Winter Exams 2011

INTERNATIONAL EDITION

Berlinale 2010: Leonardo DiCaprio was present at the press conference for ”Shutter

Island”, and I used the opportunity to snap this picture.

Film and Media Studies http://filmandmedia.ku.dk

Department of Media, Cognition and Communication University of Copenhagen

Exams office, room no. 17.2.116 Monday-Friday 10.30-12.00 and 13.00-14.30

(Uffe Stegmann, Phone 3532 8136. Mail: ifm.eksamen@hum.ku.dk)

International Officer, room 17.2.123 (Kristina Cheetham, Phone 3532 9433. Mail: cheetham@hum.ku.dk)

Student Guidance, room 17.2.6B-D Tuesday and Friday 10-14.

14 September 2010

Welcome! Welcome to Film and Media Studies! We hope you will like Copenhagen – and find many new friends! If this is your first semester in our department, if you are from another university or from another country it is very important that you read this folder. If you were here last semester you already know that it is important to read this folder If you have questions, you are always welcome in my office. The sooner you ask – the less chance of problems with deadlines and other unavoidable requirements.

It is YOUR responsibility! Even though you have just started, you already have to think about exams. There are a lot of rules in connection with exams – and it is your own responsibility to be aware of and live up to these rules. If you do not keep that in mind you are going to run into problems! It is no excuse that you may be used to completely different rules. You need to make sure that you have access to KUnet (where you can see official mails, what you have signed up for and many other things), to Absalon (where you can see information about the various courses) and you have to watch our homepage. If there are any changes during the semester we shall use the above systems to inform you about these changes – and it is YOUR responsibility to watch for and act according to the information you receive through these systems. It may sound tough, but that is the way it is. Of course we will try to help you to the best of our abilities. You will find relevant information in this folder, on our webpage - and your questions are always welcome.

Exams sign up As everything concerning exams is likely to be very different from what you are used to, I would like to invite you to a meeting to explain your options under our exams system. Please read about your options in this folder and the curriculum (Film Studies, Media Studies and Elective Subjects – all can be downloaded from our home page). Knowing about your options before the meeting will make it easier for you to decide, which of the exams options suit you. At the meeting I will help you fill out the sign-up form for the exam of your choice. To give all of you the opportunity to attend, I will have two meetings: Monday 20 September at 14.00 in room 14.2.50 Thursday 23 September at 14.00 in room 14.2.50 It is very important for your own sake to attend one of these meetings. Should you choose not to, we cannot guarantee that you will be signed up correctly for your exams – meaning that you may not be allowed to take any exams at all. For those of you, who have already been here for one semester, please feel free to attend one of the meetings regardless.

If you are not sure which study element to sign up for, it is a good idea to sign up for several now – and then remember to cancel the ones you do not need later. For those of you who know our systems, you may sign up via KUnet between 17 September and 29 September until 12.00. From 25 October you will be able to check that you are signed up for the correct exams on your KUnet page. It is very important that you check this – and contact me immediately if anything is incorrect.

Very important: Study Elements versus Courses.

You are probably attending one or several of our English language courses. However, in our exams system it is not possible to take an exam in a course as such. Instead you take exams in study elements (see the curriculum). To find out what is required of you to take exams here, you have to study the curriculum. You can find the curriculum here: http://filmandmedia.ku.dk/curricula/ If you are just staying here for one or two semesters the easiest solution is to choose the study elements “Optional subject 1” and “Optional subject 2”. If you are taking your complete master’s degree here, you should study the curriculum and choose study elements accordingly. The reason we suggest you choose the optional subjects if you are just staying for a semester or two is the range of possibilities these two subjects give you. The optional subjects allow you to angle your exam exactly the way you want it. Based on the course you have attended, you choose what you want to write (or talk) about. You then discuss your choice with the teacher. The teacher will give you pointers, help you by suggesting literature and generally advise you on how to present what you want in the best possible way. If you want to use other study elements than the optional subjects, you should check out the course page on SIS, where the teachers have made suggestions as to which study elements are relevant for the specific course (you will also get a list summing up these choices at the exams sign up meeting).

