1. science
2. geography

DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY
Undergraduate Modules 2014-15
First Year Modules
All first year modules are compulsory to students on the BA/BSc Geography programmes.
4SSG1008
Geography Tutorials: Critical Thinking & Techniques
Value: 30 credits
Coordinator: Andrew Brooks/Thomas Smith
Lecturers: All Tutorial Staff.
Teaching arrangement: Weekly one-hour tutorials in both terms
Assessment: 100% coursework
Other requirements: Attendance is compulsory to pass the module. A non-assessed oral presentation for
the poster is required (failure to do so, will result in 20 marks being deducted off the mark for the poster).
Module Structure:
This module is taught wholly by small-group tutorials (maximum 7 students) and covers a set of topics
and assignments designed to encourage good study skills, including proper Harvard Referencing, note
taking, plagiarism vs. paraphrasing, fundamental grammar skills and coursework structure, the
difference between different kinds of source material, researching topics, critical evaluation of
evidence, the ability to develop a logical argument, the ability to present research in a variety of
formats, and examination techniques. Tutorial topics will comprise some related to first year taught
modules in the first year Geography degree programme, with others set by individual tutors. The six
assessed assignments required during the course of the year include essay writing, report writing, and
visual presentation. Most of the assessed assignments are intended to be formative, and are returned
rapidly to the students (within two weeks) with group discussions of any weaknesses of a given
coursework, and how to improve on these to strengthen the next coursework.
4SSG1011
Principles of Geographical Inquiry I
Value: 30 credits
Coordinator: James Millington
Lecturers: Various
Teaching arrangement: 20 hours lectures, 10 hours seminars/tutorials, 40 hours field/lab/supervised
learning, both terms
Assessment: 100% coursework
Module Structure:
This module considers key concepts that underpin both human and physical geography, and discusses
both the theory of these concepts as well as some of main techniques and methods that can be used to
analyse geographical data. It involves the collection and analysis of data following localised fieldwork,
and training in appropriate software for statistical anlaysis. Examples of the application of concepts and
techniques are drawn from a range of geographical settings, and include familiarisaton with research
performed by geography staff.
4SSG0141
Geographical Foundations: the making of the modern world
Value: 30 credits
Coordinator: Alex Loftus
Lecturers: Various
Teaching arrangement: 40 hours lectures, both terms
Assessment: Coursework (35%); Examination (65%)
Module Structure:
This module considers the development of human societies at world, national and local scales. It
examines the historical development and current state of the world economic system, the implications
of globalization for national economies, for sustainable development and for changing patterns of
consumption. Examples are drawn from a range of geographical and historical settings.
4SSG0140
The Changing Natural Environment
Value: 30 credits
Coordinator: Rob Francis
Lecturers: Various
Teaching arrangement: 40 hours lectures, both terms
Assessment: January Examination (30%) Summer Examination (70%)
Module structure
This module examines fundamental principles and approaches to understanding change in the natural
environment. A range of themes are explored at a variety of geographical scales, from the global to
the micro-level, including plate tectonics, world weather systems and the hydrological cycle, as well
as glaciers, river basins and ecosystems. An important theme is global change, whether tectonic,
climatic or human-induced.
In the Second Year students must take 120 credits. All optional modules in the second year are 15
credits each.
BA/BSc in Geography
Students must take 5SSG2053 Principles of Geographical Inquiry (30 credits); either 5SSG2048
Methods in Human Geography (15 credits) or 5SSG2049* Methods in Physical Geography (15 credits),
either 5SSG2046* Fieldwork in Physical Geography (15 credits) or 5SSG2047 Fieldwork in Human
and Development Geography (15 credits).
* Students taking 5SSG2049 Methods in Physical Geography MUST take 5SSG2046 Fieldwork in
Physical Geography, as the two modules link together.
* Students taking 5SSG2048 Methods in Human Geography MUST take 5SSG2047 Fieldwork in
Human & Development Georaphy, as the two modules link together.
