List of KCL Geography modules for SOAS Joint Honours students
going into 2nd and 3rd years in 2016-17.
PLEASE NOTE THE COURSE OPTIONS INFO FOR KCL GEOGRAPHERS IS NOT A USEFUL
GUIDE FOR YOU, ALWAYS USE THIS ONE INSTEAD
from Dr Deborah Potts, SOAS Geography Convenor: debby.potts@kcl.ac.uk
This document starts with information about the general rules about Geography courses for the joint
honours students. Please read this as it answers most of the questions which SOAS students have after
they have attended the Geography options meeting in March. The list of courses follows; with the details
on each course in the final section.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES FOR BOTH YEARS FOR SOAS GEOGRAPHERS
A normal pattern is for joint honours students to take a minimum of 5 full units in each discipline
over a three year-degree, with 12 units taken overall. Many second and third year modules are
equivalent to a half unit and KCL now uses the credit system whereby 15 credits is equivalent to a
half unit and 30 equals a full unit. Students who have done 2 Geography units in their first year could
therefore take between three and five further units in Geography in their subsequent two years (or
between six and ten half units or an appropriate combination of full/half units to make up the total).
Remember each half unit is 15 credits in KCL-'speak'.
Choosing and registering your choices at KCL: The KCL SITS [myKCL] system as of 2015 allows
SOAS joint hons students to register their course choices online. I cannot really advise on this further
as I cannot see that website. If you do not know how to get access to your myKCL records, please ask
Isobel. When you have made your provisional choices please also EMAIL them to Debby; it helps
Debby if you also email your probable SOAS choices at the same time. Do not worry if you are not sure
about either the KCL or SOAS options, there is time to change them later but I need some indication.
At KCL we do not get the timetabling for next year done until sometime during the summer when you
are on vacation. Thus some of you may have to change your preliminary choices due to timetable
clashes that you do not know about yet. You can check this year's timetables for 2nd and 3rd year
courses as a guide - I do recommend this. However new courses become available which are not yet
timetabled and some courses are bound to be moved, so please note that you may have to make some
changes later.
Choosing and registering your choices at SOAS: After discussions with SOAS Geography units will not
appear individually on its online sign up as this caused many difficulties when module changes occured
(because of staff changes or new modules, for example). There may be 'dummy' Geography modules
there so that the share of courses between disciplines and the total number (ie equivalent of four full units
per year) can be checked. Please ask your faculty support officers if you want more information on this
or it is not clear when you go online at SOAS for sign up - Debby Potts cannot help here (although you
are welcome to cc me in). A list of some of the SOAS support officers for different disciplines are at the
end of this advice sheet.
Geography Streams are not applied to SOAS geographers: The Geography ‘streams’ which are guides
for KCL Geographers are not implemented for SOAS students so you can ignore them except
inasmuch as they may help you to realize which courses sort of ‘go together’.
None of the courses in year 2 or 3 are compulsory for SOAS joint honours students (although
several are compulsory for KCL Geographers).
Floating courses: you cannot take floating courses (ie courses not from either of the disciplines of your
degree) at KCL. They have to be taken at SOAS. If you really do want to take a non-geography course at
KCL, you will have to discuss this with your faculty support officers and tutors, as there may be fees
involved. Debby Potts has no power in this respect.
Timetabling: See choosing and registering your courses. The key issue is: at KCL we do not get the
timetabling for next year done until sometime during the summer when you are on vacation. So if a clash
turns up at that point, don't worry, you can change your choices.
Tutorials: unlike at SOAS, there are no seminars/tutorials attached to KCL Geography courses (with one
or two exceptions). This means you do not have tutorials at KCL after year one unless you take a tutorialbased course (eg one of the 2nd year courses relating to methods).
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3
1st yrs going into 2nd year:
KEY POINTS
1. None of the geog courses are compulsory in the second year (nb this is different from the situation
for KCL Geographers) - you have free choice.
2. If you decide to go on a 2nd year field trip (which is a taught and assessed course equivalent to one
half unit /15 credits), you must sign up for one quite quickly (places are allocated first come first
served) and you will have to provide some sort of deposit (the details are explained in the course options
meeting held at KCL) which you cannot get back if you change your mind, so beware about this.
NOTE: if you do the field trip course, you have also to do the associated Methods course so
together these take up ONE FULL UNIT in year 2 of the four units at SOAS and KCL you
must take in that year.
3. Recall that you must, over the 3 years of your jt degree, do approx 5 full units (equivalent to 10 half
units) in each discipline with the balance of the twelve units needed over the full three years allocated as
you wish. A 15 credit unit at kcl = one half unit.
4. You can work out for yourselves which of the courses seem best suited to you but do email me if you
have queries. It is often a good idea to discuss your choices with me and you must email me with
your list of courses when you have decided which courses you are doing. It is very important that
the office (Isobel Ige) knows of your KCL course choices or there can be problems with exam
registration. An obvious way of doing this is to cc her into the email in which you give me your
FINAL choice (but not the ones in which you are asking me what to take etc). However I will send
your final(ish) choices to her anyway.
Remember to register your KCL Geog choices online too at KCL. Please note that as described
above, we recognize there may be changes to those choices later on so don't worry about that;
changes can be accommodated.
5.
Note that there are various methods courses in year 2. One is called Research Tutorials which may
well be of interest to some of you IF you think that designing social science research projects and so
on is something you want to know about. In that case consider doing this course. It helps with the
IGSs in year 3 (which are again not compulsory for you) but it would alse help with an ISP at
SOAS and with general social science skills. It is also the ONLY course in year 2 with tutorials
and there are currently no other tutorials in year 2. If you think you are interested in developing
your social science research methods skills, it is probably a good idea to come and talk to me too
about this. Note that if you do decide to do an IGS in year 3 (I realise it is hard for you to know this
at the moment), you may find it more difficult if you have not done this course. However doing the
course does NOT mean you have to do an IGS. The coursework involves writing up a proposal for a
presumed research project/IGS but you can do this even if you decide not to do one in your 3rd year.
2nd yrs going into year 3
KEY POINTS:
1. Recall that you must, over the 3 years of your jt degree, do approximately 5 full units (equivalent to
10 half units) in each discipline with the balance of the twelve units needed over the full three years
allocated as you wish. A 15 credit unit at kcl = one half unit. There is some flexibility but if you want to
depart from this norm, please email me to discuss it.
2. You have free choice across the Geography modules available for year 3. You do not have to do an
IGS or any other 3rd year course that is compulsory for KCL geographers. If you do want to do an IGS
and you have not done any related methods courses in year 2, then you should email Isobel Ige with an
idea of the topic as soon as possible so that she can allocate you to a tutor (before 2nd term ends),
and cc DP. You should also discuss this with Debby Potts.
STUDENTS DOING 4 YEAR PROGRAMMES
If you are doing a combination which involves 4 years of study, this usually means that one year is spent
abroad. This is no problem. Just email Debby Potts and Isobel Ige to let us know. It will be helpful for
you if, in March of the year you are away, you check your KCL (nb NOT SOAS) emails to get the
information from Isobel about which courses are available for the year you return. You can then email
her and Debby to let us know which courses you think you are most likely to wish to do. Note this does
not bind you to those courses, it is just helpful for us to have an indication. It is also very helpful for
you!
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5
LIST OF GEOGRAPHY MODULES AVAILABLE IN 2016-17
SECOND YEAR MODULES (ALL 15 CREDITS= half unit)
* = courses which are frequently taken by SOAS Geog students (this is purely for info; many of these
courses have only been running for a year or two so I would not be able to comment on the trends for
them).
5SSG2023
Physical Geography: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
5SSG2025
Urban & Cultural Geography: Space. Society & Culture
5SSG2044
Development Geographies: Livelihoods and Policy Contexts* [but nb; this course cannot be
taken by those studying Geography and Development Studies, as there is overlap with the course
Development Conditions and Experience]
5SSG2052
Society, Environment and Geography: The Nature of the Environment*
5SSG2017
Historical Geographies of Urbanism*
5SSG2040
Territory, State & Nation*
5SSG2042
Natural Hazards*
5SSG2043
Environmental Remote Sensing
5SSG2051
Climate Variability, Change & Society*
5SSG2054
Water & Development*
5SSG2057
Landscapes: Ecology, Biogeography & Management
5SSG2058
Urban Geography: Exploring the City*
5SSG2065
Cities & Citizenship [new]
5SSG2059
Geocomputation [strong vocational possibilities; but you will need good Maths]
5SSG2060
Spatial Analysis (can only be taken with 5SSG2059 Geocomputation)
5SSG2064
Global Environmental Issues: Science & Solutions
5SSG2061
Geographical Research Skills
5SSG2062 BSc Research Tutorials OR 5SSG2063 BA Research Tutorials [these are useful for those who
think they might want to do an IGS in year 3]
5SSG2046 Field Research in Physical Geography OR 5SSG2047 Field Research in Human Geography
[These are the field trip courses] *
THIRD YEAR MODULES (ALL 15 CREDITS (half unit) EXCEPT IGS GSSG0610 = full unit)
6SSG3025
Desert Environments
6SSG3040
Directed Readings in Geography * (in association with a main module only)
6SSG3037
Economic & Social Change in Southern Africa*
6SSG0365
Economy, Society and Politics in C19th London
6SSG3028
Environmental Remote Sensing II
6SSG3058
Environmental Risk, Governance and Society*
6SSG3076
Geopolitics, Power & Place * (good relevance to SOAS geographers)
6SSG3070
Global Environmental Change 1: Climate Science
6SSG3071
Global Environmental Change 2: Earth System Dynamics
6SSG3013
Global Political Ecology *
6SSG3069
Health, Lifestyles & Cities
6SSG3073
Histories & Geographies of Climate Change
6SSG3074
Hollywood & the Post Industrial City
6SSG3056
Political Economy of Hazardscapes * [strong bias towards developing countries]
6SSG3072
The Right to the City*
6SSG3030
Tropical Forests in a Changing Environment*
6SSG0610
Independent Geographical Study (30 CREDITS)
6SSG3061
Current Research in Geography
6SSG3078
Social & Physical Volcanology
6SSG3077
Applied Geocomputation & Spatial Analysis [only available to students who completed
both 5SSG2059 Geocomputation and 5SSG2060 Spatial Analysis in year 2]
DETAILS OF EACH COURSE
SECOND YEAR
Compulsory Modules
5SSG2047
FIELD RESEARCH IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
Fieldtrip leader: Mark Pelling (India), Federico Caprotti (Hong Kong), Alex Loftus (USA)
Teaching arrangement: pre-departure lectures/seminars/project work; 1 week residential fieldtrip
– Dec 2016
Assessment: group proposal (35%); Individual field report (65%)
Specific aims of the module
To promote experiential learning through field investigations. Promote the ability to identify research
problems and frame research questions in the field. Develop appropriate methodologies to study
geographical issues in the field. Explore the relationships between global and national processes at a local
scale. Learn to work effectively in groups.
