The M.Phil. Degree

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Asymptote, Jun 2, 2020.

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  1. Mac Juli

    Mac Juli Well-Known Member


    In French slang, this can be roughly translated as "Rowdy, Chav, Gopnik", too.
     
  2. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Thanks. Those words are familiar to me, particularly "chav" which - I believe - is mostly used in the UK. When I first saw it, I recognized it as Romani ( language of Roma people - Gypsies, like the German Zigeuner, is no longer an acceptable word in most contexts.) In Romani "chav" means simply "kid" or "child" and in the UK it's applied to a group of non-Roma in their late teens, near-and-young adults, often of the confirmed long-term non-working class, who usually imitate (with cheap knock-offs) the dress of American rap culture. A significant proportion tend to be crude and loutish in speech and behavior. Their girlfriends are known sometimes as "chavettes."

    I have never heard the term in Canada. Neither have I heard "gopnik," but I think that's understandable. Gopniks - and gopnitsas can be found here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopnik
     
    Last edited: Jun 8, 2020
  3. Filmmaker2Be

    Filmmaker2Be Active Member

    Excuse me if I'm repeating someone else. When I looked into masters programs in the UK, the distinction between a "regular" MA (or MS) and an MPhil seemed to be that the MA was for people who didn't intend to pursue a PhD and, therefore, was coursework only. The MPhil included the thesis process and so was preferred for people intending to pursue a PhD at some point. I also saw that there were program options available that provided a pathway for regular MA holders to pursue a PhD.
     
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  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    All what you said - and then some. Don't worry about repeating yourself - I'm going to do it right now. Between us, nosborne48 and I identified no less than SIX types of British Master's. And if your last post has a seventh, I'm sure there's a British school or two that will offer it. Here are the six types we found:

    (1) The Oxbridge MA for staying alive (Well-put, Nosborne!)
    (2) The taught Master's
    (3) The combination Master's - fourth year of a program - bachelor's at end of year 3, master's at end of year 4
    (4) The Research Master's with a thesis
    (5) The M. Litt. type of "Higher Master's"
    (6) The near-doctoral M. Phil.
     
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  5. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    Except when it isn't. I happen to know that the University of Leicester offers a Human Resource Management and Training MSc that requires a dissertation. I see many of them. I also see many MA degrees with the same dissertation requirement. Hmm....
     
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  6. Filmmaker2Be

    Filmmaker2Be Active Member

    Well, I did say "seems", LOL! :D
     
  7. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Yes. I think those MSc and MA degrees would be Type 4 on Nosborne's and my list: "Research Master's with thesis."
     
  8. Filmmaker2Be

    Filmmaker2Be Active Member

    I guess varies by school as to which degrees they'll offer and which demographic(s) they'll be for. ^O^ (shrug)
     
  9. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Yes, UK is like that. If you don't like a university's offerings, go two chains and a furlong up the road to the next one - you'll probably like it better. Same with the weather.
     
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  10. Filmmaker2Be

    Filmmaker2Be Active Member

    That weather, though! I was watching a British YA television show (I was bored, okay? LOL) on Amazon Prime. It was about werewolves; I like stuff like that, LOL. Anyhoo, I had to look up where the setting was because the weather was awful. I looked it up and the show was filmed in Northumbria. I had a chuckle because I have ancestry from there.
     
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  11. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    I thought a "GOPnik" was a Yiddish speaking Republican?
     
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  12. Asymptote

    Asymptote Active Member

    Thank you all for your pertinent feedback.

    It is interesting that Columbia University and CUNY both offer the M.Phil., since both schools are in close physical proximity to each other. I wonder if this geography have had anything to do with them both offering the degree?
     
  13. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Rabbi Wiki (Thanks, Nosborne48) says it's not geography. These two - and a few other - US schools do it for the same reason - to formalize completion of Doctoral coursework - and often - a Dissertation Proposal. You get the paper and you're officially ABD. Here it is:

    "At some of those institutions (including Yale University, Columbia University, George Washington University, The New School and the CUNY Graduate Center), the degree is awarded to PhD candidates when they complete their required coursework and qualifying examinations prior to the completion and defense of a doctoral dissertation.[12][13][14][15][16] This formalizes the more colloquial "All But Dissertation" status; as such, defense of a dissertation proposal is sometimes required for conferral."

    Other US schools not on his list, the Rabbi says, award the M. Phil. as a stand-alone graduate degree.

    No arguing with der Rebbe, I guess. :)
     
    Last edited: Jun 18, 2020
  14. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Or, by Yiddish grammar rules, "mit den Rebbe" .... (not "dem" as in German)
    The learned scholar, Dr. Googleberg, puts it this way: "tenh zikh nisht mitn rb" Oy, such a maven! He knows... I guess.
     
  15. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Lucky you! I was born in England, but my DNA shows no known Northumbrians - generally Southerners, going back forever (mostly Somerset). At 47, I found out I was a wartime "oops" baby. renamed on adoption, and I waited nearly 30 years more before doing anything - so it was a bit difficult to trace folks - but Ancestry - and the Registrar of Births - helped. Ancestry pointed me to a fourth cousin who helped me solve the riddle. She was great - feels good to be related to her, however distantly.

    As for the sun in Britain - it is generally not visible to outsiders. Ask the local children - they are usually good at pointing it out. As I remember, this is taught in their schools.
     
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  16. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Whatever you say in Yiddish, there will be another Yiddish speaker who will swiftly inform you, not only that your grammar and vocabulary are wrong to the point of absurdity but that nothing with the slightest pretensions to being human would pronounce actual words the way you and your family pronounce them. Or at least, that is the opinion of Michael Wex. My own experience is in more Reform congregations where Yiddish speakers are grateful to hear ANY identifiable Yiddish.
     
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  17. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    In my case, that speaker would be 100% right. And it would come as a huge-but-pleasant surprise to hear anyone else in my 100% goyishe family pronouncing them any way at all. :)
     
  18. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Don't be so sure. Yiddish etiquette requires that you take offense at the slightest criticism and reply with bitter irony and disgust that this...this...Litvak pig herder would DARE claim that his speech is even equal, let alone superior to your classic Poylish. Failure to do so will end in disappointment in all your hearers!;)
     
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  19. nosborne48

    nosborne48 Well-Known Member

    Why, you've heard that HIS parents ate non-kosher lettuce!:eek:
     
  20. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    ..."and me in the middle." (Sholem Aleichem) Oh, how I love your stuff! Nosborne, you should put this in a book!
     

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