In addition to the compulsory modules noted above, students must opt onto one of the following
pathways and take the compulsory 15 credit module relating to this pathway:
Physical Geography Pathway – 5SSG2023 Physical Geography: Earth Surface Processes and
Landforms
Human Geography Pathway – 5SSG2025 Urban & Cultural Geography: Space. Society & Culture
Development Geography Pathway – 5SSG2044 Development Geographies: Livelihoods and Policy
Contexts
Society, Environment & Geography Pathway – 5SSG2052 Society, Environment and Geography:
The Nature of the Environment
Students can choose their optional modules (all optional modules are 15 credits) freely from the list
below:
5SSG2011
Economic and Social Change in Post War Europe
5SSG2017
Historical Geographies of Urbanism
5SSG2023
Physical Geography: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
5SSG2040
Territory, State & Nation
5SSG2042
Natural Hazards
5SSG2043
Environmental Remote Sensing
5SSG2044
Development Geographies: Livelihood and Policy Contexts
5SSG2051
Climate Variabilty,
Change & Society
5SSG2052
Society, Environment and Geography: The Nature of the Environment
5SSG2054
Water & Development
5SSG2055
Institutions, Governance & Development
5SSG2056
Urban & Cultural Geography: Space, Society & Culture
5SSG2057
Landscapes: Ecology, Biogeography & Management
5SSG2058
Urban Geography: Exploring the City
Compulsory Modules
5SSG2047
FIELDWORK IN HUMAN AND DEVELOPMENT GEOGRAPHY
Value: 15 credits
Fieldtrip leader: Prof. Mark Pelling (India), Prof. Chris Hamnett (China), Dr. Richard Wiltshire (USA)
Teaching arrangement: pre-departure lectures/seminars/project work; 1 week residential fieldtrip
– Dec 2014 – this module ties with 5SSG2048 Methods in Human Geography
Assessment: project (70%) and field trip diary (30%)
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.
5SSG2046
FIELDWORK IN PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Value: 15 credits
Fieldtrip leader: Professor Nick Drake (Morocco)
Teaching arrangement*: 3 hours lectures; 3 hours practicals; 1 week residential fieldtrip – Dec 2014
Assessment: project (100%) and non-assessed fieldbook.
* please note the teaching for this module is combined with the teaching of the Methods in Physical
Geography and the data collected on the fieldtrip is used for the assessment of both assignments for the
Fieldwork and Methods modules. It is for this reason that students taking this module as an option
are required to take the 5SSG2049 Methods in Physical Geography module, which complements
it.
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.
Prior to the start of the fieldtrip separate lectures will focus on:
1.
Safety and ethical issues in the field.
2.
Introduction to the field area where the trip will take place.
After the fieldtrip, lectures and lab practical will focus on
3.
Analyzing data collected in the field.
5SSG2048
METHODS IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
Value: 15 credits
Coordinator: Dr Jon Reades
Teaching arrangement: 5 hours lectures, 7.5 hours practical/training, 10 hours project work; first term
Assessment: Reflective Methodologies essay; Group Research Project Proposal; Attendance (10%)
Specific aims of the module
This module should be seen as essential preparation for the 2nd year field trip: it aims to provide an
understanding of the core qualitative methodologies commonly employed by researchers in human
and/or development geography, and of how to access and analyse them. Particular attention will be
given to the methods typically employed by human geographers in the field, but consideration will
also be given to the role of more frequently ‘desk based’ quantitative and humanities techniques as
integral components of well-rounded geographical research.
Building on the general overview and exposure to survey methods provided in PGI 1, students are
expected to develop a more sophisticated understanding of the appropriateness and utility of different
methods, and their relative strengths and weaknesses. Students will also be expected to demonstrate
an understanding of how to use various methods in undertaking research on the Human Geography
field trip and, ultimately, as part of the Independent Geographical Study.
Learning outcomes of the module
At the completion of the module students should:
• Have an awareness of the range of available information sources in human and/or
development
geography, and know how to access and analyse them.
• Understand how the core qualitative research methods are used in human geography practice,
and
how they relate to quantitative and humanities methods.
• Understand the appropriateness and utility of different methods and their strengths and
weaknesses.
• Have some of the necessary methodological tools to carry out their field trip research and
Independent Geographical Study successfully.
Module structure
Section I: Qualitative Research Methods (Weeks 1–5)
The first five weeks of the Methods in Human Geography module will focus on the core qualitative
methodologies commonly employed ‘in the field’ by human geographers; these are: semi-structured
and structure interviews; participative research and focus groups; ethnography, observation & visual
methods; policy documents & textual analysis; and humanities & quantitative methods in context.
