Aims

•       To introduce cutting edge research exploring the human geography of the United Kingdom;

•       To present the range of world-leading geographical scholarship undertaken at Newcastle University;

•       To enable students to develop critical insights into a range of historical and current geographical trends, shaping economics, politics, society and culture in the United Kingdom;

•       To explore the skills required to trace uneven geographical processes;

•       To cultivate a sense of wonder and curiosity at the varied approaches to human geography.

•       To develop an ability to undertaken meaningful fieldwork and connect to the broader learning aims and objectives of the taught materials.

Outline Of Syllabus

Lecture 12 – Empire and Imperialism
Lecture 13 – The UK in the world today
Lecture 14 – The UK state, borders and nationalism
Lecture 15 – Protest and privilege
Lecture 16 – Fieldwork briefing on “contested citizenship”
Fieldwork 3 (Political geographies)
Lecture 17 – New cultural geography: Landscape and Identity
Lecture 18 – Landscape: Nature and Society
Lecture 19 – Geohumanities: Landscape and Embodiment
Lecture 20 – Geographies of Performance
Lecture 21 – Fieldwork briefing on “land art”
Fieldwork 4 (Cultural geographies)
Lecture 22 – Revision Lecture

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

This module is taught through a mixture of lectures and fieldwork in order to meet the learning outcomes.

The fieldwork in the form of student-led small group activity offers an important first experience of fieldwork at this stage 1 level of the geography programme.

It is expected that students will complete this work around Newcastle upon Tyne. The political geographies fieldwork will be largely based with student’s working online analysing secondary source materials. The cultural geographies trip will involve a virtual visit to the Northumberlandia site. The worksheets completed as part of these fieldwork activities will each account for 10% of the module assessment.

It is important to note that the fieldwork material will be easily adapted for students who do not travel to Newcastle for reasons of shielding or have other medical constraints on their mobility. These fieldtrips successfully ran as virtual events in academic year 2020-2021 and as hybrid activities in 2021-2022.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

24 hour take home exam. Answer 2 questions (up to 1000 words).