Learning outcomes of the module
At the completion of the module students will be able to:
Identify research problems in the field; Frame research questions in the field; Develop an awareness of the
range of methodologies used in the study of field based geographical research; Apply a range of different
methodologies in a fieldwork context; Develop an awareness of the resources required to undertake
geographical research; Develop an awareness of the ethical issues involved in undertaking field-based
research; Evaluate the effectiveness of different methodologies; Identify how processes that operate at
different spatial and temporal scales are manifested in the geographical environment; Appreciate the
general and unique sets of processes that combine in any particular place to produce a given set of
outcomes; Identify the processes promoting effective teamwork; Identify the strengths and weaknesses of
individuals in relation to teamwork and to devise ways of working together effectively.
Module structure
The fieldtrip aims to encourage an active engagement with the external world through experiential learning
beyond the formal classroom. This provides an opportunity to apply conceptual and methodological skills
learned elsewhere in the curriculum to more complex field environments. The module encourages students
to develop the ability to identify a problem or research question and to design appropriate methodologies in
the field. In doing so it also provides an opportunity to examine ethical aspects of the research process and
to experience and understand the processes involved in team working.
*The majority of this module is taught during a one-week residential fieldtrip, for which attendance and full
participation is essential. Should this be impossible (e.g. due to medical problems) students should contact
the relevant Fieldwork leader and the UG Programme Officer immediately.
Prior to the start of the fieldtrip separate lectures/seminars will focus on:
1.
Ethical, moral and safety issues in the field
2.
Processes of effective group working
3.
Geographical and historical contexts of the specific field site, including cultural, political, social
and economic aspects.
6
7
5SSG2046
FIELD RESEARCH IN PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Fieldtrip leaders: Nick Drake (Morocco); Mark Mulligan (Western Ghats)
Teaching arrangement*: 1 week residential fieldtrip (Dec 2016); pre & post departure lectures & practical
sessions taught across Term1 & Term 2.
Assessment: 2 x essays (50% each).
Specific aims of the module
To promote experiential learning through field investigations; promote the ability to identify research
problems and frame research questions in the field; develop appropriate methodologies to study physical
geography issues in the field, including experimental design, field measurement techniques, and data
analysis and prepare students for undertaking their Independent Geographical Study.
Learning outcomes of the module
At the completion of the module students should be able to identify research problems in the field. Frame
research questions in the field. Identify a range of methodologies used in the study of field-based
geographical research. Apply a range of different methodologies in a fieldwork context. Evaluate the
effectiveness of different methodologies. Understand the resources required to undertake geographical
research. Identify how processes that operate at different spatial and temporal scales are manifested in the
physical geography environment. Identify the general and unique sets of processes that combine in any
particular place to produce a given set of outcomes in physical geography. Identify key techniques and
research methodologies to successfully carry out their Independent Geographical Study.
Module structure
The fieldtrip aims to encourage an active engagement with the external world through experiential learning
beyond the formal classroom. This provides an opportunity to apply conceptual and methodological skills
learned elsewhere in the curriculum to more complex field environments. The module encourages students
to develop the ability to identify a problem or research question and to design appropriate methodologies in
the field. In doing so it also provides an opportunity to examine ethical aspects of the research process and
to experience and understand the processes involved in team working.
*The majority of this module is taught during a one-week residential fieldtrip, for which attendance and full
participation is essential. Should this be impossible (e.g. due to medical problems) students should contact
their the Fieldwork leader and the UG Programme Officer immediately.
8
5SSG2061
GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH SKILLS
Co-ordinator: Jon Reades
Teaching arrangement: various seminars & practical sessions; group presentations arranged by fieldtrip:
Term 2
Assessment: 2 x essays (45% each); attendance mark (10%)
Specific aims of the module:
The aim of this module is to provide students with an understanding of a range of skills used within current
geographical reseach. The module is intended to enable students to deepen their understanding of a choice
of skills that can then be applied within their dissertation research.
Learning outcomes of the module
By the end of the module, the student will have an in-depth knowledge of the skills most relevant to his or
her dissertation research, understand the appropriate context in which to apply the chosen methods and will
be able to evaluate which methods are most applicable to particular forms of research and be able to apply
the methods within a research project.
Module structure
This module offers a choice from a range of research skills seminars and practical sessions covering such
topics as: Remote Sensing; Modelling; Interviews and Analysis; ‘Text’ and analysis; and Case Studies and
Mixed Methods. Depending on the student’s pathway, some options will be prescribed sessions in order to
ensure the skills training necessary for the pathway and some options may have limited numbers. A
comprehensive list of seminars and practical sessions will be circulated before the start of this module and
students will be asked to make their selections before the end of Term 1.
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5SSG2062
BSc RESEARCH TUTORIALS
Lecturers: various
Teaching arrangements: A mixture of lectures and tutorials, in Term 1 & 2
Assessment: Report (40%), IGS Proposal (60%)
Specific aims of the module
The aim of this module is to prepare students for their undergraduate dissertation (IGS).
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module the student will have an in-depth knowledge of the nature of geographical
research and the requirements for a research proposal in Geography. Students will be able to evaluate a
research proposal on the basis of methods chosen, the ability to apply those methods and the levels of
ethical, personal and environmental wisks involved in conducting research. Students will be able to apply
the skills acquited in the preparation of a research proposal and, ultimately, a piece of independent
geographical research.
Module structure
This module is taught in a series of lectures and tutorials. Students are split into tutorial groups relating to
their chosen pathway and/or fieldtrip choice. Lectures will be given as a whole cohort and will cover topics
such as writing an IGS Proposal, research ethics, risk assessment and how to put a proposal into practice.
5SSG2063
BA RESEARCH TUTORIALS
Lecturers: various
Teaching arrangements: A mixture of lectures and tutorials, in Term 1 & 2
Assessment: Report (40%), IGS Proposal (60%)
Specific aims of the module
The aim of this module is to prepare students for their undergraduate dissertation (IGS).
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module the student will have an in-depth knowledge of the nature of geographical
research and the requirements for a research proposal in Geography. Students will be able to evaluate a
research proposal on the basis of methods chosen, the ability to apply those methods and the levels of
ethical, personal and environmental wisks involved in conducting research. Students will be able to apply
the skills acquited in the preparation of a research proposal and, ultimately, a piece of independent
geographical research.
Module structure
This module is taught in a series of lectures and tutorials. Students are split into tutorial groups relating to
their chosen pathway and/or fieldtrip choice. Lectures will be given as a whole cohort and will cover topics
such as writing an IGS Proposal, research ethics, risk assessment and how to put a proposal into practice.
10
*Please note that these modules can be taken as optional modules on all other Geography Pathways.
Compulsory Module for Human Geography Pathway*
5SSG2056
URBAN & CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY: SPACE, SOCIETY & CULTURE
Coordinator: Johan Andersson
Teaching arragements: 10 x 2 hours lectures/seminars, first term
Assessments: Two essays (50% each)
Specific aims of the module
This module takes a predominantly cultural approach to the study of cities and draws on a range of
artistic sources (cinema, literature, art and music for example) to analyse recent urban change in the
context of globalisation and post-industrial restructuring. Specific emphasis is placed on how identity
categories such as class, gender, race and sexuality inform cultural and urban landscapes and students
will be introduced to perspectives such as Marxism, feminism, queer and post-colonial theories.
The objectives of the module are:
• To familiarise students with the key work and recent developments in cultural and urban
geography
• To reflect critically on how identity categories such as class, gender, race and sexuality
inform cultural aesthetics and urban landscapes
• To enable students to think about their everyday life/environment (space, society and culture)
through the lens of social and cultural geographical theory
• To enable students to ‘read’ different ‘cultural texts’ through a spatial perspective
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of this module students should be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of
the key theoretical, empirical and methodological debates in human geography, particularly from an urban
geography perspective. Students should be able to critically analyse and explore key human geography
concepts, for example, space, place, scale and culture, and work to apply them in a number of different
emprical contexts
Module Structure
The lectures and seminars for this module cover the following topics:
- Paris of the Nineteenth-Century: Modernity, Modernism and the City
- Weimar Berlin: The Expressionistic City
- Necropolis: The City in Ruins
- Fordism and Post War Suburbanisation
- Modernist Architecture and Urban Planning
- New Urban Social Movements
- Postmodernism and the LA School
- Noeliberal Urbanism
- The Spectral Turn: Memory and the City
- The Postcolonial City
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Compulsory Module for Development Geography Pathway*
5SSG2044
DEVELOPMENT GEOGRAPHIES: Livelihood and Policy Contexts
Coordinator: Andrew Brooks
Teaching arrangements: 20hrs lectures; first term
Assessments: 1000 word formative essay; examination (100%)
Aims:
The module will cover a range of conceptual and empirical material pertaining to the development geography
of ‘Third World’ countries. Research conducted in the global South is often associated with the ‘development’
label, and development often serves as shorthand for the modernisation of the global economy. Mainstream
‘modernisation-as-development’ has lost credibility with the persistence of poverty in Africa, Asia and
elsewhere. This module will enable students to understand the process of economic divergence which has
been experienced by the poor, rather than the ascent towards parity with the First World, which was
anticipated in the post-war era. The different approaches towards development are discussed as are the politics
of international trade and economic policy, including examples relating to Natural Resources and the Clothing
Trade. The majority of the examples discussed will come from sub-Sharan Africa, although the module also
include material on China, South Korea and the BRICS.
Students will understand debates about the meaning of the term ‘development’ and the different ways of
measuring ‘development’ and be apprised as to the theoretical changes in development geography. The
module will also provide material which will prepare students for development-related courses in their third
year and to assist some in the selection of third year dissertation topics which consider geographical issues
pertinent to developing countries.