1. Semi-Structured & Structured Interviews
2. Participative Research & Focus Groups
3. Ethnography, Observation & Visual Methods
4. Policy Documents & Textual Analysis
5. Integrating Humanities & Quantitative Methods
Section 2: Field Trip Preparation (Weeks 6–10)
Students will work as one more groups with their allocated field trip project supervisor on the
preparation of a detailed research proposal, complete with interview guide and/or other appropriate
supporting material. The objective of the assessment is to demonstrate to the field trip staff that the
students have fully understood the methods that they propose to employ in the field and are prepared
to do so at a high level: in many cases, participants in field trip research are giving up a great deal of
their time (and in some cases, income) to support the students, and so the students are expected to
invest a degree of preparatory effort so as to make this participation worthwhile.
Some modest variation in format for Weeks 6–10 from field trip project group to field trip project
group is to be expected since the nature of the research also varies. Generally speaking, students will
be expected to attend and participate in a 2-hour working group each week: this will include readings
designed to provide students with the relevant background information for their research project, and
such assignments or tasks as the lecturer may require for the students to develop a viable research
proposal.
*Please note that students taking this module MUST take the 5SSG2047 Fieldwork in Human
Geography module.
5SSG2049
METHODS IN PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Value: 15 credits
Co-ordinator: Professor Nick Drake
Teaching arrangement: 7 hours lectures; 15 hours practicals; both terms
Assessment: 1 x essay (90%), 5 x practicals (10%)
Specific aims of the module
To provide an understanding of research methodologies in physical geography, including their strengths
and weaknesses. Equip students with a range of skills to undertake field and modelling research. Prepare
students for undertaking the Independent Geographical Study.
Learning outcomes of the module
At the completion of the module students should be able to understand different methodologies that may
be available for physical geography research and the impacts they have on the possible outcomes of that
research. Apply GIS and remote sensing techniques to practical projects. Understand different
approaches to data analysis. Apply simple statistical and/or numerical modelling approaches. Have some
of the necessary research methodology tools to carry out their Independent Geographical Study
successfully.
Module structure
The module enables students to understand different methodologies that may be available for physical
geography research and the impacts they have on the possible outcomes of that research. To apply GIS
and remote sensing techniques to practical projects. To understand different approaches to data analysis.
To apply simple statistical and/or numerical modelling approaches. To have some of the necessary
research methodology tools to carry out their IGS successfully.
*Please note that students taking this module MUST take the 5SSG2046 Fieldwork in Physical
Geography module.
5SSG2053
PRINCIPLES OF GEOGRAPHICAL INQUIRY II
Value: 30 credits
Lecturers: various
Teaching arrangements: A mixture of lectures, practicals and tutorials; both terms
Assessment: 2 x 1500 word essays (20% each), GIS Map (20%), 2000 word IGS Proposal (30%),
online Practical test (10%) and in tutorial oral presentation
Specific aims of the module
The module aims to build upon and expand the concepts, skills and methods taught within the module
Principles of Geographical Inquiry I: The London Environment; facilitate a critical understanding of
geographical concepts, skills and methods with a specific emphasis on the skills/methods of Geographic
Information Systems (GIS), quantitative analyses, and current global environmental issues and
challenges; and prepare students for their Independent Geographical Study (IGS).
Learning Outcomes
At the completion of this module students should be able to demonstrate a critical understanding of
geographical concepts, skills and methods and their relevance and application to geography and society
through the specific lens of GIS and global environmental issues; an appreciation of the links between
human and physical geography through an application of geographical knowledge to specific and
pressing global environmental issues; the ability to utilise a greater range of data collection methods and
statistical analysis relevant to geography and to their future studies within the BA and BSc Geography
programmes; an understanding of the role of GIS in geography, and familiarity with the use an
application of GIS software; and a deeper understanding of different research methodologies and project
design techniques which can applied to the development and completion of an Independent
Geographical Study.
Module structure
Broad topics relating to global environmental issues and the application of geographical concepts, skills
and methods will be covered during a series of lectures, while specific skills and methods will be
developed in seminar or practical sessions given over blocks of several weeks. Parallel tutorial sessions
will also take place to develop research skills relating to, among other things, the development of the
third year dissertation project.
