1 m.phil in early modern history annual report for ... - Faculty of History

M.PHIL IN EARLY MODERN HISTORYANNUAL REPORT FOR 2009-10(1) Admissions:35 applications were received by the Board of Graduate Studies in time to be considered forthis course for 2009-10.9 applicants were rejected.25 offers were made, to 12 women and 13 men.Of these, 9 withdrew.2 students transferred into the course from other M.Phils in History during week two.18 students matriculated, 8 women and 10 men. Nationality of matriculants: 8 British, 5American, 2 Canadian, 3 Irish.Comparative data:No. of applicants No. of offers No. of matriculantsYear M F Total M F Total M F Total2003-4 9 10 19 7 9 16 3 6 92004-5 8 9 17 6 7 13 3 5 82005-6 14 14 28 9 7 16 5 6 112006-7 9 16 25 4 8 12 2 7 92007-8 13 18 31 9 9 18 7 6 132008-9 14 14 28 11 10 21 4 3 72009-10 16 19 35 13 12 25 10 8 18(2) Sub-Committee membership 2009-10Chair:Academic Secretary:Dr DL SmithDr J MarfanyDr M LavenDr M CalaresuDr P Withington(3) Administrative staffMr B Bruschi(4) Teaching1

The tournament was nearly as memorable for what happened to the second-place finisher, Phil Hellmuth.Remarkably, this was his third runner-up finish at the 2011 WSOP. He became the first player in WSOPhistory to achieve three second-place finishes at a series, with no wins. Hellmuth could take some pride inaccomplishing three very strong runner-up finishes. He also collected the largest WSOP prize of his career.The second-place consolation prize amounted to $1,063,034.Following the conclusion of the tournament at 3:30 a.m., both players were interviewed. The transcripts ofthose interviews follow:PHIL HELLMUTH -- ON THE RECORDOn his self-evaluation of his performance:“I mean, you know, I actually feel pretty good. I feel like, God -- I played so good for five days.”On why he shoved on a draw on what turned out to be the final hand:“On the last hand, I caught the straight and flush draw. He bet 500,000 and moved in. He had to have thenuts.”On his status as one of the world’s most famous poker players:“Look, I wanted to prove to myself, and just to myself really, that I’m a pretty good player….The world ingeneral has been great to me. My fans have been great to me. I feel really good about the treatment and aton of people here watching. It just makes me feel really good that there are so many people out thererooting for me. And I’m so happy about that. I’ve been way too cocky in the past, and I hear my critics.That’s the problem.”On his three runner-up finishes at the 2011 WSOP:“I think I put on a spectacular performance at the Series this year. So, I’m happy about that. But I’d tradethree seconds for a first, any day. I already have 11 bracelets; you have to understand this is the numberone bracelet that I wanted – I mean this and the Main Event. So, to come this close, to taste it, and then fallshort, was disappointing.”On losing what was a 5-to-1 chip lead when playing heads-up versus Brian Rast:“You never count the victory. I mean I’ve already had two seconds, so believe me I didn’t count the victory. Ibelieve that if I hit any of those three flush draws, I win the tournament. I just missed three of them and, youknow, I proved a lot to myself.”More on his status as a poker superstar:“The problem is when you’re someone like me, who has a lot of championships. Like (NBA coach) PhilJackson, he has a lot of championships, right? Then he left the game, he said something about his critics. Ihear my critics all the time. I hear these people say, ‘Oh you can’t do it, you’re not very good’ and so youdon’t do it for the critics, you do it for the fans and you do it for your family.”BRIAN RAST -- ON THE RECORDOn playing this tournament on national television:“This is really the first time I’ve played on television for a final table. I was on one time for like day one of theWorld Series of Poker Main Event. I was on Phil Hellmuth’s table like three or four years ago. I don’t know –I didn’t really feel that much pressure. It was kind of cool. I actually liked playing here more, because it wasmore of a loud environment, like the other table over there (for his first victory) was really small and therewasn’t much room and it didn’t feel like a final table. You’re used to, being a poker player, the WPT, WSOPfinal tables all have big cheering sections and people go crazy when you win or lose pots and the other onedidn’t feel like that. And this one definitely had that feel and that excitement. And definitely addedsomething, I felt a lot more excited at the end of the tournament. Like when I faded those flush draws for thethird time, I definitely got a charged feeling just from the feeling in the air that was happening.”On his decision to buy into the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship:“I think it was because I won the other tournament that I decided to buy into this one. I felt like I was plus-EVin this event, but not by a lot and 50K is a lot to put up, which is why I sold some of my action. I’m not reallya mixed game player. I feel like I have some experience and I’m probably better than most people think I amat the mixed games. But by no means do I consider myself to be one of the top mixed game players. Imean it does have No-Limit Hold’em and PLO. And the final table is Hold’em, so I thought that was a definiteadvantage for me.”

