BSc Geography with International Study

This course offers students a conceptual and geographical grasp of key debates within human geography. Most notably, the course will explore how geographers have understood and examined issues of social difference, identity (gender, sexuality - along with race and ethnicity), morals and ethics, bodies and emotions, the geopolitics of nation-states and borders, the politics and process of international migration, and the social geographies of the city. Using a range of contemporary examples from both the Global North and the Global South, the course will help students understand the ways in which geographical debates have shaped our knowledge of culture, place and politics. The knowledge base developed through these varied examples and debates will be of use to students in years 2 and 3 where course units directly develop some of the themes introduced here.  The course will be structured around a semester of 12 weeks with 2 study weeks.

• History of Geography; Inter/ trans/multi-disciplinarity of geography. 
• Political geographies
• Feminist Geographies 
• Economic Geographies 
• Population and Health Geographies
• Black and (Post)colonial Geographies
• Geographies of Representation
• Geographies of Difference 
• Transport, Mobilities and Migration Geographies
 

The course unit will be delivered by 20 hours of lecture-based material (including short exercises and in-class debates). The lectures will introduce students to a variety of issues within contemporary human geography, and will encourage students to reflect upon and discuss how geographers have thought about, researched and worked on, the real world relevance of these key issues. Students will be expected to complete reading between lectures and to undertake some preparation work for in class exercises. Sessions will draw upon a range of resources, including powerpoint slides which will be posted to Blackboard for all sessions, links to relevant web resources, core readings and video clips. A comprehensive archive of all sources and links will be compiled on Blackboard for student use, along with details of the course assessment. 

Demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of key concepts in human geography.

Demonstrate an ability to analyse and conceptualise real world problems within an academic framework.

Display an ability to critically interpret and evaluate different theoretical and methodological frameworks for understanding issues in human geography.

Critically reflect upon varied sources of evidence in human geography and display an ability to analyse sources.  

Agnew, J. A., Mamadouh, V., Secor, A. J., & Sharp, J. P. (Eds.). (2015). The Wiley Blackwell companion to political geography  (Second edition.). John Wiley & Sons.

Bracken, L.J. (2017). Interdisciplinarity and geography. International Encyclopaedia of Geography:

Cloke, P., Crang, P. & and Goodwin, M. (2014) Introducing Human Geographies. Taylor and Francis. (Core)

Coe, N.M. (2020) Economic geography : a contemporary introduction . Third edition. Hoboken, NJ :, Wiley-Blackwell.

Couper, P. (2015) A Student’s Introduction to Geographical Thought: Theories, Philosophies, People, the Earth, Environment and Technology. US: AAG/American Association of Geographers

Sheppard, E.S., Jamie, P. , & Barnes T.J. (eds.) (2012) The Wiley-Blackwell companion to economic geography . Malden, MA :; Chichester, West Sussex ;, Wiley-Blackwell.

Gallaher, C. (ed.) (2009) Key concepts in political geography . London :, SAGE.

Gatrell, A.C. (2015) Geographies of health : an introduction . Third edition. Chichester, West Sussex ; Malden, MA :; Chichester, West Sussex ; Malden, MA :, Wiley/Blackwell.

McKittrick, Katherine. (2006) Demonic grounds : Black women and the cartographies of struggle . Minneapolis :, University of Minnesota Press.

Tyner, J.A. (2009) War, violence, and population : making the body count . New York :, Guilford Press.

Wa Thiong’o, Ngugi. (1986) Decolonising the mind: The politics of language in African literature . Melton :, Boydell & Brewer Limited.

Walters, M. (2005). Feminism: A very short introduction . New York. Oxford University Press Inc.