Running alongside the seminars on Renaissance Culture and Society are classes which emphasise the development of research, bibliographical, and palaeographical skills, with the option of specialising in English or Italian Palaeography. These sessions, mandatory for Centre students, are also open to interested students from departments such as English, History, Classics, Modern Languages and Art History. Although they are not assessed, informal tests and assignments are part of the skills training. A Certificate of Attendance will be awarded to students who attend 80%+ of the palaeography class, and who pass the short test set at the end of the spring term. References pertaining to your MA degree work may refer to your performance on any of these assignments as shown by your file.

As well as Palaeography, a selection of other skills sessions will be timetabled for all students, during term 2 at Warwick. Do check this website and tabula for further details. A draft outline of the programme is below, with day/time looking to be Wednesdays, 14:00-15:30 in H2.46 unless otherwise noted.

WEEK	DATE	TIME	PLACE	TUTOR	TOPIC
1	Wednesday 8th January	14:00-15:30	Library training room	Katherine Waters	Introduction to Library: searching for Renaissance sources and resources
2	Wednesday 15th January	14:00-15:30	Library training room	Katherine Waters	Using the library: Critical use of databases; building a bibliography
3	Wednesday 22nd January	14:00-15:30	H2.46	David Lines	Academic Writing I: from finding gaps in the scholarship to identifying an original, significant, and viable topic. From research questions to sources - or vice versa
4	Wednesday 29th January	14:00-15:30	H2.46	Bobby Xinyue	Academic Writing II: identifying your sources; and whether or to what extent to use manuscripts and early printed editions
5	Wednesday 5th February	14:00-15:30	H2.46	Ingrid De Smet	Academic Writing III: Developing the dissertation proposal: from outline to abstract and back again; identifying and conveying your argument
7	Wednesday 19th February	15:00-16:30	H1.07	Ingrid De Smet & Aysu Dincer	The Dissertation Proposal. Student presentations on the dissertation proposal (5 mins each with 10 mins feedback)
8	Wednesday 26th February	14:00-15:30	H2.46	Maria Pavlova	Effective Reading - Intensive and Extensive: Reading critically and analytically; taking/organizing one's notes and data; common pitfalls; time-management
9	Wednesday 4th March	14:00-15:30	H2.46	Marta Celati	Academic Writing IV: What is good academic writing? What is good referencing? And why pay attention to MHRA style?
10	Wednesday 11th March	14:00-15:30	H2.46	Esther Van Raamsdonk	The Critical Review: what and how?