Teaching Guide 

            Guidance Document for Philosophy Tripos Students

The Main Handbook for 2022-23 can be located here. The handbook is also broken down into sections on the following page. 

• Guide to Courses
• Lecture List
• Handbook
• Examination Information
• Marking Criteria
• Wellbeing
• The University Counselling Service
• The Student Advice Centre
• The Disability Resource Centre
• Equality and diversity
• Harassment and sexual misconduct
• How to make a complaint about teaching and examining
• A Guide of what to expect from College Supervisions 

Academic Key Contacts

• Dr. Neil Dewar Undergraduate Co-ordinator for MT term and will be there for any teaching concerns you may have.
• Dr. Julia Borcherding will be serving as Undergraduate Co-ordinator in LT.
• Prof. Arif Ahmed is your Exam Chair.

Faculty Office Contacts

Ellen Hammersley is your senior administrative assistant and will be communicating with you regarding your assessments and other matters.

Joanne Wells is your administrative assistant and will be looking after your timetable needs and queries.

With their manager Heather Sanderson they will be delighted to help you with any queries we can.

Please email us or visit us in room 313 (3rd floor of the RFB).

(1) How will Faculty teaching work?

In line with guidance issued by the University, the default is that university teaching – lectures, seminars, discussion groups and logic classes - will happen in person.

Further details of the forms of teaching are available here. 

Lecturers will be informing you if they will be recording any part of lectures this is NOT completed as standard. (Students with SSD requirments should see here.) 

(2) Use Moodle! Check Moodle! Enrol on your courses on Moodle!

We will continue to be using Moodle and you need to continue checking it regularly. Every “Paper” (i.e. module) has a specially dedicated course page on Moodle (e.g. “Part IA Paper 1 - Metaphysics”). All students at Part IA (i.e. first years) will be automatically enrolled on the Moodle pages for their Papers. All students at Parts IB and II (i.e. second and third years) must “self-enrol” for their Papers; each of these students will be eligible to enrol on the Moodle pages for any of the Papers for their year group.

Remember that it is essential that second- and third-year students enrol on Moodle for all the Papers they are taking this year. (First-year students don’t need to do this since they are automatically enrolled on the appropriate pages on Moodle.) If you’re unsure of the Papers on which you should enrol, ask your Director of Studies. If you’re still deciding which Papers to take, then enrol on all the relevant Moodle pages to begin with; you can unenroll later.

You need to use Moodle because this is where you’ll find most of the information about teaching this year. This is where you’ll be able to access handouts, lecture slides, and any recordings, or Zoom links for “live” webinars. Enrolling for your courses also allows instructors to message you with important course updates through the Moodle messaging function.

You can find information about the location for your in-person session by consulting the faculty lecture list Lecture List. The majority of lectures will now be on Sedgwick site.

3. I have special educational needs. What should I do?

If you have special educational needs and your Student Support Document (SSD) recommends that you be permitted to record, then you have a right to a recording that is appropriate for your needs (for instance, some lecturers may by default make audio recordings, but your SSD may give you a right to a video recording). The University Disability Resource centre and the Faculty Office should make this known to your instructors, and ensure that your SSD is distributed to them, but you should also always feel free to raise any requirements you may have directly with the instructor of a course, or to ask your DoS to do so. Please note, all recordings remain subject to University rules; see above.

Information on support offered to students is available on the DRC’s website: Disability Services

4. Can I take part in teaching for a course, even if I’m not sitting the exam for that Paper?

The short answer is ‘yes’, you can be added to the Moodle page for that course, and access course materials and lecture recordings in that way. You may in addition be able to attend lectures in-person. We ask that you hold off from attending in-person teaching for courses you are not actually taking, until the instructor has had the chance to see that there is physical space for you to do so, and you have received permission from them.

5. Can we access the Faculty library?

The Philosophy Library will be fully open for in-person borrowing and study space.

Please check the Library homepage (University Library Services) for information and regular updates about library services and opening hours.

Please don't hesitate to contact the Philosophy Library team if you have any questions or need any help at all accessing the resources you need for your learning and research and they will be very happy to help. Their contact details can be found at library contact details.

For information about services currently being offered by Cambridge University Libraries go to Library information.

6. Can we access the Faculty building?

Please come into the Faculty we have plenty of space for you to meet and have a tea or coffee between lectures and we have missed your visits! The Faculty office will be in touch about various wellbeing events we have planned.

Academics Please see here for Protocols and Guides.   

7. Who should we contact if we have questions?

For questions about arrangements in your College (especially questions concerning College supervisions), please contact your Director of Studies.

For questions about arrangements in the Faculty (rather than in your College), please contact one of the following people:

• For general administrative or timetable queries, help and support please contact the Faculty Office.
• For general queries about teaching in the Faculty, please contact the Undergraduate Co-ordinator. For Michaelmas Terms this is Dr. Neil Dewar and for Lent and Easter Terms, this is Dr. Julia Borcherding
• For queries about specific Papers, please contact the relevant Paper Co-ordinator; a list can be found here: Paper Co-ordinators