Learning outcomes:
At the completion of the course students should be able to:
1. Understand and engage with the debates about strategies to achieve development and the meaning of
'development'.
2. Research the different economic policies of different developing countries and discuss how these relate to
the livelihoods of the poor
3. Evaluate various ways of measuring poverty and development and understand different examples of
development successes and failures.
4. Understand and explain contemporary patterns of wealth and welfare in the poor and middle income
countries of the world.
Module structure
Introduction – Defining Development
Measuring Development
Expectations of Modernity
Development Theories
Clothing Poverty: The Global Fashion and Textile sector
Free versus Fair Trade
Resource Curse
Resource Curse continued and Coursework Discussion
Development in East Asia and South Korea
Development in China
Structural Adjustment and the Debt Crisis in Africa
Rural livelihoods
Urban Livelihoods
Development Success and Failure in Mozambique
The MDGs, SDGs and PRSPs
Extraversion, Corruption and Passive Revolution
New Powers: The Rise of the BRICS
BRICS in Africa
The A-Z of Development (Module Re-Cap)
After Development
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Compulsory Module for Physical Geography Pathway*
5SSG2023 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
Lecturer: Andreas Baas
Teaching arrangement: 10 double lectures and one laboratory practical, first term.
Assessment: examination (100%)
Specific aims of the module
To provide an overview of the basic concepts that underpin geomorphic process and landform
investigations. The module presents detailed case studies of a variety of environments to develop an
understanding of relationships between processes and forms in landscapes around the globe.
Learning Outcomes
At the completion of the module students should have a thorough understanding of the key
geomorphological processes operating at the Earth’s surface, the significance of time and space scales for
recognizing process-form linkages in different environments and the interactions between fluids and
sediment transport that result in the formation and development of a variety of landforms.
Module structure
This module discusses the basic concepts and principles that underpin geomorphic landforms and
processes operating at the Earth's surface in a great variety of landscapes around the globe. It presents the
significance of time and space scales for recognizing process-form linkages in different environments and
the interactions between fluids and sediment transport that result in the formation and development of a
variety of landforms. Topics covered include: history of geomorphology, fluvial geomorphology, chaos,
fractals, self-organisation, coastal environments, aeolian systems, glacial landscapes, weathering & mass
wasting, soils & vegetation. The module includes a sand-pile experiment exercise.
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Compulsory Module for Society, Enviromnet & Geography Pathway*
5SSG2052
SOCIETY, ENVIRONMENT AND GEOGRAPHY:
ENVIRONMENT
Lecturer: Alex Loftus
Teaching Arrangements: 10 x 2 hours lectures/seminars, first term
Assessment: coursework (70%); poster (15%) & group presentation (15%)
THE
NATURE
OF
Specific aims of the module:
Environmental questions have been at the heart of Geography’s disciplinary identity for the last century
or more. This course will introduce some of the questions that geographers have sought to tackle, at the
same time as drawing out some of the key issues for environmental politics and policy. How we make
sense of nature matters not only for the kind of environment we want to be a part of, but also for our
sense of the political possibilities within the world. Articulating a position within such debates has been
the central tasks of society-environment geographers for much of the discipline’s existence and will be
our focus in this series of lectures.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the course, you will be able to analyse and evaluate a range of different perspectives on the
environment. You will be able to use David Harvey’s dialectical and co-evolutionary perspective on
socio-environmental change as a way of analysing the influence of different processes on the
environment. In addition, you will be able to challenge one-dimensional readings that place emphasis on
single determinants.
Module structure
This module is delivered in weekly lectures combined with seminars and class discussion, with topics
including:
- Society, Environment & Geography
- The Nature of Geographical Thought: Historicising contemporary concepts
- The Nature of the Environment: From Sustainable Development to Peak Oil
- Relations of Production: Capitalism and Nature
- Social Relations: Race, Nature and Patriarchy
- Everyday Life: The Scaled Politics of Global Environmental Activism
- Institutions: The State of Nature
- Technologies: Clean-tech, Eco-Developments and Cyborgs
- Ideas: Ideologies of Nature
- Poster “Opening”
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Compulsory Module for Geocomputation & Spatial Analysis Pathway*
5SSG2059 GEOCOMPUTATION
Lecturer: James Millington; Jon Reades
Teaching Arrangements: 20hrs lectures, 20 hours field/lab based learning, first term
Assessment: 1 coursework (50%); 2 x online quizzes (15% each); 2 x assessed practicals (15% each)
Specific aims of the module
This module seeks to build competence in the use of computational techniques for cleaning, exploring,
visualising and performing reproducable analysis on data. Consequently, the specific aims of the module
are:
 To provide students with an understanding of the analytical concepts and methods suitable for
computational analysis in Geography through interaction with large, real-world data sets.
 To provide students with experience of the decision-making process involved in selecting and
employing a range of data analysis methods and tools. It is therefore expected that they will
develop an understanding of the appropriateness of different methods for different data.
 To empower students with the ability to manipulate and analyse data in a reproducible fashion using
computational techniques.
 To support the development of computationally-oriented independent research outputs in the 3rd year
and beyond.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to understand commonly-used computational techniques
and be able to employ them appropriately, understand the limitations and assumptions inherent in the
choice of different data analysis methods, understand and use the importance of reproducible data
manipulation analysis techniques and apply all of these in a practical context.
Module structure
The module is structured into ten one-hour lectures, each accompanied by a three-hour practical, that covers
different computational concepts and their application. This course is intended to serve as a conceptual and
practical foundation for the Spatial Analysis module in Term 2; however, the course will also be of interest
to students who wish to understand and employ computational tools in their own research practice (e.g. in
the IGS and post-graduation). It is intended that the methods covered be relevant to both human and
physical geography students. Likely topics covered will be: Introducing computational techniques, reading
data, checking and filtering data, visualising data, aggregating data, distributions in data, looking for
relationships, looking for differences and making a map without GIS.
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Compulsory Module for Geocomputation & Spatial Analysis Pathway
5SSG2060 SPATIAL ANALYSIS
Lecturers: Jon Reades; Naru Shiode
Teaching Arrangements: 10 hours lectures, 30 hours field/lab based learning, first term
Assessment: 1 coursework (50%); 2 x online quizzes (10% each); 2 x Executable code (15% each)
Specific aims of the module
This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the importance of space for quantitatively
investigating scale, interaction and uncertainty.
 To enable students to implement data analysis methods for identifying and analysing spatial
patterns with a particular focus on autocorrelation and the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP).
 To enable students to develop, employ and interpret simple models, in particular the use of
Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR).
 To provide students with practical skills and understanding to conduct spatial analysis with
computational tools.
 To support the development of quantitatively-oriented independent research outputs in the 3rd year
and beyond.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this module, students should be able to:
 Understand commonly-used methods to identify and quantify spatial patterns.
 Build simple models to explore the importance of spatial relationships in a variety of data.
 Understand the limitations and assumptions inherent in choosing spatial data analysis methods.
 Use computational tools to manipulate and analyse spatial data.
Module structure
The module is structured into ten one-hour lectures, each accompanied by a three-hour computer practical
that explores the practical implementation of the concepts and ideas discussed in lectures. The structure wil
enable students to gain both the required theoretical and conceptual understanding and the practical skills
and knowledge. Computer practicals will allow students to explore the use of computational and software
tools for spatial analysis. An overview of the likely composition and order of concepts that will be
addressed in each linked lecture/practical is:
 Introduction to spatial analysis
 Types of spatial data
 Working with spatial data
 Scale and interaction
 Introducing spatial relationships
 Global spatial relationships
 Local spatial relationships
 Regional variations
 Point patterns
 Alternative spaces
Please note that this module can ONLY be taken on completion of 5SSG2059 Geocomputation.
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Optional Modules
5SSG2051
CLIMATE VARIABILITY, CHANGE & SOCIETY
Lecturer: George Adamson
Teaching arrangements: 20 lectures, second term
Assessment: examination (100%)
Specific aims of the module:
This module will explore the physical processes and patterns of natural climate variability and
palaeoclimatic change, how anthropogenic influence result in climate change, and how these aspects of
climate can impact ecosystems and society.
Learning outcomes:
At the completion of the module students should be able to demonstrate a conceptual understanding of
the physical processes that govern the climate system. This includes knowledge of the role of the longterm and short-term carbon cycle; climate oscillations and teleconnections as well as the mechanisms
underlying climatic variability; an understanding of the nature of direct and indirect impacts of climate
change on ecosystems and society; the science of climate change and the basics of climate modelling and
climate projections; a conceptual knowledge of adaptation and mitigation strategies to achieve a
sustainable development.
Module structure (may be slightly amended)
1. The Framework of Climate Science
3. Orbital-scale Climate Change
5. Oscillations and Teleconnections
7. Climate Modelling
9. Human Response to a Changing Climate
2. Tectonic scale Climate Change
4. Deglacial and Historic Climate Change
6. Greenhouse Effect and Greenhouse Gases
8. Climate Change and Climate Projections
10. Adaptation and Mitigation
5SSG2043
ENVIRONMENTAL REMOTE SENSING
Lecturers: Nick Drake, Emma Tebbs
Teaching arrangement: 20 lectures, first term
Assessment: examination (50%); essay (50%
Specific aims of the module:
To provide a comprehensive understanding of environmental remote sensing. To achieve this students will
learn the fundamental characteristics of electromagnetic radiation and how it interacts with earth surface
materials. How this radiation is recorded using a wide variety of instruments (e.g. cameras, scanners,
RADAR) on a wide range of platforms (e.g. aeroplanes, satellites). How we can extract information on the
environment from these data and images and the advantages and limitations of this information. The
diverse array of applications of remote sensing in geography.
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the module students should be able to provide a general overview of how
environmental remote sensing is used to provide spatial and temporal information on the environment.
Provide students with an appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of methods used to derive
information about the Earth.Illustrate the diverse array of applications of remote sensing is physical and
human geography
Module structure
Topics taught on this module include an introduction to and the history of remote sensing; Electromagnetic
Radiation; Platforms, Sensors(active and passive), and Orbits; Visible and Near Infrared Remote Sensing
and Applications; Using AVHRR for monitoring the Mozambique floods of 2000; Microwave, Thermal;
and Ultraviolet Remote Sensing and Mapping, Monitoring and Modelling.
