ac.uk

Karoline Gritzner 621507(Departmental Taught Postgraduate Co-ordinator) kgg@aber.ac.uk

Kate Egan (Departmental Research Postgraduate Co-ordinator) 628717

kte@aber.ac.uk

Dafydd Sills-Jones (Institute Director of Postgraduate Studies) 628464dfs@aber.ac.uk

Departmental Office:Nicholas Strong (nis22@aber.ac.uk) 628471

Fax: 622831

Margaret Ames (Welfare Officer, Senior Tutor) 628488mma@aber.ac.uk

Contacts for all other staff can be found on the departmental website or please ask at the Departmental Office.

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7. Other useful contacts

AdministrationDepartment Office 628471

Departmental Fax 622831

Production facilitiesBecky Mitchell (Technical Manager) 621653

rem@aber.ac.ukfor studio and rehearsal room booking and all technical enquiries

Dorian Jones (Technical Tutor - Film and Television) 621508dkj@aber.ac.uk

for access to video and sound editing facilities

Andrea Wiltshire (Wardrobe) 624435anw@aber.ac.uk

Production Assistants 621654Castle Theatre 624606Sound Studio 624437Media Centre Hugh Owen 622505

Research facilitiesHugh Owen Library 622399National Library of Wales 632800

HelpStudent Wellness Centre 622087Computer Help Desk 622400

The Office of Postgraduate Studies 622219G9, Cledwyn Building postgraduate.office@aber.ac.uk

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8. Department of Theatre, Film and TelevisionDepartmental Style Guide

This style guide serves as the basis for all undergraduate assignments submitted in the Department of Theatre, Film and Television, except in instances where your module co-ordinator specifically instructs you otherwise. The guide provides a brief outline of how to format written assignments, an explanation of what referencing is and why it is important, a brief definition of what plagiarism is and how to avoid it, and an introduction to the Harvard (author-date) system of in-text referencing.

1. How do I format my written assignments?

During the course of your studies you will be asked to complete a variety of written assignments, including essays, portfolios, textual and critical analyses and notebooks. The instructions for these will vary and you should adhere to these closely. Dissertations in particular have special rules regarding the format in which they should be presented and the Dissertation Module Handbook details these.

In general, however, there are some basic formatting conventions that you should follow whenever you submit written work:

All written assignments must be presented in word processed format, unless you are instructed otherwise by the Module Co-ordinator or the assessment requirements of the module require so.

Assignments should be single-sided, presented in 12pt. font and be double-spaced.

Pages should be numbered consecutively in Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) in the bottom right hand corner.

Assignments must be fully referenced (see below). All quotations should be enclosed in single quotation marks. For longer quotations of 50 words or more, present the quotation as a

separate paragraph and indented from the main text. Quotation marks are not required in this instance.

In titles capitalize the first letter of the first word and of all the principal words including nouns and proper adjectives (e.g., Jurassic Park, A Midsummer Night's Dream, News at Ten).

Use italics for titles of published books, plays, poems, films, journals and classical works (e.g., Citizen Kane, Twelfth Night).

The italicizing of words, phrases or sentences for emphasis should be done sparingly. The same applies for underlining or emboldening text, or using exclamation marks!!!

In Part 2 assessed coursework is not normally returned to you. If you wish to receive a copy with the marker’s comments, you should submit two copies of the assignment, one of which will be returned to you.

2. What is referencing?

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Referencing is a way of acknowledging how other peoples' ideas have influenced your thinking. It is also a way of presenting the evidence that underpins your understanding or interpretation. Referencing is important because it allows your reader to easily trace the sources you have used and to assess how you have used them. Referencing also increases the credibility and authority of your own work by demonstrating that you have spent time carefully researching your topic and consulting the work of others. Ultimately, good referencing also boosts your marks and helps you avoid the charge of plagiarism.

