NOFI250 consists of a topic from Old Norse philology. This topic could be about language or literature, or a combination of these two. The topics will change from semester to semester, and the required prerequisites may vary. The lecturer will provide the necessary information about this.

The aim of this course is to offer the students the possibility to specialize in an Old Norse topic, to a further extent than NOFI210. The course is therefore suitable for students who plan to begin an M.A. degree in Old Norse.

Moreover, the course will give the students practice in writing a supervised academic paper. The B.A. thesis provides motivation for further studies at M.A. level.

Emne vår 2015: Utgjeving og annotering av gammalnorske tekstar

Knowledge

After successfully completing this course, students will have:

- Attained an introduction to academic writing at B.A. level, by preparing and writing the thesis.

- A clear understanding of the specific topic of the course.

- A clear understanding of how to disseminate an Old Norse topic, both in writing and orally.

Abilities

- The ability to discuss and analyse a subject matter within the field of Old Norse.

- The ability to consciously choose and make use of primary texts.

- The ability to search for and gather necessary secondary literature.

- The ability to cite sources in a clear and correct manner, by using a standard citation style and bibliography.

- The ability to organize an academic inquiry in a well-written paper.

General Competence

- The ability to express themselves clearly, with correct terminology and in a well-structured manner, about an academic subject, both in writing and orally.

- The ability to read literature related to the discipline in English and in the Scandinavian languages, and have also practiced reading relevant texts in other languages.

- The ability to discuss matters of medieval philology and state their own points of view.

- The ability to independently continue to seek further competence and specialization.

Seminars: approximately 2 hours a week for 12 weeks.

A total of 24 hours. Supervision for the B.A. thesis will come in addition to this.

Teaching on the 200-level will to a large degree be organised as a seminar with active participation by the students. It is therefore expected that they carry out the assignments (written and/or oral) that will be set as a part of the teaching.

The teaching in NOFI210 will normally coincide with that of NOFI250 and the Old Norse philology courses at 300-level. In such a case, consideration will be taken of students¿ individual needs on the different courses.

If less than five students are registered to a course, the department might reduce the teaching, please see the department¿s guidelines regarding this on ¿Mitt UiB¿. Regarding a course where this is a possibility, the students will get information about this at the beginning of the semester, and before the deadline regarding semester registration 1st February/1st September.

1) Obligatory attendance at at least 75% of the scheduled seminars.

2) The students must hold a short presentation (15-20 minutes) on a topic related to the course. The topic will be co-decided with the lecturer, who also will approve the presentation.

3) If the student, in consultation with the lecturer, sets up an alternative syllabus to the standard one, the student must hand in and have the syllabus list approved within the advertised deadline.

4) B.A. thesis:

a. The student chooses a topic in consultation with the lecturer. Supervision from the lecturer is obligatory. The student is responsible for applying for supervision and attending the scheduled meetings.

b. The topic of the paper must be approved at least five weeks prior to the final deadline.

c. A first version of the paper must be submitted three weeks prior to the final deadline.

The compulsory requirements are valid for the given semester and the following semester.

Supervised B.A. thesis and an adjusting oral examination.

The expected length of the term paper will be 17-23 pages (34 000-46 000 characters incl. spaces), not counting the list of works cited and appendices. The B.A. thesis shall be submitted according to guidelines given on Mitt UiB.

It is permitted to write in Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, English or German.

When the B.A. thesis is assessed, an adjusting oral examination will be held. The adjusting oral examination will be a discussion of the B.A. thesis. The student will be able to critically discuss the thesis, answer questions given by the examiner and explain the choice of method and/or subject matter in the thesis. It is allowed to speak Norwegian, Danish, Swedish or English during the oral exam. It will be taken into consideration that international students might need extra time in order to fully formulate their answers. No examination support material is permitted in the oral examination.

The oral examination can adjust the final grade of the B.A. thesis by one grade, either up or down.

If a student fails the B.A. thesis, he or she will not be permitted to take the oral examination.

It is not permitted to use the B.A. thesis again in a later semester.

The syllabus of NOFI250 will consist of 1000 pages of normal difficulty (`weighted pages¿). Texts in the original, in translation, and different types of secondary literature are weighted differently according to their difficulty.

For each course there will be a suggested syllabus. There is the opportunity to change parts of the literature on the syllabus in consultation with the lecturer. In this case, the candidate must contact the course lecturer as soon as possible, and hand in and have the syllabus list approved within the advertised deadline.

Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies

E-mail: advice@lle.uib.no