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5SSG2064
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: SCIENCE & SOLUTIONS
Lecturers: Various
Teaching arrangement: 20 lectures, second term
Assessment: PowerPoint slides (40%); essay (60%)
Specific aims of the module
To further develop environmental issues introduced to students in the first year compulsory physical
geography module, and highlight how geography forms a nexus for investigation of such topics. To enable
students to gain an understanding of key environmental problems that humanity faces in the Anthropocene,
particularly in relation to sustainability and environmental security. To introduce students to the diverse
array of technological, management and policy options for their mitigating and potential solutions of the
selected environmental issues.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this module, students should be able to:
Understand a selection of important environmental problems facing the modern world.
Understand the scientific processes and debates influencing key issues, such as (as representative example
that may change), deforestation, desertification, biodiversity loss, urbanisation, pollution, ocena
acidification, loss of polar environments, agricultural intensification, maintaining sustainability and
ecosystem services, and understanding ecological systems and resilience.
Understand how physical geography approaches the understanding and resolution of global environmental
problems, and provide an insight into the nature of envvironmetal geography.
Module Structure
This module is structured in 10 two-hour sessions (which may be delivered as either lectures or practicals,
as appropriate) that explore many of the key global environmental issues affecting the environmental
security of the modern world. The module will enable students to gain a broad understanding of ten
important environmental issues that have emerged during the Anthropocene, the science that underlies
them, the various management and mitigation options and technologies, and how this links to policy.
Topics covered will include (as representative examples, which may change) deforestation, desertification
and agricultural intensification, biodiversity loss, urbanisation, pollution, ocean acidification, loss of polar
environments, maintaining sustainability and ecosystem services, and understanding ecological systems and
resilience.
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5SSG2017
HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHIES OF URBANISM: MAKING THE MODERN CITY
Lecturer: David Green
Teaching arrangement: 18 lectures; 1 field visit, first term
Assessment: coursework (50%) examination (50%)
Specific aims of the module:
The module aims to enable students to develop an understanding of the comparative dimensions of
urbanisation from the eighteenth to the mi- twentieth century and to enable students to explore the
relationships between urbanisation and the broader currents of economic, socia, political and cultural
change. Sections cover particular sets of issues which are explored through the lens of class, gender,
ethnicity and race in different cultural contexts – both in western cities but also in relation to imperial and
non-imperial cities beyond Europe and North America.
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the module students will be able to
 compare and contrast patterns of urbanisation at different places and times
 to explain the relationships between social, cultural, political processes and the production of urban
spaces and urban forms.
Module structure
Section 1: New languages of space: cities in the 19th and 20th centuries
This section explores the new kinds of spaces that were being created in cities during the 19th and 20th
centuries. How did the concentration of people and activities affect the nature of social, political and
cultural relations in urban places? What kinds of issues were raised when homes were connected to
infrastructures such as water, sewerage, electricity and gas? What kinds of questions were raised in
relation to the use of public space? How did these issues differ in varying cultural contexts? What kinds of
imaginative and representational spaces were created in order to understand the modern city?
Section 2: Cities and the environment
This section examines the impact that cities had on their surrounding environments and the environmental
issues that arose as a result of urbanisation. The concentration of people in large cities required networks
of supply – of wood, energy, food and water. How did demands for these goods affect the environment,
both in the immediate locality but also much further afield? What kinds of issues were raised by dense
urban living in relation to environmental conditions in cities and how were these tackled?
Section 3: Cities of Strangers
With rapid urbanisation came diversity. What were the implications of large scale urban growth in relation
to acquiring personal knowledge about individuals when most people remained strangers? How significant
was dress and fashion in helping identify urban ‘types’; what was the role of institutions and regulation in
modern urban society?
Section 4: Protest, cooperation and urban theatre
This section explores the theatricality of urban spaces focussing on the symbolic nature of cities. Cities are
places in which cultural and political activities are played out. Streets and public places became spaces for
performance – from carnivals to world exhibitions, and from executions to strikes What opportunities does
urban living create for different forms of protest and cooperation and how were these expressed in cities?
Section 5: Cities of homes
Cities are homes for people but these take very different forms – from street living to luxury villas. What
was the symbolic as as well as the functional nature of ‘home’ and what kinds of concerns were raised in
relation to housing urban populations? What issues arose when homes became networked with utilities –
with water, sewerage, electricity and gas? Were these alien and dangerous intrusions into private worlds of
the home or welcome additions to modern urban life?
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5SSG2057
LANDSCAPES: ECOLOGY, BIOGEOGRAPHY AND MANAGEMENT
Lecturer: Robert Francis; James Millington
Teaching arrangement: Lectures/seminars and a computer practical sesssion, second term
Assessment: 1 x formative essay (0%) and 1 x summative essay (100%)
Specific aims of the module
The aim of the module is introduce students to the different elements of studying landscapes as a
geographical element, including the history, concepts, tools and application of landscape ecology as a
unique combination of spatial ecological and geographical sciences, alongside key biogeographical theory
and elements of landscape management. In particular the module will focus on the most dominant model
for explaining landscape structure and pattern, the patch-corridor-matrix concept. The nature and
importance of interactions and feedbacks between ecological process and spatial pattern will also be
evaluated and discussed, particularly in the context of succession-disturbance dynamics. The module also
aims to facilitate a critical understanding of the computational tools used to investigate spatial patterns and
processes at the landscape scale, and to highlight the ways in which the principles and measures of
landscape ecology feed into landscape planning and conservation management and policy.
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the module, students should have a critical understanding of key elements of spatial
biogeography and landscape ecology theory and application across a range of examples and contexts, in
particular the differences between structural and functional interpretations of landscape pattern and
process. This will be accompanied by a familiarity with the main landscape metrics used to quantify
landscape patterns, including the software tools used to characterise them (e.g., GIS), and an understanding
of the modelling approaches used to investigate processes (e.g., markov and cellular automata approaches).
The module should also cultivate an appreciation of the importance of landscape-scale understanding in
driving both planning and management for environmental sustainability and conservation. Finally, students
should develop the ability to describe and assess different landscape structures based around central patchcorridor-matrix concepts and principles of fragmentation and connectivity.
Module structure
It is now accepted that any ecological management or conservation effort must be conducted at the
landscape scale or they will almost certainly fail. This makes an understanding of landscape ecology,
biogeography and management useful for land planners and managers, policy makers, landscape architects,
ecologists and conservation biologists, amongst other professions. The module is a series of eight, twohour lectures, and one two-hour computer practical. Lectures will begin by defining landscapes and
landscape ecology and establishing the latter’s status as an ecological and geographical discipline, and
defining its theoretical and practicle roles in developing our understanding and management of landscapes.
This includes the way in which we can group the landscape spatially and temporally into patches, corridors
and matrices, all of which may function in different ways and affect how biota and abiota flow around the
landscape.
The discussion will then go into greater depth, looking at landscape patterns that may be observed in both
natural and human-modified environments, and the explanations and implications of these arrangements in
terms of ecological processes. This will be supported by considering spatial models used in landscape
ecology and their application to land management and conservation of biodiversity. Computer practicals
will connect theory of pattern metrics and process models to their application by providing hands-on
experience of their use. A practical land management exercise in one of the lecture sessions will evaluate
landscape management techniques for a species of conservation importance. The lecture series will end
with an examination of new directions and future trends to be expected in landscape ecology and
management.
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5SSG2042
NATURAL HAZARDS
Lecturer: Bruce D. Malamud
Teaching arrangements: 16hrs lectures; 3hrs (smaller group) seminars, 6hrs DVD’s etc., first term
Assessment: examination (100%)
Specific aims of the module:
Both the causes and results of natural hazards provide a dramatic intersection between physical and social
geography. Many disasters that occur are a complex mix of natural events and human processes, including
political, social and economic. This module provides an overview of natural (and some technological)
hazards, including floods, severe storms, strong winds, droughts, wildfire, and asteroid impacts, and the
complex relationship that exists between each natural hazard and society. This module is aimed at both
physical and human geography students. The specific aims of this module include the following:
(i)
To introduce students to the basic theory for the creation and/or existence of different kinds of
natural hazards.
(ii)
To facilitate an understanding of the primary and secondary effects (both negative and positive) of
different natural hazards on the natural environment and society, using specific examples from
localities around the world.
(iii)
To discuss the politics and science surrounding hazard predictions and probabilistic forecasting.
(iv)
To consider anthropogenic effects on mitigating or worsening the effects of the hazard.
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the module students should be able to understand fundamental causes and effects of
several different kinds of natural hazards to access pertinent information on different aspects of natural
hazards using books, journal articles and the internet.
Module structure
An example of a year’s structure (subject to change) is the following:
The Perception of Hazards in the UK
Risk Perception
Geomythology
Earthquakes and the Hazards of Shelter
Floods
Drought and Desertification
Heavy Metal Contamination of Water, Soil and Foodcrops In Zambia.
Wildfires.
Winds, Cyclones and Tornadoes
Asteroid Impacts
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5SSG2040
TERRITORY, STATE & NATION
Lecturer: Richard Schofield
Teaching arrangements: 14 hrs lectures; 6 hrs seminars, second term
Assessment: coursework (35%); presentation (15%); examination (50%)
Specific aims of the module:
To have an effective overview of political geography’s historical and contemporary treatment of the
questions of territoriality, state and nation. The module will give a critical introduction to evolving theory,
models and typologies developed to explain patterns at the state-, regional and global levels and will
explore frameworks for viewing these issues (and testing some of the ideas encountered) on a more applied
regional basis in the third year of the degree
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the module students should be able to develop skills of verbal presentation and
argument through assessed seminar presentations. They should also understand how questions of
territoriality, nation and sovereignty are viewed in developing regions of the world, and gain an insight
into the historical determinants of the establishment of political geography.
Module structure:
1.
Introduction to territory within political geography/viewing of Christopher Hitchens’ classic
1989 BBC Frontiers programme on the Cyprus conflict (RNS)
2.
Traditional territorial geopolitics: Ratzel, Curzon and the boundaries and spatial characteristics of
the state (RNS)
3.
An introduction to the territorial state and sovereignty (EGHJ)
4.
Nations and nationalism (EGHJ)
5.Territoriality, state and nation: contemporary Somalia (SK)
6.
Boundaries and territorial disputes: a contemporary tour d’horizon (RNS)
7.
