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This is a question about available courses. I hope REED-Lers will not feel that it is inappropriate to post it here, and apologise if anybody does. Please E-Mail any responses to these questions directly to me at [log in to unmask] , as I do not think they are likely to be of interest to the list as a whole. Does anybody know of any Universities or Colleges that run stand-alone courses (without requiring a student to enrol for a full Degree course, and without requiring graduate status) that could give academic credit for research work (something like a long essay, thesis or dissertation) on Renaissance Theatrical, Literary or Historical topics? Or even courses that would supervise such research without awarding academic credit? Alternatively, does anybody know of any Universities or Colleges that run stand-alone courses on Theatrical, Literary or Historical topics - from any period - that give academic credit at the equivalent to a CATS level 2 (the British "Credit Accumulation and Transfer System" at the level of the 2nd year of a 3 year degree; so I suppose an equivalent would be the 2nd or 3rd year of a four year non-British degree)? I should perhaps explain exactly what I am looking for, although I do not know whether it exists. I am a 29 year old "mature" Part-Time undergraduate student at the University of Kent. I have just completed enough work to obtain a "Certificate in English Literature" (a 2 year Part-Time course, equivalent to the First Year of a Full-Time British 3 year BA) which, unless some problem arises, I will be granted in June 2003 (although I finished the necessary work in December), but health problems which are affecting my ability to work mean that I will not be able to return to the next stage of the course (the Diploma - equivalent to the 2nd year of a Full-Time British 3 year BA) until September 2004 at the earliest. This leaves me with a gap of almost two years without being able to work on my formal degree course. If it is possible, I would like to be able to take an additional course (to keep myself in practice and test my recovery) which - if I am successful despite my health problems - I could add to my CV or even use by Credit Transfer as part of my University of Kent Diploma, but which would not affect my University of Kent qualification if I was forced to drop out or received a poor mark as a result of my illness. As far as I am aware the Continuing Education departments of most British Universities only offer CATS "Level 1" courses, which are the equivalent to modules from the First Year of a Full-Time British BA degree, and do not offer anything equivalent to the Second Year of a Full-Time degree or above. The only exception to this rule that I know of is Birkbeck University's "Diploma" courses - which are both level 2 and can be based on research work, but which unfortunately require a Birkbeck Certificate as pre-qualification, which I do not possess. I live in Kent, England, a short journey from London, and courses that would be most useful to me would either be within travelling distance (although as far as I know no such courses are run at any of the local Universities) or would have limited residential requirements (I might be able to attend a Summer School, or a course that only required a week or two of residency for a module and was otherwise based on distance learning - even if these were based in other countries - but anything requiring full-time residence away from Kent for a term or a year would be unrealistic). I would be particularly interested in courses - at whatever academic level - that allowed me to carry out a research project of same kind based on Renaissance Drama or related Literary or Historical topics, or courses equivalent to CATS "Level 2" that I could possibly transfer to my Kent degree. Due to my health problems, I am unlikely to be able to cope with 3 hour examinations or the equivalent, and would hope to be able to find courses which were assessed on coursework or similar submissions. I realise that I am probably looking for the impossible, and that no course is likely to exactly fit my rather exacting requirements, but I would be very grateful if anybody could suggest anything that might even possibly be suitable, or any similar alternatives. Thomas Larque. "Shakespeare and His Critics" http://shakespearean.org.uk