The English Faculty have revised provisions for the new course only days after it was initially announced in the face of widespread student objections.
Current second years are the first year to study the new English course, but after students complained that the balloting system for ‘Paper 6’ options didn’t fully account for their choices the Faculty have announced a restructuring.
Under the previous system students would complete a ‘Special Author’ paper in Michaelmas of third year, choosing from a list of up to thirty different canonical authors selected by the faculty. The course has now been changed so that students study a centrally taught ‘Special Topic’ instead, with a similarly extensive list of options available.
However, students expressed discontent at the way these options were balloted for. In previous years, college tutors would find staff to teach students the ‘Special Author’ paper on an ad hoc basis, with a large number of students being taught one-on-one or in small tutorial groups. The new system, as it was originally proposed, asked students to list five ‘Special Topics’ that they were willing to study, one of which they would be allocated.
The Faculty originally declined to let students indicate which of the five topics they were most interested in, or rank their choices in any preferential order. An email from Kate Gear, the Faculty’s academic officer, said, “It’s clear from the majority of correspondents that students and tutors both understand that popular options may be oversubscribed, but they still want an opportunity to indicate options in order of preference.”
Thw incident has been resolved by introducing a preferencing system where students rate five options which are then balloted accordingly. Despite this resolution there have been some wider concerns expressed over the nature of the course change. Students are worried that the new system has been designed to reduce the amount of time students spend with tutors. Special Topics will be taught in seminar-style classes rather than tutorials, an arrangement that has upset some.
Matthew Main, a second year at New College, commented, “It is a real kick in the teeth: it consists of five one-hour classes (which are essentially taught as sign-up lectures, as far as anyone can tell) and two quarter-of-an-hour ‘tutorials’/consultations, replacing five one-on-one tutorials. Another aspect which seems to have been overlooked is that tutors are now both setting, teaching, and examining papers which cater entirely to their own professional/academic interests, or more troublingly ‘tastes’: this raises some very obvious concerns about whether the courses really will reward forthright thinking and research or whether they really represent the students being asked to further research already being undertaken by the professors in charge of each course.”
Tiffany Stern, Chair of Examiners for the old system and fellow of University College, responded to these criticisms, “The idea was to allow faculty members to teach courses of their own choice, tied in with their research. Hitherto we have largely taught as ‘GPs’ rather than as specialists (tutes are seldom what we’re working on). Paper 6 was to allow us, and our students, to be involved in research as it happens… The Faculty and College ‘stint’ (the hours per week that post holders teach) remains unchanged.”
The introduction of the Special Topic paper comes alongside broader changes to the course. As well as some final exams being replaced by coursework, students will now study one fewer paper than in previous years.
Current third years will sit an exam on Shakespeare, and four period papers that cover the years 1100-1830 with an additional commentary paper on assigned Middle English texts. Under the new system, students will be examined on Shakespeare via a portfolio of coursework and the commentary paper has been discontinued entirely. Current third years also submitted a portfolio of work in Trinity of second year that focused on English language rather than literature, an aspect of the course that is now entirely absent from Finals.
Overall, English students will now sit only four three-hour exams in their final year, all on topics that they studied in second year. One finalist commented, “The new system as it stands serves to minimise the work-load, intentionally or otherwise, of English students and the staff that teach them. It’s frustrating that I will earn the same degree as someone graduating a year later despite the fact I will have sat seventeen hours of exams to the twelve they will sit whilst their coursework is essentially the same. It’s not like English degrees are exceptionally hard work anyway!”