Letter for your Home University If you have signed up for “Optional subject” (“Valgfrit Emne” in Danish) that is what it will say on your transcript of records, when you have taken the exam. Your home university might need a paper naming the course on which you are basing your exam. For that purpose, we have written a standard letter that you will get, when you come to one of the exams sign up meetings. If your university needs the information, you can just hand them this letter. Combined with the transcript of records this should be sufficient for your university to give you the credit you have earned. You cannot get an extra copy of this letter, so try not to lose it. All this may seem a little complicated so do feel free to ask questions.

Change of exams.

After the exams sign up period you cannot change the study element. You can change the name of the teacher and in a few cases the exam form. You have to come to my office to make these changes. Changing the exam form(where applicable) or examiner: Monday 1 November at the latest.

Cancellation of exams If you do not wish to take an exam you have signed up for, please remember to cancel that particular exam. If you are a full degree student, it is particularly important to remember this. You have three tries for each study element, and if you do not remember to cancel your exam, you have used one of those. You can cancel your exams on KUnet until the first date mentioned below. After that date you cannot cancel oral exams. Free written home assignments can be cancelled until they have to be handed in by following this procedure: Print out a list of the exams you have signed up for from your own KUnet page. Mark the exam(s) you want to cancel. Sign the print and bring it to me in my office. All other forms of cancelling exams are not allowed. Cancellation of oral exams: Monday 1 November at the latest. Cancellation of free written home assignments: Tuesday 4 January 2011.

What to hand in for exams In the curriculum under the various study elements you can see, what you have to hand in. If everything applicable is not handed in on time, you will not be allowed to take the exam in question and will have failed that exam. The exams office will refuse to accept papers, syllabus and materials that do not meet requirements and you will also have failed the exam. Both the syllabus and the papers handed in must be calculated as standard pages before handing in. A standard page is 2400 keystrokes, including spaces. When calculating standard pages notes are included but not cover pages, bibliographies and appendices. For most oral exams you have to hand in both an approved (approval by e-mail is acceptable) syllabus (literature/pensum) and “material”. If you are unsure about what “material” is, you should ask me for the guidelines. If you do not hand in “material” in time, you will not be allowed to take the exam. Syllabus, material or free written home assignments all have to be handed in to the

exams office in three identical copies. Every copy has to have a cover page (as specified below) attached. You can find the cover pages outside my office or on our web page.

You MUST use the correct cover page.

Litteraturopgivelser: (Syllabus) You have to hand in an approved syllabus for oral exams and compulsory written take-home assignments. The syllabus for free written home assignments is identical with the assignment’s bibliography, which has to meet syllabus requirements and does not have to be handed in separately.

Materiale: Material for “free oral exams with material” (normally up to 10 pages) has to be handed in on time or you will not be allowed to take the exam. If you are unsure about what “material” is, you should ask me for the guidelines.

Hjemmeopgaver: Free written take home assignments. You do not have to bind the paper – just hand in loose pages and we will staple it together.

Audio-visual products – always three identical copies. These products have to be in one of the following formats:

VHS ISO-data CD rom DVD-R

For exams where analysis of a media product is part of the exam, you do not have to hand in copies of this product. Please check with Av-Service if they have a copy of the product available. If not, please put one copy of the product at their disposal. If you wait till the last possible moment to hand in your papers, you must be prepared to wait, as quite a long queue of students is to be expected. Handing in your papers a day or so in advance is therefore a good idea . To keep delays at a minimum, please make sure to have all relevant cover pages filled out correctly in advance.

You will find deadlines for handing in on the back cover of this folder.

Oral Exams The schedule for the oral exams will be published on the board outside the exams office at least a week prior to the first exam. It will also be published on Absalon. You are allowed to bring a copy of the material already submitted for the exam. You are also allowed to bring a written synopsis (maximum one page) for the oral presentation. This synopsis must be submitted to the examiner at the beginning of the examination. You are not allowed to bring any notes, books or other material that has not been submitted in advance according to the relevant study element. You have to be present 30 minutes before your exam starts. If you choose to leave in the middle of an exam, your grade will be “-3” or “failed”, and you will have used one of three tries for the exam in question. The plan for the oral exams will be published 17 December. The plan is subject to changes, and it is your own responsibility to keep track of any changes.