*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: Dr Johan Andersson
Teaching arragements: 10 x 2 hours lectures/seminars, first term
Assessments: coursework (50%); examination (50%)
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
Compulsory Module for Development Geography Pathway*
5SSG2044
DEVELOPMENT GEOGRAPHIES: Livelihood and Policy Contexts
Coordinator: Dr Debby Potts
Lecturers: Dr Debby Potts & Dr Andrew Brooks
Teaching arrangements: 20 lectures; first term
Assessments: examination (50%); essay (50%)
Specific aims of the module:
To apprise students of the debates about the meaning of the term ‘development’ and the different ways
of measuring ‘development’. Apprise students of theoretical developments in development geography,
including postmodern and postcolonial theories. Develop an awareness of how patterns of wealth and
welfare vary both between and within developing countries. Develop a critical understanding of
contemporary development policy approaches. Develop an awareness of selected processes operating
within developing countries which affect their rural, urban and population geography. Develop an
appreciation of the links between regional expertise and development practice.
Learning outcomes:
At the completion of the module students should be able to understand and engage with the debates
about the 'impasse in development' and contestation over the meaning of 'development' for stakeholders
and practitioners. Evaluate the various ways of measuring poverty and development. Discuss
contemporary policy approaches to development, such as community-based participatory approaches.
Understand and explain contemporary patterns of wealth and welfare indices in the poorer countries of
the world. Assess critically how some Asian countries enjoyed rapid economic development in the post
war-era. Provide an overview of selected, contemporary processes in demographic change and rural and
urban areas in developing countries. Understand the significance of 'ground-truthing' development
theories in specific, regional contexts.
Module structure (provisional outline)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Introduction to the Course/Geographies from the South/Debating ‘development’
Theories and strategies of development
The Global North, Trade and development: theory and practice
Poverty: indices, measurement, geography, scale
Gapminder (knowledge-based development geography tool)/discussion about coursework
The development strategies of the NICs
China : development or growth?
Rural development
Urbanization and development in the Global South
Development Alternatives
Compulsory Module for Physical Geography Pathway*
5SSG2023 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY: EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
Lecturer: Dr 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.
Compulsory Module for Society, Enviromnet & Geography Pathway*
5SSG2052
SOCIETY, ENVIRONMENT AND GEOGRAPHY: THE NATURE OF
ENVIRONMENT
Lecturer: Dr Alex Loftus
Teaching Arrangements: 10 x 2 hours lectures/seminars, first term
Assessment: coursework; poster & group presentation
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.
Optional Modules – All optional modules are 15 credits
5SSG2051
CLIMATE VARIABILITY, CHANGE & SOCIETY
Lecturer: Dr 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
long-term 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
5SSG2011
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN POST WAR EUROPE
Lecturer: Professor Chris Hamnett
Teaching arrangement: 20 lectures, first term
Assessment: examination (100%)
Specific aims of the module:
To enable students to understand the shift from rural agrarian to urban industrial and service economies
in post-war Europe and the associated social changes in terms of industrial and occupational structures,
class composition, earnings and incomes, migration, ethnicity, consumption and the like. To examine
the nature and impact of different ‘welfare state regimes’ in Europe and look briefly at the problems
created by the transition from state socialism to market economies in Eastern Europe. Introduce
students to some of the main dimensions of contemporary Economic and Social Change in Post War
Europe and the similarities and differences between European countries in terms of these dimensions.
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the module students should be able to understand some of key processes and
dimensions of economic and social change in post war Europe. Appreciate both the key similarities
and differences between different European countries post war. Understand some of the major policy
debates regarding unemployment, economic growth, migration and other issues such as demographic
change.
Module structure
The topics covered include the economic transformation of Europe in the C20th from agriculture to
manufacturing industry and services, the changing nature of the labour markets, the role of the welfare
state, income, wealth and poverty, migration and ethnic change, demographic change, social exclusion
and the transition from state socialism to post socialism.
5SSG2043
ENVIRONMENTAL REMOTE SENSING
Lecturer: Professor Nick Drake
Teaching arrangement: 20 lectures, first term
Assessment: examination (100%)
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.
5SSG2017
HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHIES OF URBANISM: MAKING THE MODERN
CITY
Lecturer: Professor David Green and Dr Ruth Craggs
Teaching arrangement: 18 lectures; 1 field visit, second 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?
5SSG2055
INSTITUTIONS, GOVERNANCE & DEVELOPMENT
Lecturer: Professor Frances Cleaver
Teaching arrangements: 20hrs lectures; second term
Assessment: coursework (100%)
Specific aims of the module:
This module focuses on understanding agrarian change, natural resource management and rural
development from the perspective of rural dwellers themselves.
The module will develop students’ understanding of key trends in agrarian change and rural
development in the Global South and further their ability to use cases and examples to critically
debate topical policy concerns.
The module will focus on the micro-level dynamics of rural livelihoods, citizenship and governance in
the context of broader structural patterns of inequality and processes of change.