The new geopolitics: sovereignty and hegemony in the post-Cold War world (RNS)
8. – 10. Students seminar presentations (moderated and assessed by RNS)
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5SSG2058
URBAN GEOGRAPHY: EXPLORING THE CITY
Coordinator: Federico Caprotti
Teaching arrangements: 14 hrs lectures; 2 hours field visit; 4 hours seminars; second term
Assessment: 1 x coursework essay (60%), group presentation (15%), group poster (25%)
Specific aims of the module:
The module explores the relationships between urbanisation and the broader social, economic,
environmental and political processes within which the growth and decline of cities are embedded. It is
organised into three themes that collectively explore some of the key material and ideological contexts
relating to urban growth. Examples are chosen from a wide range of periods and places.
Exploring urban spaces in the contemporary city: This section explores some of the key social
characteristics of cities and the ways that urban theorists have sought to understand them. The section
tackles the key topic of how to understand and theorise urban public space, and considers the broad
utopian urban planning trends that characterised much 20th century, and contemporary, urban
geography.
Exploring urban flows : This section seeks to understand the economic, social and financial
relationships that underpin contemporary urbanisation at a national and global level. It examines the
flows of information within and between places, and the ways in which clusters of knowledge and
innovation can transform the urban landscape. It also considers the flows of people and cultures that are
increasingly a prominent feature of contemporary cities across the world.
Urban futures: This sections tackles contemporary approaches to envisioning and designing future
cities, in light of various forms of crisis that, we are told, will have an impact on the urban world. The
section focuses in particular on future city designs using eco-city and smart city ideals, as well as the
increasingly prominent trend of using data and geovisualisation as governancne and urban management
tools.
Learning outcomes:
Students taking this module will be expected to be able to:
Identify the relationships between cities and the economic, social and political processes within
which they are embedded
Explain the relationships between urban growth and decline in the context of these processes
Illustrate these relationships using a variety of examples taken from a range of geographical and
historical contexts
Relate their own experiences of living in London to the wider economic, social and political
processes that structure urban growth in the current day.
Module structure:
Section I: Exploring Urban Spaces in the Contemporary City
Week 1:Introductory session and public space in the city
Week 2:20th century utopias
Section II: Exploring Urban Flows
Week 3: Cities, regions and globalization
Week 4:Governance, politics and regeneration
Week 5:The migrant city
Section III: Urban Futures
Week 6:Reading week – no lecture
Week 7:‘Eco’ urban futures
Week 8:‘Smart’ urban futures
Week 9:Imaging the city
Section IV: Presentation and Poster Sessions
Week 10:Presentations and poster session 1
Week 11:Presentations and poster session 2
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5SSG2054 WATER & DEVELOPMENT
Lecturer: Naho Mirumachi
Teaching arrangement: 10 lectures 10 seminars, first term
Assessment: essay (85%) group poster (15%).
Specific aims of the module
This module aims to explore the linkage between water resources management and sustainable
development; to explore the various scales of politics of water resources management and governance in
developing country contexts; to introduce contemporary policy discussions on water resources
management and governance in developing country contexts; and to practise applying theory to policy
problems of water resources management and governance with specific reference to developing country
contexts.
Learning outcomes
On completing this module, students should be able to understand the role and implications of water
resources management in sustainable development; to understand the relevance of environmental, socioeconomic and political dimensions of water use and allocation at various spatial scales ranging from the
local community level to the international transboundary river basin level; to identify and critically
assess the role of actors and institutions involved in water resources management and governance; to
critically analyse the strengths and weaknesses of existing water policy; to demonstrate critical thinking
through both structured essay responses and seminar excercises; to identify and critically assess data and
information through academic literature, newspapers, policy papers (and other grey literature), and
websites.
Module structure
The module explores the interface of water resources management and sustainable development through
the perspective of politics of water use and allocation. The module first examines different types of
water and their uses and relevance to sustainable development. Secondly, the module examines politics
of water use and allocation at the local, national and international levels through issues of community
irrigation, Integrated Water Resources Management and international transboundary river basin
agreements. Particular focus is on the actors and institutions involved in water governance at these
spatial scales. Thirdly, through discussions, group work and poster presentations, the module will assess
the policy responses to the problems of water resources management in developing country contexts.
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5SSG2065 CITIES & CITIZENSHIP
Lecturer: Ayona Datta
Teaching arrangement: 15 lectures 5 seminars, second term
Assessment: essay (70%) group report & presentation (30%).
Specific aims of the module
This module examines citizenship as a way of thinking through a number of spaces of state, cities
and citizens. It is particularly concerned with the examination of how citizenship plays out in
cities through the formal organization of rights and responsibilities in different spaces and scales
as well as lived experiences of citizenship.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students should have acquired:
An appreciation of the key issues in citizenship rights and responsibilities and the spaces
where they are enacted/contested;
An understanding of the relationship between cities and citizenship and the role of citizens
in shaping this relationship;
Knowledge of the processes underpinning social inequalities, social difference, citizenship
and feelings of belonging;
Independent research and presentation skills;
Ability to present their knowledge in different written formats.
Module Structure
Please note that the module structure may change slightly.
1.Citizenship: An Introduction to state-citizen relations of rights and responsibilities
2.Immigration, citizenship and the State + Seminar (citizenship tests)
3.Cities and citizenship + Seminar (urban citizenship)
4.Sexual/intimate citizenship + film seminar
5.Transnational/postnational citizenship
6.Translocal/embodied citizenship + case study seminar
7.Insurgent/Active citizenship
8.Environmental/ecological citizenship + case study seminar
9.Digital/smart citizenship
10.Stakeholder report presentations
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THIRD YEAR COURSES
6SSG0610
INDEPENDENT GEOGRAPHICAL STUDY (30 credits)
The objective of the IGS is for you to design and execute a research dissertation on a subject of your own
choice. The IGS should identify a problem, and attempt to solve it through the collection and analysis of
primary or secondary data. It is essential that this is related to existing literature on the subject. Preferably,
the topic chosen should be related to your choice of third year optional modules. You will be allocated a tutor
who can support you in the topic you have chosen, before the start of the 2nd year examination period. Note
the points made about the IGS for soas students at the start of this document.
If you choose this you will be provided with a separate IGS Handbook by the admin office (please note that a
copy of the IGS Handbook will also be posted on the Department Website in April) and you are advised to
read this Handbook carefully as it provides you with all the information and relevant deadlines for
completing your IGS.
6SSG3061 CURRENT RESEARCH IN GEOGRAPHY (15 credits)
Coordinator: Alex Loftus
Teaching Arrangement: Seminars; Term 1
Assessment: 100% coursework
Specific Aims of the Module:
The aims of the moudle are to facilitate a critical understanding of current geographical research relevant to
the human geography programme pathway, to prepare students for their Independent Geographical Study
(IGS), to provide practical experience of learning in a seminar setting and to learn to engage with research
through the use of a reflective diary
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of this module students should be able to demonstrate:
 Critical understanding of current geographical research in the specified pathway;
 The ability to read critically, engage with and discuss--in a seminar setting--current research across a
range of geographical themes and topic;
 An understanding of current geographical research and material in preparation for the IGS
Module Structure
Students will select blocks of seminars from the list provided. Seminar blocks will be capped to ensure
participation in small group sessions. An indication of seminar topics that has been offered in the past is
listed. Topics are likely to vary from year to year, depending on the expertise of the seminar leaders.
- Past Climate Change & Human Evolution
- Modelling Geomorphology
- Spatial Simulation: Segregating, Searching & Spreading
- Nitrogen in the Environment
- Spreading like Wildfire: How to simulate wildfires and why do we bother?
- Climate & History in the tropics
- Cultural Theory & Climate Change
- Geographies of porduction & globalization: clothing in the global economy
- Queer Theory, space & the study of sexuality
- Big data & the quantification of space & society
- Geogrpahies of production, consumption & waste making
- Water Footprints and Global Virtual water
- Measuring viulnerability of Natural Hazards
- Violent geographies and spaces of performance
- HowSAFE – How states account for failure in Europe: Risk and the limits of governance
- Cities, Citizenship & the Migrant Metropolis
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OPTIONAL MODULES (EACH WORTH 15 CREDITS)
6SSG3064
ADVANCED ISSUES IN NATURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Bruce D. Malamud
Teaching Arrangement: 10hrs lectures; 10hrs seminars/tutorials, first term
Assessment: Essay (75%) and group poster (25%)
Specific aims of the module:
The educational aims of this module are twofold (1) to broadly review and understand some of the
quantitative and qualitative methods that scientists currently use to assess natural and environmental
risk and (2) to facilitate a critical understanding of the socioeconomic, political and physical sciences
issues surrounding the reduction or increase of the effects of natural and environmental disasters, both
in the context of ‘natural’ and anthropogenic causes.
Learning outcomes:
At the completion of the module, students should be able to demonstrate the following:
 A critical understanding of some of the quantitative and qualitative methods that scientists
currently use to assess, communicate and visualize natural and environmental risk, and the
ability to challenge and understand some of the limitations and strengths of these approaches;
 A broad critical evaluation and synthesis of evidence for methods and concepts used to reduce
the effects of natural & environmental disasters, both in the context of ‘natural’ and
anthropogenic hazards;
The ability to utilize both reference material assigned in class and a broad range of material the
student has found independently (e.g. peer-review papers, books, internet), to explore in depth
over the course of the term, a specific aspect or aspects of natural hazards, for their final essay.
The ability to effectively interact, prepare and present a group poster based on a given topic to
student peers.
Module structure
This module will be structured around a series of lectures and discussions (partly aimed around class
interests) aimed at understanding current methods for assessing, communicating and visualizing
risk and reducing disaster for hazards that are natural (e.g., earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, mass
wasting, floods, climate, and extreme temperatures, multi-hazards) and environmental (e.g. heavymetal contamination, chemical hazards), and the complex relationship that exists between these
hazards and society. It is expected that as the module is advanced, that students taking this module
are already familiar with the material in the 2nd year Natural Hazards module or find another way to
familiarize themselves with the material that was covered (e.g., sitting in on 5SSG2042, downloading
the lectures). This module is aimed at both physical and human geography students.