Amber Kuo (popstar in Taiwan) is the female lead in the lovely film “Au Revoir Taipei” which was shown at the Berlinale this winter, where I took this picture at the opening.

Plan for Oral Exams on Absalon As mentioned the plan for oral exams can be found on the board outside my office and on Absalon. It might be a little tricky for you to find it on Absalon – so here is what you do:

Open Absalon, go to the site course catalogue and search for “eksamen”. Find ”Eksamen, Film- og medievidenskab” amongst the search results. Click on that title. Register, when you are asked. Press F5 on your keyboard – now you should be able to see the plan.

Publication of grades The official date for publication of grades, is the date the grades are published on http://filmogmedie.ku.dk (under “eksamen”) and on the board outside the exams office. To be able to find your grades, you need your exams-number. This is a 4-digit number that you get, when you sign up for exams. You can find the number on your own KUnet page next to the exams, you have signed up for. You get a new number each semester. It is important to write the number down as soon as possible, as it will be deleted from your page, when the exams themselves start.

If you do not have your exams-number, you will not be able to see your grades until they are available on your own KUnet page at a later date. The grades will be published at the latest on 4 February 2011.

Make-up Exams If you are not able to take an exam due to illness, you have to hand in a doctor’s certificate – dated on the day of the exam. The certificate has to be handed in to the exams office, and you have to pay for the certificate yourself. Should you fail and exam or fail to take an exam due to illness (with approved doctor’s certificate), you will be offered a make-up exam. You do not have to accept this offer – alternatively you can sign up for the same exam the following semester. If you did not show up for an exam or if you were not signed up for the exam in question, you will not be offered a make-up exam. However, you can still sign up for the exam the following semester. Sign up for make-up exams 7 February – 11 February 2011.

Plagiarism in Written Take-Home Assignments Plagiarism in connection with take-home assignment exams is a very severe breach of the university’s rules of academic integrity. It is usually easily discovered, and teachers and external examiners have a duty to report it as soon as they suspect plagiarism. If plagiarism is detected, the student will be punished by exclusion from the exam or exclusion from the university for a short or long term. In less severe cases, the student might only be reprimanded. If the student is excluded from the exam, the assignment will not be assessed but will still count as an examination attempt. If the student signs up for the exam later on he/she will have to compose a completely new assignment. It is not relevant to charges of plagiarism whether it was intentional, conscious cheating or just carelessness. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that students are aware of what plagiarism is and are careful when referencing sources: Plagiarism is:

When a take-home assignment contains copied text (transcription) without quotation marks (or a similar marking such as italics) and a reference of source When a take-home assignment contains paraphrases or a reproduc-tion of arguments written by others without a reference of source When a student lets another person write the assignment – or parts of it.

There is no lower limit for plagiarism.

Examination Appeal

If you want to make a complaint about one of your grades, it is a good idea to talk to the examiner first to find out why you got the grade in question. If you still want to appeal, you have to send a written, reasoned appeal to the Dean, Faculty of Humanities, KUA. Remember to state your name, student ID (or CPR-nr.) and the name of the exam in question. The appeal has to be sent to the Dean within two weeks of the publication of the grades. Please be aware that according to new rules, an appeal may result in a lower grade than the original grade.

Deadlines and Exam Dates

1/12 – Wednesday 1 December 2010 14.30 at the latest. • hand in of material and approved syllabus for free oral exam with

material.

10/1-28/1 2011 10 January – 28 January 2011 Oral Exams

Oral exams plan is published 17 December 2010 (on the board outside the exams office and on Absalon)

4/1 2011 – Tuesday 4 January 2011 14.30 at the latest • hand in of all free written home-assignments. If you do not wish to stand in line for a couple of hours, it is a good idea to hand in your assignments on Monday 3 January or before noon on Tuesday 4 January.

Compulsory written take-home assignment: 10-17/12 2010 10 December to 17 December 2010: • hand out of questions Friday 10 December 2010 from 12.00 • hand in of assignment Friday 17 December 2010 14.30 at the

latest. 14 September 2010