3. What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is defined by Aberystwyth University as ‘the act of using someone else's work with an intent to deceive.’ (You can read the Aberystwyth University Statement on Plagiarism here: http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/student/ug-issues/exam-assess/handbook/section-13/). Plagiarism constitutes a form of unfair practice or cheating. It includes copying other people's work directly without using quotation marks or providing a reference, paraphrasing other people’s work without acknowledgement, or mixing your own words with someone else's. The penalties for plagiarism and unfair practice are heavy, and poor referencing can leave you open to accusations of plagiarism. When conducting research for assignments, the following tips can help you avoid plagiarism:

Give yourself plenty of time to research and write your assignments. Seek help early if you are struggling to understand the assignment topic. When researching an assignment note the full details of any source you use

(With internet sources, include the URL and the date of access). Always take notes in your own words. Always use quotation marks to clearly indicate quotations in your notes.

4. Using the Harvard (author-date) referencing style

The Harvard (author-date) system is very easy to use and is based on supplying reference information in the body of the text and in a reference list at the end of your assignment. It is important that you always include both in-text citations and a reference list. The Harvard (author-date) system does not use footnotes or endnotes.

Citations

When using the Harvard (author-date) system you always include an author's name, the year of publication and the page number whenever you paraphrase or quote from their text. This is included in the body of your text in round brackets and is called a citation. Over the page is an example:

'The primacy of Aristotle’s Poetics in theatrical theory as well as in literary theory is unchallenged.' (Carlson, 1993, p.15)

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The exact form a citation takes can vary depending on its context, and the following example demonstrates a different, but still correct, citation:

Marvin Carlson (1993) states that, 'The primacy of Aristotle’s Poetics in theatrical theory as well as in literary theory is unchallenged.' (p.15)

Here the author’s name is mentioned in the sentence and so doesn’t need to be included in brackets again. The year of publication follows the author’s name, but the page number is included after the quotation. A similar citation would also need to be used if we were to paraphrase, rather than directly quote, Carlson’s statement:

Marvin Carlson (1993) argues for the central importance of Aristotle’s Poetics in theatre theory. (p.15)

If there are two authors for the source you wish to cite then simply include both names, or if there are more than three authors, then cite the first followed by ‘et al.’ (this is a Latin abbreviation meaning ‘and others’):

'A really good writer is always thinking, using ideas and facts from sources to shape and inform an argument.' (Williams and Carroll, 2009, p. 25)

'Writing about an event in the past always involves constructing a version of it.' (Zarrilli, et. al., p. xxii).

Occasionally you may find that an author quotes another author and that you want to quote the original. If it isn’t possible to find the original author’s work , then make it clear that you have not read the original, as in the following example:

Peter Brook seeks 'to articulate a universal art'. (Lamont 1987, p. 6 cited in Carlson, 1993, p. 517)

In some cases you will not be able to locate all the information you need about a source. For example, there may be no author listed, or no year of publication, or there may be no page numbers. If there is no author, then use the organisation responsible for publishing the source instead:

(British Broadcasting Corporation, 2003, p. 20)

If there is no organisation, then use the title of the source:

(Trends in Film Distribution, 1994, p. 77)

If there is no date then simply state ‘n.d.’ where you would normally include the date of publication:

(Jones, n.d., p. 56)

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Finally, you may also find that you wish to include two sources with the same author and same year of publication. To avoid confusing your reader you can use an alphabetical lower case letter:

In her study of Lynch's early films, Jones (2003a, pp. 7-10) argues for this interpretation. However, she also admits (Jones 2003b, p. 63) that other studies …

Reference Lists and Bibliographies

In the Harvard (author-date) system, your in-text citations always link with a reference list or bibliography at the end of your assignment in which you provide the full publication details for your sources. The difference between a reference list and a bibliography is that a reference list only includes the sources you have cited in your work. A bibliography includes all the sources you have consulted in the research process, even if you haven’t directly cited them in your final assignment. In general you should compile a reference list unless instructed otherwise by your module coordinator.