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6SSG3077
APPLIED GEOCOMPUTATION & SPATIAL ANALYSIS
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: James Millington
Teaching Arrangement: 10 x 2 hour seminars, 10 x 1 hour computer practicals, second term
Assessment: 2500 word report (80%), oral presentation (20%)
Aims of the module
This module aims to build on previous level 5 modules to enable students to further understand how
computational techniques and spatial analysis are used for applied geographical data analysis and
problem solving. Consequently, the specific aims of the module are:
1. To provide students with further understanding of computational concepts and techniques
suitable for data analysis for applied geographical questions and problems.
2. To enable students to develop further experience of the decision-making process involved in
selecting and employing a range of analysis methods and tools for applied data analysis and
problem solving, including identifying and negotiating limitations of different techniques and
approaches.
3. To enhance students’ ability to manipulate and analyse geographical data using computational
techniques for applied questions and problems.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
Understand how contemporary computational techniques and methods for identifying and analysing
patterns and dynamics in geographical systems are applied in real-world contexts,
Comprehend the limitations and assumptions of these different techniques and methods for
application to real world geographical data analysis and problem solving
Apply computational tools for applied geographical data analysis and problem solving
Module content and structure
The module is structured into ten two-hour seminars, each accompanied by a one-hour practical, that
cover the application of advanced concepts in geocomputation and spatial analysis. This module builds
on the two level 5 modules of the Geocomputation and Spatial Analysis undergraduate degree pathway
(with the same names). Whereas those modules provided the foundation, this module now considers
more advanced concepts and how they are applied to real-world issues and problems.
The seminars will be a mixture of lecturing about advanced concepts and discussion of their application
with students. In particular, we aim to involve external collaborators from industry/government to discuss
their issues/challenges and how they can use computational and spatial analyses to address them.
Practical sessions will give students the chance to interact directly with teaching staff to pursue their own
applied analysis projects.
The module will be split into three general areas of application and we hope to have at least one external
collaborator per section. The applications will be relevant to both human and physical geography
students and will be related to:
1.Geodemographics (e.g. housing and income)
2.Human-Environment Interactions (e.g. land use and natural resources)
3.Networks (e.g. transport and social)
Within these areas of general applications we will discuss with students how specific tools and
techniques can be used to investigate issues and explore ways to overcome challenges. These tools and
techniques can include analysis using clustering algorithms (e.g. k-means, hierarchical), network analysis
(e.g. centrality, degree distribution) and simulation (e.g. cellular automata, agent-based).
6SSG3025
DESERT ENVIRONMENTS
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Nick Drake
Teaching Arrangement: 20 Lectures, first term
Assessment: Two research essays (50% each)
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Specific aims of the module:
To provide a comprehensive understanding of the characteristics of desert environments, the
environmental problems found in these regions, and the techniques that can be used to assess and mitigate
them, using examples from both arid and semi-arid environments. Enable students to gain an
understanding of the important climatic, hydrological, geomorphological and ecological processes that
occur in deserts, and examine the ways in which they are affected by human activities. Identify
environments adapted to high temperatures and the scarcity of water which are highly susceptible to a
diverse set of anthropogenic influences leading to desertification. Monitor the effects of desertification and
ways to rectify these effects. Enable students to gain an understanding of the policy options for
management of deserts, concentrating on the requirements of the UN Desertification Convention.
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the module students should be able to:
 Explain physical aspects of the semi-arid and arid environments;
 Understand they ways that people interact with semi-arid and arid enviroments;
 Understand the consequences of these interactions and the methods that can be employed to assess
and mitigate any adverse effects
Module structure
General topics taught will include climate and hydrology; desertification; geomorphology; vegetation and
other life forms; water and water management and climate change
6SSG3040
DIRECTED READINGS IN GEOGRAPHY
Value: 15 credits
Module convenor: Alex Loftus
Lecturers: various
Teaching Arrangement: personal study, either term
Assessment: research project (100%)
Module structure
The module should be taken in association with ONE other third year module (the prime module). This
module is a particularly challenging option and only students who have a keen interest in the area of study
concerned and wish to develop it further should consider registering for this option. Students registering for
this module will need to request a consent form from the UG Programme Officer. You will need to
consult with the lecturer concerned on the prime module, who will authorise your consent form if they
are happy for you to take this option. The method of assessment for this prime module is not affected by
taking the directed readings module associated with it.
The Directed Readings module provides the opportunity for an in-depth review/critique/analysis of material
related to the prime module. This will involve one meeting with the lecturer on the prime module, who will
provide you with a set of key references on a particular theme. You must adhere to the topics set to ensure
that there is no overlap between the Directed Readings coursework and the coursework/exam questions for
the associated module. It is your responsibility to work independently to produce the coursework.
6SSG3037
ECONOMIC & SOCIAL CHANGE IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
Value: 15 credits
Module lecturer: Debby Potts
Teaching Arrangement: 20hrs lectures, second term
Assessment: Examination (100%)
Specific aims of the course:
To explore the theories relating to geographical themes and test these in relation to the specificities of
the region of Southern Africa taking a political economy approach.
To explain the significance of political geography, legacies of white settler rule, and economic
globalization as determinants of economic patterns through explorations of migration patterns, rural
and urban livelihoods, and the prospects for meaningful regional integration under the auspices of
SADC.
Learning outcomes:
At the completion of the course students should:
Have a sound framework with which they can evaluate contemporary economic, political and
social patterns in the region as a whole;
 Gain an understanding of regional development and integration issues via the southern African
context, including trade and local and global politics;
Recognise the role of globalization in any developing region of the world, in terms of the impacts
of structural adjustment policies imposed by the international financial institutions and trade
liberalization;
Learn the significance of political (in)stability in determining economic development
outcomes, and the legacy of white minority regimes on contemporary geography;
Identify the factors influencing economic and political patterns in the region as a whole and
appreciate the need to combine a variety of geographical conceptual approaches and theories
with historical understanding in order to analyse world regions.
Module structure
This course will focus on certain aspects of the Southern African region’s economic and social
geography.
Ten countries are covered. Geographical themes related to processes of economic
development (eg globalization, migrant labour systems, natural resource endowment) in the region are
given particular emphasis.
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6SSG3028
ENVIRONMENTAL REMOTE SENSING 2
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Emma Tebbs
Teaching arrangement: 10 hrs lectures and 10 hrs practical classes, first term
Assessment: Practical portfolio (50%), 1 x computer-based exam (50%)
Specific aims of the module:
This module covers both the theory and practical application of environmental remote sensing methods,
and students will spend approximately half of the teaching time analysing and manipulating a series of
remote sensing datasets, mostly various types of satellite imagery. The module is therefore very much
aimed at providing students with both the theoretical AND practical knowledge of environmental remote
sensing methods, as conducted in the visible to thermal infrared spectral region. Lectures will examine the
capabilities offered by remote sensing of Earth, as conducted from satellite Earth observation platforms,
and there will be demonstrations of real remote sensing instrumentation. Lectures will cover many of the
key spectral and image analysis methods by which satellite Earth Observation (EO) data collected in the
visible to thermal infrared wavelength regions are processed to provide information on Earth's (land, water,
air) environment, including such parameters as vegetation cover, landuse, sea and land surface
temperature, forest fire timing and location etc. Around half of the teaching time is dedicated to students
learning to practically manipulate and analyse image datsets, mainly using the ENVI image processing and
analysis system (www.ittvis.com/envi).
Learning Outcomes:
By completing this module, students should:
 Gain both a theoretical and practical understanding of remote sensing in the visible and thermal
infrared spectral regions;
 Undertstand the capabilities of a number of key satellite EO systems that provide data across these
spectral regions, and be able to describe the ways in which these data can be processed to elucidate
a wide variety of information on Earth's environment;
 Be able to load, analyse and output results from the satellite EO data themselves, in particular by
using the ENVI image processing and analysis system;
 It would be expected that by the end of the module students would, for example, be able to at least
load, calibrate and geo-correct image datasets, display color composites, examine spectral features,
and classify and apply mathematical equations to satellte EO imagery.
Module structure
Around half of the moduel is delivered in a lecture format, each of which link to a subsequent practical
class. Practical classes provide the opportunity for students to interact with remotely sensed data, building
coniderably on any practical skills in this area that they may have gained earlier in the degree programme.
No prior knowledge of image processing is assumed, and students will learn 'from scratch' to use a stateof-the-art image analysis system (ENVI) to undertake a wide variety of techniques commonly used in EO
applications. The computer-based exam will test theoretical knowlegde and the portfolio will assess
practical skills.
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6SSG3058
ENVIRONMENTAL RISK, GOVERNANCE AND SOCIETY
Value: 15 credits
Lecturers: Henry Rothstein, David Demeritt
Teaching arrangement: 10 lectures, 10 seminars, first term
Assessment: Two essays (50% each)
Specific aims of the module:
This module aims to develop a critical understanding of the major theoretical approaches to risk from a
number of different disciplinary perspectives. The module aims to develop students’ knowledge of
individual and social theories of risk in relation to processes of environmental risk assessment, governance,
perception and communication. Students will develop their skills in applying theoretical understanding to
empirical case studies in order to better understand the issues at stake in contemporary debates about
environmental risk.
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the module students should be able to:
 Demonstrate a knowledge of individual and social theories of environmental risk and of how
theories of risk relate to processes of risk assessment, governance, perception and communication;
 Apply the acquired knowledge to empirical case studies and show awareness of the limitations of
such applications; Critically evaluate and reflect on the issues at stake in contemporary debates
about risk;
 Take an informed and reasoned approach to evaluating theoretical and empirical material that they
encounter during the course of study; Conceptualise complex risk problems and clearly
communicate critical issues.
Module structure
This module starts by considering how geography has approached issues of environmental risk, and goes
on to discuss contemporary social theoretical explanations of the salience of risk within so-called ‘late
modern’ society. The module then explores the factors that shape the wide variety of ways in which
environmental risks are governed, using case studies to explore the factors that shape the politics,
processes and outcomes of risk governance. The module then moves on to discuss the factors that shape
public perceptions of environmental risk and the associated problems posed for policy-makers, businesses
and other stakeholders in communicating risk issues. Public risk perceptions are explored in greater depth
through a series of case studies such as nuclear power, climate change and chemcial, biological,
radiological and nuclear terrorism. The module finishes with reflections on the future management of
environmental risk issues.