The module brings socio-anthropological approaches into conversation with political economy and
political ecology perspectives.
Learning outcomes:
On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
Understand a range of different ideas about the dynamics of rural livelihoods, development and
agrarian change.
Critically analyse both ‘mainstream’ and ‘alternative’ ideas.
Identify the conceptual underpinnings, and the strengths and weaknesses of current policy approaches
to rural development.
5SSG2057
LANDSCAPES: ECOLOGY, BIOGEOGRAPHY AND MANAGEMENT
Lecturer: Dr Robert Francis and Dr 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 patch-corridor-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, two-hour 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.
5SSG2042
NATURAL HAZARDS
Lecturer: Professor Bruce Malamud
Teaching arrangements: 12 lectures; 8 seminars/tutorials, first term
Assessment: examination (100%)
Specific aims of the module:
To introduce students to the basic theory for the creation and/or existence of different kinds of natural
hazards. 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. To discuss the politics and science surrounding hazard predictions and
probabilistic forecasting. 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, and to explore in depth over the module of
the term, a specific aspect or aspects of natural hazards, as outlined in the seen examination question(s).
Module structure
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
hazards, including earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, mass wasting, floods, climate (severe storms,
strong winds, droughts), and wildfire, and the complex relationship that exists between each natural
hazard and society. This module is aimed at both physical and human geography students.
5SSG2040
TERRITORY, STATE & NATION
Lecturer: Richard Schofield
Teaching arrangements: 14 hrs lectures; 6 hrs seminars, second term
Assessment: examination (75%); report (15%); oral exam (10%)
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
2.
Traditional territorial geopolitics: Ratzel, Curzon and the boundaries and spatial
characteristics of the state
3.
An introduction to the territorial state and sovereignty
4.
Nations and nationalism
5.
Territoriality, state and nation: contemporary Somalia
6.
Boundaries and territorial disputes: a contemporary tour d’horizon
7.
The new geopolitics: sovereignty and hegemony in the post-Cold War world
8. – 10. Students seminar presentations
5SSG2058
URBAN GEOGRAPHY: ECPLORING THE CITY
Lecturer: Various
Teaching arrangements: 16 hrs lectures; 1 seminar, field visit; second term
Assessment: examination (50%); essay (50%)
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 four themes that collectively explore some of the key material and ideological
contexts relating to urban growth.
1. Cities as social spaces
2. Cities as real and virtual spaces
3. Cities as economic spaces
4. Cities and the environment
Examples are chosen from a wide range of periods and places.
Cities as Social Spaces: This section explores some of the key social characteristics of cities and the
ways that urban theorists have sought to understand them. It contrasts the city with the countryside,
and asks how urban sprawl alters our understanding of what it means to live in an urban society. This
section also examines some of the problems arising from social and economic inequality in cities.
Cities as Real and Virtual Spaces : This section explores the city both as a material artifact and a
representational space. It seeks to explore the ideological underpinnings of planning and the built
urban form, and some of the ways in which the city has been represented in both visual and literary
form.
Cities as economic spaces
This section seeks to understand the economic 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.
Nature and the City
This sections explores the relationshisp between cities and the environment, focussing on how
climate change is increasingly important for the urban future and how urban communities can adapt
to these changes.
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 (may change slightly):
Week 1
1. An urbanising world: cities and the growth of the world economy
2. What is the city? The origins of urban sociology
Week 2
3. The country vs the city: a false dichotomy?
4. Unequal cities: de-industrialisation, post industrialism and urban inequality
Week 3: (seminar)
5 and 6: What makes the ‘good’ city? (seminar)
Week 4
7. Building the good city: ideology, urban planning and design (FC)
8. The disappearing city: suburbia, ex-urbia and the effects of urban sprawl (FC)
Week 5
9. Imagining the city I: writing, place and the urban imagination
10. Imagining the city II: image, place and the urban imagination (prior visit to Tate Modern)
Week 6
11. Cities and the global financial system (FC)
12. Economic flows, regional dynamics and urbanisation
Week 7
13. The creative city
14. The smart city
Week 8
15. Regenerating urban spaces: the post-industrial world
16.The urban growth machine
Week 9
17 and 18: Field visit to the South Bank
Week 10
19. Adapting to change: cities and the environment
20. New cities for the future
5SSG2054 WATER & DEVELOPMENT
Lecturer: Dr 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,
socio-economic 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.