The general principle behind your reference list is that it should help your reader to easily locate your original sources by providing the full bibliographic details of each source. So, each in-text citation should link with your reference list. To do this, your reference list should be organised alphabetically by the author’s surname (or by the organisation or title of the work if there is no author listed). The year of publication should always be included in round brackets after the author's name. For instance, if your reader were to see the following quotation and accompanying in-text citation in your assignment:

'Quotations should be relevant to your argument and used judiciously in your text.' (Pears and Shields, 2010, p. 6)

Then in your reference list or bibliography they should be able to find the full bibliographic details by matching the authors' names and the year of publication:

Pears. R. and Shields, G. (2010) Cite them right: The essential referencing guide. 8th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

5. Examples of the Harvard (author-date) referencing style

There are a wide variety of sources that you might wish to cite beyond printed books, everything from journal and newspaper articles, to live performances, film recordings, web sites, and social networking messages. Below is a list of the common types of sources that you may cite when writing assignments.

This list isn't exhaustive and you may find that you wish to use a source which is not included below. The key principle is that if you should be consistent in applying the style of this reference system to your particular circumstances. You can also ask

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your module co-ordinator or tutor for advice, and consult the additional resources listed at the end of this guide under the heading 'Further Information'.

BooksAuthor(s) (year) Title. Edition – if not the 1st. Place of publication: Publisher.

Books with a single authorNeville, C. (2007) The Complete Guide to Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Books with two or three authorsPears, R. and Shields, G. (2010) Cite them right: The essential referencing guide. 8th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Books with more than three authorsZarilli, P. et al. (2006) Theatre Histories: An Introduction. Rev. edn. London and New York: Routledge.

Edited booksHerman, D. (ed.) (2007) The Cambridge Companion to Narrative. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.

Edited books with two or three editorsCrowley, D. & Heyer P. (eds.) (1995) Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society. 2nd edn. White Plains, NY: Longman.

Chapters in edited booksSlater, D. (1997) 'Consumer Culture and the Politics of Need', in Nava, M. et al. (eds.) Buy this Book: Studies in Advertising and Consumption. London: Routledge, pp. 51-63.

Translated booksBarthes, R. (1957) Mythologies. Translated by Annette Lavers. London: Cape.

AnthologiesWorthen, W. (2003) The Wadsworth Anthology of Drama. 4th edn. London: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. E-booksBenedetti, J. (2004) Stanislavski: An Introduction. NetLibrary [Online]. Available at: http://www.netLibrary.com (Accessed: 14 August 2011).

Journal ArticlesAuthor(s) (Year) 'Article Title', Title of Journal, Vol. no (Part no./Issue/Month), Pages, use p. or pp.

Printed Journal ArticlesLeitch, T. M. (1990) ‘Twice-Told Tales: the Rhetoric of the Remake’, Literature-Film Quarterly, 1(3), pp. 138-49.

Journal Articles in Online Collections

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Scarpetta, G. and Dolan, J. (1984) 'Richard Foreman's Scenography: Examples from His Work in France’, The Drama Review: TDR, 28(2), pp. 23-31, JSTOR [Online]. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1145575 (Accessed: 23 July 2011).

E-JournalsSoffer, O. (2008) ‘The eraser and the anti-eraser: the battle over colour television in Israel', Media, Culture & Society, 30(6), pp. 759-775 [Online]. Available at: http://mcs.sagepub.com/content/30/6.toc (Accessed: 17 August 2011).

Newspaper ArticlesAuthor(s) (Year) 'Article Title'. Newspaper Title, Day and Month (abbreviated), Pages, use p. or pp.

Newspaper ArticlesDavies, L. (2011) 'European farmers expected to flout ban on battery hen cages’. The Guardian, 1 September, p. 7.