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6SSG3076
GEOPOLITICS. POWER & PLACE
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Ruth Craggs, Richard Schofield
Teaching arrangement: 8 hours lectures; 8 hours seminars; 4 hours poster & oral presentations, first term
Assessment: essay (50%), individual poster & presentation (35%), group presentation (15%)
33
Specific aims of the module
This module explores contemporary and historical geopolitics and encourages students to think critically
about the actors, power relations, and practices of international politics. It outlines key approaches to
conceptualising and researching geopolitics within geography, and provides students with the opportunity of
aplying these to a number of historical and contemporary case studies.
Learning outcomes
On completion og this module students should be able to:
 Have a systematic understanding of key approaches to conceptualising geopolitics
 Appreciate the variety of methodological approaches used to research geopolitics
 Identify the value of different conceptual and methodological approaches for understanding
contemporary and historic case studies
 Apply conceptual and methodological approaches in geopolitics to unfamiliar contexts
Module structure
This module explores contemporary and historical geopolitics, through a series of linked lectures and
seminars. The first part of the module introdices different conceptual and methodological tools for
researching geopolitics, whilst the second part of the module introduces different thematic case studies to
which these approaches can be applied. The topics covered in the lectures and seminars include:
Wk1: Introduction to the module and the history of geopolitics
Wk2: Popular geopolitics: Reading, representing and reproducing geopolitical visions
Wk3: Beyond Representation and the west: Feminist, subaltern and non-representational geopolitics
Wk4: Methods for researching geopolitics
Wk5: Poster session
Wk6: Post-war geopolitics: Decolonisation and the Cold War
Wk7: Migration and the production of migrant illegality
Wk8: Environmental Geopolitics
Wk9: Resources and materiality
Wk10:Presentation session
6SSG3070 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE 1: CLIMATE SCIENCE
Value: 15 credits
Coordinator: Nick Drake
Teaching arrangement: 20 (2 hour) lectures and practical classes; first term
Assessment: One essay (50%); one practical write up (50%)
34
Specific aims of the module
To review the nature and processes of terrestrial environmental changes experienced during the period of
existence of human societies up to and including the present, focusing in this module on changes to the
climate, terrestiral carbon cycle, and to Earth’s landcover and landuse. By covering variability and
change in these areas of the Earth system the module will provide the scientific background necessary to
better understand the causes and consequences of environmental changes in isolation and as a whole,
whether they be paleo-environmental changes, studies of the contemporary environment, or future
projections.
Learning outcomes
Students who complete this module will:
Past Climate Change 1: Tectonic Timescale Change
Past Climate Change 2: Orbital Scale Change1
Past Climate Change 3: Orbital Scale Change 2
Past Climate Change 4: Historical Change
Mechanisms of Present Day Climate Change: Sinks and Sources of Atmospheric Greenhouse Gases
and Aerosols
Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions & the Marine Carbon Cycle
Case Studies in Measuring and Monitoring Terrestrial Carbon Cycle Components
Global Satellite Monitoring of the Environment: Introduction to Methods and Tools
Data-enhanced Investigations for Climate Change Education: NASA GIOVANI Practical
Landcover and Landuse Change: Lecture and Practical
Structure
This module will review the nature and processes of terrestrial environmental changes, focusing on those
related to the carbon cycle, and to Earth’s landcover and landuse. By covering variability and change in these
areas of the Earth system and they are assessed, both in relation to natural variabilities and anthropogenic
influences, the module will provide the scientific background necessary to better understand the causes and
consequences of environmental changes in isolation and as a whole, whether they be paleo-environmental
changes,
studies
of
the
contemporary
environment,
or
future
projections.
6SSG3071 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE 2: EARTH SYSTEM DYNAMICS
Value: 15 credits
Coordinator: Thomas Smith
Teaching arrangement: 20 (2hour) lectures; second term
Assessment: Two essays (50% each)
35
Specific aims of the module
To review the nature and processes of terrestrial environmental changes experienced during the period of
existence of human societies up to an including the present and near future, focusing in this module in
particular on changes and variability in atmospheric composition, climate and hydrology, and including
an examination of paleo-environmental records. By covering variability and change in these areas of the
Earth system the module will provide the scientific background necessary to better understand the causes
and consequences of environmental changes in isolation and as a whole, whether they be paleoenvironmental changes, studies of the contemporary environment, or future projections.
Learning outcomes
Students who complete this module will:
 Understand the historic and geologic context for current environmental changes taking place
within the Earth system, including an understanding of paleo-environmental records.
 Understand the processes and drivers of the key terrestrial environmental changes (particularly in
this case focusing on those related to atmospheric composition, to climate variability and change,
and to related hydrological variations).
 Be able to critically analyse research covering the many multi-disciplinary aspects of global
environmental change related to atmospheric and hydrological processes.
 Be able to contextualise their understanding of noted and forecast anthropic environmental
changes within the perspective of natural environmental variability.
 Be able to evaluate strategies to adapt to, manage, mitigate and prevent environmental changes
where necessary or desirable, particularly in the context of changes to Earth’s atmospheric
composition, climate and hydrological regimes.
 To be able to understand the impact of multiple environmental changes acting within the same
landscape or environment.
 Be able to understand future projections of atmospheric composition and climate in the context
of past records.
Structure
This module will outline the causes and consequences of past, current and future changes to Earth’s
atmosphere, climate and hydrological regimes, and examine paleo-environmental records and future
projections of atmospheric composition and climate. It will inform students of the variety of methods used to
derive information on these issues in order to quantity their magnitude, extent and significance. It will cover
how humans are currently changing these aspects of the Earth's environment, and put this change in the
context
of
past
environmental
changes
and
range
of
natural
variability.
6SSG3013
GLOBAL POLITICAL ECOLOGY
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Raymond Bryant
Teaching arrangement: 20 lectures, second term
Assessment: essay (50%), examination (50%)
Aims:
To introduce students to environmental change in Asia, Africa and Latin America (or the Global South),
with a view to assessing the prospects for success of sustainable development strategies, along with an
evaluation of the causal forces and socio-economic and political ramifications of such changes.
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the course students should be able to:
Appreciate the intertwined nature of political and ecological processes in Asia, Africa and Latin
America (or the Global South).
Identify and assess the varied political and economic factors contributing to environmental change,
the social ramifications of such changes, and the prospects for success of current sustainable
development initiatives.
Structure:
PART ONE: CONTEXT AND ACTORS
1. Introduction: theorizing political ecology
2. Colonialism and environmental change (overview)
3. Colonialism and environmental change (case study: Southeast Asian forestry)
4. The state in environmental management
5. Transnational corporations (TNCs) and the environment
6. Non-government organisations (NGOs) and the environment
PART TWO: LOCAL CONFLICT AND COOPERATION
7. Tragedy of the commons or of enclosure?
8. Environmental movements as livelihood struggles (Rural/Urban)
9. Festive ecology? Christmas as world’s greatest planned eco-disaster
10. Gender and the environment
11. Ethnicity and the environment: placing indigeniety
PART THREE: UNDERSTANDING ENVIRONMENTAL ‘PROBLEMS’
12. Tropical deforestation: emotional neocolonialism?
13. Urban pollution: fear and loathing in the city?
14. Global warming vs. the tsunami: slow vs fast disasters?
15. Land degradation and hazards: cause or manifestation of poverty?
PART FOUR: NORTH-SOUTH RELATIONS
16. Global environmental summits (1992-2012)
17. Sustainable development: conceptual blueprint or rhetorical device?
18. Population and the 'limits to growth'
19. Debt, aid, global institutions and the environment
20. Conclusion: future directions and course review
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6SSG3069
HEALTH, LIFESTYLES & CITIES
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Clare Herrick
Teaching arrangement: 20 hours lectures; first term
Assessment: examination (100%)
Specific aims of the module
To examine the theoretical debates concerning the study of health within geography and the
interrelationships between health and the built form of cities.
To critically assess current public health policies and the practices involved in governing unhealthy
lifestyles.
To evaluate how spatial and social differences between and within cities condition the problematisation
of lifestyles.
To acquire an understanding of the incorporation of health within the remit of an increasing array of
governmental and non-governmental actors.
Learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students should be able to demonstrate:
Critical knowledge and understanding of theoretical and conceptual debates concerning the study of
health within geography.
Knowledge of the historical and contemporary relationships between lifestyles and cities.
Demonstrate an understanding of social, economic, political and policy issues relating to the current
incorporation of ‘lifestyle’ diseases within public health policy. The ability to conduct independent
and in-depth analysis of certain aspects of the relationships between cities, health and lifestyles,
drawing on both theoretical debates and empirical sources.
The capacity to synthesise a variety of sources and text, including policy, media, literature and
survey data, to produce a critical contribution to the debate on health and cities.
Module content and Structure
Topics covered in this module will include:
Introduction to the module
Geographical approaches to health
Political, economic and infrastructural change in the city: infectious and chronic disease risks
Governmentality and the responsible self
Obesity and the policy dilemma
Hunger and the city
The sociology of health promotion
Global health politics
NCDs and urban health in the Global South
Exam workshop
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6SSG3073
HISTORIES & GEOGRAPHIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Value: 15 credits
Lecturers: George Adamson, Mike Hulme, Amy Donovan, Helen Adams, Mark Pelling, Daanish
Mustafa
Teaching Arrangement: 9 x 2 hour lectures; 1 x 2 hour seminars, second term
Assessment: 1,500 word essay (30%); 2500 word essay (70%)
Specific aims of the module
This module introduces the human dimensions of climate and climate change. It explains the different
ways in which climate knowledge is constructed historically and geographically and explores how
climate is represented and articulated in different societies. It explores existing theories regarding societal
vulnerability and resilience to climatic variability and discusses development challenges. Existing fears
and narratives around climate change are placed in an historical perspective. The module also discusses
the contribution of the study of climatic adaptation in the past to contemporary challenges.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this module students should be able to:
Understand the idea of climate from a variety of perspectives, including cultural/historical
geography, vulnerability/resilience theory, science and technology studies
Understand the processes involved in the creation of climate knowledge
Appreciate climate change as a social discourse and place existing narratives regarding climate and
climate change within an historical perspective
Understand the role of different cultural and political beliefs within climatic discourse and how
these are represented in the media
Understand the challenges faced in adapting to climate change and outline case studies of adaptation
to climate variability in the past and today
Critically assess the contribution of social science knowledge to contemporary climate debates
Module content and structure
The topics to be covered in the lectures and seminars are:
Wk 1.