Assessment of the dissertation proceeded according to the criterion that a pass mark(60-69) is equivalent to an Upper Second in Part II of the Tripos, extrapolated for 6months’ research and writing time. A mark of 59 denotes a marginal fail. Marksbelow 59 denote failure. Marks of 75 and above indicate Distinction.Each dissertation was independently assessed by two examiners, neither of whomhad knowledge of the student in relation to the particular piece of work concerned.The External Examiner moderated a sample of the dissertations.(c)(d)Students were supplied with written feedback from the examiners of all the Part Imodules and with written feedback on their dissertation proposals from the MPhilsub-committee at the beginning of the Lent Term. At the dissertation workshopeach student was given oral feedback on his or her dissertation work-in-progress.Copies of the dissertation examiners’ reports were supplied to students wheninformed of their results after the end of the programme.Supervisors on the course included 4 University Teaching Officers and 5 CollegeTeaching Officers(6) Course monitoringStudents were provided with a feedback questionnaire at the end of Michaelmas Term, andanother at the end of Easter Term. They additionally supplied their own comment. Moststudents responded to questionnaires, and their feedback was reported to and considered bythe Sub-Committee throughout the year. The responses to both parts of the programmewere nearly entirely positive. The Sub-Committee considered the issues raised by theresponses to the Feedback Questionnaire and agreed the following:(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)The Sub-Committee noted that the re-introduction of the Seminar AttendanceCards scheme improved attendance at this year’s seminars. They decided,however, that the required six seminars should be attended in the Michaelmas Termand that the completed cards should be submitted at the end of that term.As the bi-weekly teas during Lent Term were clearly appreciated by the students asa means of socializing as a group after the completion of Part I, the Sub-Committeedecided to add an additional tea and spread the teas more evenly between Lent andEaster Terms by holding two teas in each term beginning next year.The Sub-Committee noted the recurring issue of limited library hours raised by thestudents. They decided that to emphasize the longer hours for most collegelibraries, as compared to those of the Seeley and UL libraries, at the InductionMeeting.The Sub-Committee noted the students’ comments regarding the Theories andConcepts course and decided that a restructuring of the course was in order. Aftersome discussion of possible changes, they decided that the issue deserved furtherconsideration and that they would continue to discuss and develop their ideas overthe summer by email circulation. As a result of their discussions over the vacationperiod, directed by Phil Withington and Craig Muldrew, the sub-committee agreedto institute their suggestion of a new core course entitled, ‘Approaching the EarlyModernThe Sub-Committee agreed that, if funding could be obtained, it would beadvantageous to continue Language Training during Easter Term for students whowish to continue with their training.3

(7) ResourcesThe resources of the University Library and the libraries of all participating faculties, aswell as all other libraries of the University and their own College Library, were available tostudents on the course. The Faculty provided a Graduate Resources Room with printingand computer facilities and printing allowances; students were also able to register for theDigital Resources Area in the University Library and for other facilities of the ComputingService. Like all students of the university, they had the Language Centre resourcesavailable to them.Students were very happy with the University and Seeley library provision, felt thecomputing services were adequate or good, and that the M.Phil office was very well-run.We would particularly like to thank Bruce Bruschi and Tessa Blackman for ensuring thesmooth and successful running of the M.Phil. this year.(8) Examining(a)(b)(c)During the Michaelmas Term, each candidate attended weekly seminars in thecompulsory module on Theory and Concepts in Early Modern History andcompleted six Research Challenges (also compulsory). They additionally attendedweekly classes in three further options detailed in item (4) above. Candidates thenhad to produce one piece of assessment work for each of these modules, in which asatisfactory result (generally deemed to be operating at a level equivalent to a 2.1performance in an Honours Examination in History extrapolated for a term ofgraduate study) had to be obtained in order to progress with the course. InDecember students were also required to submit a short proposal outlining theirdissertation topic, which was approved by the sub-committee at the beginning ofLent term, after consultation with the External Examiner. All candidatesperformed at a satisfactory level. All the dissertation proposals were approved.15 students in the cohort achieved a pass on the basis of the dissertation, 6 of whomwere awarded ‘Distinction’ (achieved in instances of an average mark of 75 orabove, with neither mark below 67). 2 students were granted deferred submissiondates for their dissertation and 1 student failed to submit his dissertation.Prof L Roper, the External Examiner, reported that she had been able to readseveral of the dissertations and was impressed not only by the quality of the workbut also by the camaraderie of the students as evidenced by several of themthanking each other in their prefaces. She suggested that this bonding and intercommunicationmay have contributed to the excellent results this year. She notedthat the six ‘distinctions’ were evenly split along gender lines, 3 women and 3 men.She added that she was heartened by the increase in European topics proposed bynext year’s cohort.(9) Course management and communicationOverall, this has been a successful year, with a 100% pass rate for those submitting theirdissertations, including several distinguished performances, as well as some very positivestatements concerning our students’ work from the External Examiner. With the additionof the two students who joined the MPhil after the first week, the group became larger thanhad been first expected. The student feedback was convincingly positive and it was clearthat the cohort worked very well together.4

Dr M Calaresu, ChairDr W O’Reilly, Academic Secretary October 20105