In the Third Year students must take 120 credits. With the exception of the
IGS which is 30 credits, all modules in the third year are 15 credits each.
BA/BSc in Geography
Students must take 6SSG0610 Independent Geographical Study AND 6SSG3061 Current Research in
Geography
Students can choose their other options (all optional modules are 15 credits) freely from the list
below:
*6SSG3069
*6SSG3067
6SSG3025
6SSG3040
6SSG3037
6SSG0365
6SSG3028
6SSG3058
6SSG3016
6SSG3070
6SSG3071
6SSG3013
6SSG3043
6SSG3056
6SSG3068
6SSG3072
6SSG3030
Histories & Geographies of Climate Change
Hollywood and the Postindustrial City
Desert Environments
Directed Readings in Geography
Economic & Social Change in Southern Africa
Economy, Society and Politics in C19th London
Environmental Remote Sensing II
Environmental Risk, Governance and Society
Global Cities: Processes, Problems & Policies
Global Environmental Change 1: Past & Present
Global Environmental Change 2: Present & Future
Global Political Ecology
Japanese Environments
Political Economy of Hazardscapes
River Processes & Management
The Right to the City
Tropical Forests in a Changing Environment
Compulsory Module
6SSG0610
INDEPENDENT GEOGRAPHICAL STUDY (30 credits)
The Independent Geographical Study (IGS) is a compulsory part of the third year course, representing one
whole course unit. You cannot be awarded an Honours degree unless you submit and pass the IGS.
You will be provided with separate guidance notes on the IGS (please note that copies of the guidance
notes will also be posted on the Department Website in April) and you are advised to read these carefully
as it provides you with all the information and relevant deadlines for completing your IGS.
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.
Compulaory for ALL BA & BSc Geography students
6SSG3061 Current Research in Geography
Coordinator: Dr Alex Loftus
Teaching Arrangement: Seminars
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 1) critical understanding of
current geographical research in the specified pathway, 2) the ability to read critically, engage with and
discuss--in a seminar setting--current research across a range of geographical themes and topic and 3) an
understanding of current geographical research and material in preparation for the IGS
Students will select blocks of seminars from the list provided. Seminar blocks will be capped to ensure
participation in small group sessions.
OPTIONAL MODULES (EACH WORTH 15 CREDITS)
6SSG3069
HISTORIES & GEOGRAPHIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Professor Mike Hulme
Teaching Arrangement: 9 x 2 hour lectures; 1 x 2 hour seminars
Assessment: 1,000 word essay (30%); 3000 word essay (70%)
Specific aims of the module
This module introduces the social dimensions of climate and climate change. It explains the different
ways in which climate knowledge is constructed and explores how climate is represented and
articulated in society. 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. The idea of climate / Historical narratives of climate
Wk 2. The history of anthropogenic climate change
Wk 3. Climate change – framings and perceptions
Wk 4. Seminar: Climate change and the media – what does Geography have to contribute?
Wk 5. Modelling and knowledge practices
Wk 6. Climate knowledge and indigenous cultures
Wk 7. Climate change adaptation and the city
Wk 8. Climate development challenges
Wk 9. Adaptation: Learning from the past
Wk 10. Climate change as a travelling idea
6SSG3067
HOLLYWOOD AND THE POSTINDUSTIRAL CITY
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Dr 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:
1. Use visual and narrative methods to critically analyse Hollywood films
2. To understand recent urban and social change through cinema
3. 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
4. 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
6SSG3025
DESERT ENVIRONMENTS
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Professor Nick Drake
Teaching Arrangement: 20 Lectures, first term
Assessment: Two research essays (50% each)
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: Dr 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
Lecturers: Dr Debby Potts, Dr Andrew Brooks
Teaching arrangement: 10 2 hour sessions, second term
Assessment: examination (100%)
Specific aims of the course:
To explore theories relating to selected geographical themes and test these in relation to the
specificities of Southern Africa taking a political economy approach.
This will include
explaining the significance of political geography, legacies of white settler rule, and economic
globalization as determinants of economic and welfare patterns in the region. Key themes to be
covered are migration patterns, urban and rural livelihoods, the debates about regional economic and
political cooperation under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community (SADC),
and the influence of China.
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 neo-liberal economic 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.