Wk 2.
Wk 3.
Wk 4.
Wk 5.
Wk 6.
Wk 7.
Wk 8.
Wk 9.
Wk 10.
The idea of climate / Historical narratives of climate
The history of anthropogenic climate change
How scientific knowledge constructs climate change
Climate knowledge in diverse cultures
Framing climate change and public perceptions
Seminar: Climate ‘tipping points’: how a metaphor affects the imagination
Climate change adaptation and the city
Climate development challenges
Adaptation: Learning from the past
Climate change as a travelling idea
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6SSG3074
HOLLYWOOD & THE POST INDUSTRIAL CITY
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Johan Andersson
Teaching Arrangement: 20 Lectures, 8 film screenings; second term
Assessment: Film review (30%); Essay (70%)
Specific aims of the module:
This course explores how the economic reorganisation of the city since the late 1960s has impacted on
the production, distribution, and mise-en-scène of Hollywood cinema. While there is a significant
literature in economic geography on post-Fordist changes in the film industry, this module aims to link
the interconnected restructuring of the US city and film industry with visual, aesthetic and narrative
developments in urban cinema. Throughout, we will focus on how new trends in on-location shooting,
technical innovations (with regards to sound, lighting, digital animation, lighter equipment and so on)
and changes in the distribution of film (TV, video and online) have resulted in novel modes of
representing the city. Particular emphasis will be placed on close readings of individual films or genres
that explore the changing occupational class structure of post-Fordist cities (yuppie, ghetto and
gentrification films as well as corporate and legal thrillers for example) or the identity politics associated
with new urban social movements (feminist cinema, New Queer Cinema, representations of race).
Learning Outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
Use visual and narrative methods to critically analyse Hollywood films
To understand recent urban and social change through cinema
To use insights from geographical scholarship to examine the interconnected changes in the
economic organisation of Hollywood and the postindustrial city since the late 1960s
To reflect critically on the politics of representation with regards to both broader ideological shifts
and the depiction of minority groups in Hollywood cinema
Module structure
1.Introduction:
-Cinema and space: an interdisciplinary terrain
-Film theory: narrative structure and visual style
2.Hollywood
3.The economic geography of Hollywood
-New Hollywood and the auteur
4.Urban branding and the politics of on-location shooting
5.The vigilante and the city
6.Feminism and spectatorship
7.Cinema and identity politics: contested representations
8.Noir urbanism
9.The corporate thriller and transnational space
10.The hedonistic city
11.The financial crisis in film
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40
6SSG3056
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF HAZARDSCAPES
Lecturer: Daanish Mustafa
Teaching arrangement: 20 lectures, first term
Assessment: short essay (30%), poster presentation (15%) long essay (55%)
Specific aims of the module:
The module aims to familiarize students with cultural, political economic, pragmatic and technocratic
perspectives used to explain and sometimes spawn hazardousness of everyday life. To educate students
that hazards are not accidental interruptions of ‘normal’ life but rather integral to the social geographies
that modern societies have produced. The integrative concept of ‘hazardscapes’ will be introduced to
capture the discursive and material aspects of environmental and social hazards. Hazardous
environments in both the rich and the poorer parts of the world will be critically evaluated from multiple
theoretical perspectives to formulate strategies for enhancing human safety and environmental quality.
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the module students should be able to:
Demonstrate sound knowledge of multiple theories used within the hazards, environment/society,
and development geography subfields within human geography;
Demonstrate sound knowledge of the key concepts of vulnerability and resilience as they pertain to
economic development;
Have a critical understanding of hazard perceptions at the individual, community, institutional and
societal scales;
Have critical thinking about prevailing policies, ‘common wisdom’ and stereotypes about hazard
response, planning and reconstruction.
Module structure
The module will consist of eight in class lectures and two sessions of student presentations. We will
review the history of hazards research from religious based explanations of environmental hazards, to
more scientific and engineering based approaches, to the recent shift towards political economic and
discourse based reasons for human vulnerability to hazards. The discussion of hazards will be
specifically nested within broader concerns with human environment interactions and environmental
thought from the paleolithic, neolithic, classical and ultimately modern period.
Having established the temporal and spatial context of hazards research and human experience of
hazards, the concept of hazardscapes will be introduced as a hybrid perspective emphasizing both the
material and discursive underpinnings of vulnerability to hazards. Through the second half of the course
the concept of hazardscapes will be discussed with reference to such topical concerns as geographies of
development and underdevelopment, gender, terrorism and violence, and disaster relief and recovery.
The course will conclude with an exploration of pathways for building resilience against hazards and
politically emancipatory and socially just conceptions of sustainable development
6SSG3078
SOCIAL & PHYSICAL VOLCANOLOGY
Lecturer: Amy Donovan
Teaching arrangement: 15 hours lectures, 5 hours seminars, second term
Assessment: 1500 word essay (30%); 90 minute exam (70%)
41
Specific aims of the module
The module provides a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the human and physical dimensions of
volcanic activity. Initially, it introduces students to the physical aspects of volcanic eruptions, including
magma chamber processes, eruptive processes, deposition and hazards. It then discussed the management of
volcanoes (volcano monitoring, risk assessment) and uses case studies to provide deeper insights into the
social-natural flows of resources, knowledges and perceptions. While the course broadly splits into physical
and human aspects, the connectivities between human and physical will be the central focus throughout. The
course aims to enable students to engage critically with both human and physical approaches to volcanism.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the module, students should be able to:
 Explain the main drivers of volcanic eruptions and describe magma chamber processes.
 Explain the primary characteristics of different types of eruptions, from effusive to explosive.
 Evaluate the use of historical and geological methods for carrying out “forensic volcanology” of past
eruptions.
 Evaluate the global patterns of volcanic activity and their impact on human populations (including
tourism, resources, land use, risk).
 Understand the basic social theories of risk perception and management.
 Apply these concepts in light of human geographical theories about human-natural flows and
interactions.
Module structure
 The following lecture titles are provisional and subject to change:
 Magma chamber processes
 From chamber to surface: eruption triggers
 Eruption styles and processes
 Surface processes, hazards and deposition
 Forensic volcanology: uncovering past eruptions
 Monitoring volcanoes – chemical and physical (lecture + seminar)
 Managing volcanoes – decision-making and expert advice (lecture + crisis simulation)
 Managing volcanoes – populations and risk perception (lecture + seminar)
 Understanding volcanoes – resources and flows (lecture + seminar)
 Understanding volcanoes – reducing risk (lecture + seminar)
6SSG3072
THE RIGHT TO THE CITY
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Nicholas De Genova
Teaching arrangement: 16 hours lectures, 5 hours seminars; second term
Assessment: coursework (100%)
Specific aims of the module
By way of these elementary questions, this module aims to:
critically problematise the very notion of ‘rights’ and to interrogate the often-unexamined
normative valorisation of the notion of citizenship as a presumed framework for rights-bearing
and the staking of rights claims.
examine the relationship between cities and citizenship, and the configurations of ‘rights’ across
disparate spatial scales.
attend to the profound transformations of conventional notions of ‘the urban’ under contemporary
conditions of ‘globalisation’.
encourage students to continuously re-examine and re-evaluate various particular formulations of
the theoretical proposition of ‘the right to the city’ in relation to historically or ethnographically
descriptive works about geographically diverse examples. Learning outcomes
On completion of this module students should be able to:
Develop a systematic textually grounded understanding of the substance and complexity of the idea
of ‘the right to the city’ based upon key theoretical readings.
Compare and contrast disparate and divergent examples of urban social and political struggles in
relation to the concept of ‘the right to the city’, and in the process, identify the possibility of new
concepts within the existing knowledge frameworks and approaches.
Critically evaluate the utility and versatility of the concept of ‘the right to the city’ in relation to
geographically and historically distinct instances where it can be deployed as an interpretive/
analytical or organisational framework.
Assess how effectively this unifying analytical tool may serve the purposes of critical research in
urban geography.
Module structure
This module will be taught in 2 hour lectures, followed by 1 hour seminars. Within the context of ‘The
Right to the City’, this module will be centrally concerned with several inter-related questions:
‘What is a right?’;
‘Who has rights?’; and ‘How do people make claims for rights?’;
‘What is a city?’ and ‘What do we mean by “the urban”?’
‘Is there such a thing as “the right to the city”?’
What are the political potentials of a demand for ‘the right to the city’?
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6SSG3030
TROPICAL FORESTS IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
Lecturer: Mark Mulligan
Teaching arrangement: 15 lectures, 1 workshop plus 4 seminars, second term
Assessment: examination (50%), research essay (50%)
The module includes hands-on demonstrations with monitoring equipment, canopy access techniques,
biological specimens and hardware models. The coursework requires students to venture deeply into the
scientific literature and thus develop good reading, note taking, summary and research skills.
Specific aims of the module:
To develop an awareness of the structure and function of tropical forest ecosystems. To provide an
understanding of the biophysical, ecological and anthropic processes which characterise these
environments. To develop an awareness of the human impacts on these important systems and the kinds of
geographical tools available for monitoring, modelling and mitigation of the worst effects of these impacts.
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the module students will:
 Have an understanding of the nature of tropical rainforests, their structure and their function;
 Should know how to apply appropriate monitoring and modelling techniques to the better
management of these systems;
 Have ventured deeply into the scientific literature and thus developed good reading, note taking,
summary and research skills.
Module structure
Part I Fundamentals
1.
Humid tropical climates.
2.
Climate history and scenaria for the humid tropics.
3.
Humid tropical vegetation.
4.
Humid tropical animals.
5.
Humid tropical landscapes and soils.
6.
Humid tropical societies and land use past, present and future.
Part II The Lowland Humid Tropical Forests
Ecosystem Processes
7.
Energy:
8.
Water and nutrients.
Ecosystem dynamics
9.
Forest architecture and plant physiology
10. Forest ecology and dynamics: the web of life.
11-12 Biological Diversity.
Part III The Tropical Montane Cloud Forests
State of the art
13. Mountains in the mist DVD.
14. The climate of cloud forests.
15. Cloud forest hydrology and cloud interception.
16. The controls on TMCF productivity and stature.
17. Tropical forests, carbon and climate change
18. Conservation and biodiversity prospecting in the world's biodiversity hotspots.
19. Land use change in the Ecuadorian Amazon
20. The hydrological and ecological impacts of petroleum production in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
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