Online Newspaper ArticlesDavies, L. (2011) 'European farmers expected to flout ban on battery hen cages’. The Guardian, 31 August [Online]. Available at: http://www. guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/31/farmers-flout-battery-hen-ban (Accessed: 2 September 2011).

The internetAuthor(s) (Year that the site was published/last updated) ‘Title of page’, Title of site. Available at: URL (Accessed: date).

WebpagesERIAL Project. (2011) Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries [Online]. Available at: http://www.erialproject.org/ (Accessed: 1 September).

BlogsManaugh, G. (2011) ‘Urban Hurricane’, Bldg Blog, 27 August [Online]. Available at: http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/urban-hurricane.html (Accessed: 28 August 2011).

Wikis‘Rudolph von Laban’ (2011) Wikipedia [Online]. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Rudolf_von_Laban (Accessed: 18 August 2011).

Social Networking SitesRebellato, D. (2011) ‘Dan Rebellato’, Twitter, 31 August [Online]. Available at: http://twitter.com//#!/DanRebellato (Accessed: 2 September 2011).

Youtube

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Robag88 (2011) Film psychology THE SHINING spatial awareness and set design 1of 2 [Online]. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sUIxXCCFWw&feature=player_embedded (Accessed 25 July 2011).

Audiovisual

Television programmesTorchwood (2011) BBC One Television, 1 September.

Television programmes viewed online‘Let’s Kill Hitler’ (2011) Doctor Who, Series 6, Episode 8, 27 August [Online]. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/ (Accessed: 29 August).

Television Programmes/Series on DVD/Blu-ray‘Two Cathedrals’ (2006) The West Wing, Series 2, Episode 22. Directed by Thomas Schlamme. Written by Aaron Sorkin. First Broadcast 2001 [DVD]. California: Warner Home Video.

FilmsCitizen Kane (1942) Directed by Orson Wells [Film]. California: RKO.

Films on DVD/Blu-rayCitizen Kane (2004) Directed by Orson Wells [DVD]. California: Universal Pictures.

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Live Performances

PlaysRomeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (2011) Directed by Marcus Romer and Katie Posner [Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth. 19 November].

PerformancesCorrieri, A. (2010) Musical Pieces/Quartet (for Anna Akhmatova) [Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth. 22 October].

Installations or Art ExhibitionsBoursier-Mougenot, C. (2010) New commission for The Curve [Barbican Centre, London. 22 May].

Lectures and Lecture Notes

LecturesRabey, D. (2010) Audience: Shakespeare’s Theatre [Lecture to TP10120]. 19 October.

Lecture Notes on BlackboardFilmer, A. (2010) ‘Week 2: Cultural and Theatrical Competence’. Analyzing Performance [Online]. Available at: http://blackboard.aber.ac. uk (Accessed: 17 February 2011).

6. Further Information

If you need further help, or if you have any questions about referencing your work then first consult the member of staff for whom you are writing. The following printed and online sources have been consulted in the preparation of this guide and are highly recommended. Remember that these sources might depart from the style adopted in this guide, in which case you are to adopt the style outlined in this guide. The books listed below can all be found in Hugh Owen Library, in the ‘Effective Study Collection’ on Level F.

Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2010) Cite them right: The essential referencing guide. 8th edn. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Neville, C. (2007) The Complete Guide to Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Williams, K. and Carroll, J. (2009) Referencing and Understanding Plagiarism. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Holland, M. (2006) BU guide to Citation in the Harvard Style [Online]. Available from: http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/library/citing_references/ docs/Citing_Refs.pdf [Accessed 1 September 2011].

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De MontFort University (2009) The Harvard System of Referencing [Online]. Available from: www.library.dmu.ac.uk/Images/Selfstudy/Harvard.pdf [Accessed 31 August 2011].

Swinburne University of Technology (2011) Harvard Style Guide [Online]. Available from: http://www.swinburne.edu.au/lib/researchhelp/harvard_style. html [Accessed: 30 August 2011].

Department of Theatre, Film and Television StudiesAberystwyth University

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