6SSG0365
ECONOMY, SOCIETY AND POLITICS IN C19TH LONDON
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Professor David Green
Teaching arrangement: 18 lectures plus 2 classes, first term
Assessment: examination (50%) and essay (50%)
Specific aims of the module:
In the context of London’s development between c. 1800 and c. 1914, the course aims to (i) develop
an understanding of London both as a physical place and a conceptual entity; (ii) explore the
relationships between economic, social, cultural and political processes and (iii) understand London in
its wider geographical and historical setting.
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the module students should be able to understand the processes underlying
London’s growth and physical development in the nineteenth-century; appreciate the issues raised by
this growth in relation to contemporary understanding of urban problems; understand the relationships
between economic, social, cultural and political changes and how those changes were expressed in the
urban landscape.
Participation
There are two walks in week 5 and 6. For each walk you will be required to read sections of the
Charles Booth notebooks online relating to sections of the route through which we will pass. In week
7 we will construct a map of murders that took place in London during the nineteenth century based
on information you collect from newspapers available online. This map will be made available ahead
of the class based on the data each student has provided and will form the basis for discussing crime
and policing in the capital.
Module structure
1.
The Great Wen: the material and imagined worlds of nineteenth-century London
2.
Engine of Growth: the metropolitan economy
3.
People, place and neighbourhoods: London’s changing demography
4.
The city of contrasts: leisure, pleasure and poverty
5.
Exploring Victorian London: West End to the City (walk)
6.
Exploring Victorian London: East End (walk)
7.
Mapping murder in nineteenth-century London
8.
The city of flows: making London ‘modern’
9.
Governing London: politics and protest
10.
London, the nation and the empire.
6SSG3028
ENVIRONMENTAL REMOTE SENSING 2
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Professor Martin Wooster
Teaching arrangement: 10 lectures and 10 practical classes, first term
Assessment: 2 x online exams (100%)
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. They should 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. Furthermore, they should 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 state-of-the-art image analysis system (ENVI) to undertake a wide variety of techniques
commonly used in EO applications. Online exams will test both theoretical and practical knowledge.
6SSG3058
ENVIRONMENTAL RISK, GOVERNANCE AND SOCIETY
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Dr Henry Rothstein, Professor David Demeritt
Teaching arrangement: 10 lectures, 10 seminars, second term
Assessment: examination (50%); essay (50%).
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 policymakers, 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
chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear terrorism. The module finishes with reflections on the
future management of environmental risk issues.
6SSG3016
GLOBAL CITIES: PROCESSES, PROBLEMS, AND POLICIES
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Professor Chris Hamnett
Teaching arrangement: 10 hours lectures, first term.
Assessment: examination (100%)
Specific aims of the module:
To introduce students to the cities which play a key part in the control and co-ordination of the global
economic and financial systems. Enables students to examine the position of cities in the global urban
system, the changing structure of their economies, social and spatial structures, development and
planning processes and their social conflicts, focusing on London, Paris, New York, Los Angeles and
Tokyo.
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the module students should be able to understand the major theoretical debates
regarding global or world cities, critically appreciate some of the key literature in the field and grasp the
similarities and differences between global cities in terms of structures and processes
Module structure
The module covers the following four major sets of topics:
1.
The global city thesis: from Hall to Sassen. Approaches to the designation and classification of
global cities. Global cities as the control and command centres of the international economy.
2.
From manufacturing to financial and business services, and the rise of the cultural industries: the
changing economy of global cities; Global cities as centres of finance capital and competition.
3.
The changing occupational structure and income structure, Social polarisation and dual cities;
Race, ethnicity, migration and segregation; Inequality, social exclusion and the rise of the urban
underclass?; The housing market: gentrification and homelessness;
4.
Property development and global cities; Canary Wharf and remaking of London and New York.
Planning global cities. The rise of the cultural industries and global cities as centres of cultural
production and consumption.
6SSG3070 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE 1: PAST & PRESENT (Module title will
change)
Value: 15 credits
Lecturers: Professor Nick Drake, Professor Martin Wooster and Dr Mark Mulligan
Teaching arrangement: 20 (2 hour) lectures and practical classes; first term
Assessment: One essay (50%); one practical write up (50%)
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 be familiar with:
• 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: PRESENT & FUTURE (Module title
will change)
Value: 15 credits
Lecturers: Dr Thomas Smith
Teaching arrangement: 20 (2hour) lectures; second term
Assessment: coursework (100%)
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 paleo-environmental 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: Professor Raymond Bryant
Teaching arrangement: 20 lectures, first 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.
Lectures:
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
6SSG3043
JAPANESE ENVIRONMENTS
Lecturer responsible: Dr. Richard Wiltshire
Teaching arrangement: 20 lectures, second term
Assessment: 1,500 word essay (50%), 1 hour examination (50%)
Specific aims of the module:
To give students a knowledge of the physical, social and economic bases of environmental problems in
modern Japan; to give students an awareness of how aspects of Japanese culture impinge upon the
conception of, and attitudes towards, the physical environment at home and abroad; to develop an
understanding of how environmental movements have emerged and developed in Japan; to elucidate
how the Japanese state and business world have managed protest over environmental issues to achieve
other goals; to equip students with the basis for conducting postgraduate research into Japanese
environmental issues.
Learning Outcomes:
At the completion of the module students should have an appreciation of the inherent complexity of
environmental problems in a late developing advanced industrial society; an understanding of how
cultural attributes impact upon attitudes towards the environment; learned that the uneven distribution
of power impacts upon the ability of different stakeholders to respond to environmental problems; an
understanding of how the commonalities of environmental movements in advanced economies interact
with national specificities; gained a stronger appreciation of how the resolution of environmental
problems defined at one spatial scale impacts upon environmental quality at other scales and in other
places.
Module structure
The module aims to give students an awareness of human-environment interactions in another
advanced industrial society but expressed within a unique cultural context, the understanding of which
requires reflection on how far personal and scholarly appreciation of the environment is inherently
culture-bound. The initial focus is upon cultural perceptions, and the incorporation of an idealised
“wrapped” nature into Japanese culture, in contrast to attitudes to nature in the raw. The hazards posed
by Japan’s natural environment are then explored, from the standpoints of both physical geography and
risk management. Japan’s encounters with environmental pollution in the course of industrialisation are
examined from the perspectives of social history, environmental politics and environmental policy.
Energy supply problems are afforded similar treatment, with particular reference to Japan’s
involvement with nuclear power. A discussion of postwar human-environment interactions in the
Japanese countryside, centred on recreation and the forestry industry, then opens up pathways for
exploring Japan’s impact on the external environment, from deforestation in South East Asia to whaling
in Antarctic waters, and active engagement with the global climate change agenda.
6SSG3056
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF HAZARDSCAPES
Lecturer: Dr Daanish Mustafa
Teaching arrangement: 20 lectures, first term
Assessment: essay (50%), poster (30%) and presentation (20%)
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
6SSG3068
RIVER PROCESSES & MANAGEMENT
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Professor Nick Clifford
Teaching arrangement: 20 hours lectures; second term
Assessment: examination (100%)
Specific aims of the module:
This course aims to provide the key knowledge and understanding at an advanced level necessary to
support the development of management strategies for rivers. To foster the capacity for critical
analysis, independent judgement and communication at a level commensurate with taught
postgraduate study. It therefore embraces three complementary topics:
1. The dimensions of catchment and river system processes, particularly the connectivity between
catchment, river and their floodplain processes and the interdependency of hydrological,
geomorphological and ecological processes.
2. The ways in which human activities at a range of spatial and temporal scales impact on the fluvial
system and how these impacts propagate through the catchment, river system and floodplain.
3. The options available for environmentally-sensitive management of rivers, their catchments and
floodplains.
Learning outcomes:
1. A conceptual and critical understanding of the interrelationships between hydrological,
geomorphological and ecological processes within river systems and their floodplains.
2. An understanding of the impacts of catchment-wide land use changes, network-scale flow
regulation, and local, in-river engineering works on river ecosystems; a critical understanding of
the process linkages that drive these impacts and a critical ability to devise and select methods for
estimating and modelling them.
3. An understanding of the nature, relative limitations, merits and appropriate contexts for
application of particular river management approaches and a critical insight into the potential
consequences of their application.
4. The skills to undertake critical reflection and construct reasoned suggestions and judgements
concerning the causes and possible solutions to particular river management problems.
6SSG3072
THE RIGHT TO THE CITY
Value: 15 credits
Lecturer: Dr Nicholas De Genova
Teaching arrangement: 16 hours lectures, 5 hours seminars; second term
Assessment: coursework (100%)
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’?
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 rightsbearing 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.
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.
• Take responsibility for their own learning and development using reflection and feedback to
analyse their own capabilities.
6SSG3030
TROPICAL FORESTS IN A CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
Lecturer: Dr 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 and should know how to apply appropriate monitoring and
modelling techniques to the better management of these systems. Students will 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.