Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

None

Co Requisite Comment

None

Aims

This module is about how military activities and phenomena are expressed geographically. Studying military geographies means looking at the places, spatial relationships, environments and landscapes which are shaped by military activities and phenomena, at scales from the individual and embodied through to the national and international. In this module, we pay attention both to the relationships and processes through which miltiary capabilities shape geographies, but also at the meanings we associate with the 'military', 'militarism' and 'militarisation' when we identify these phenomena in daily life. This module is not about the geopolitics of war, but rather about a much broader set of geographies that emerge through nation state preparations for the execution of lethal violence, as well as the effect of armed conflict.

Outline Of Syllabus

The overall intention of the module is to introduce you to a wide variety of ways in which military power and phenomena influence the geographies of the world around us, at a range of scales and ways which may be visible or invisible, deliberate or unplanned.


The module will be taught through interactive lectures and through fieldtrips. The interactive lectures will comprise a mixture of formal instruction, structured in-class exercises and informal discussion. Two whole-day field-trips will give students in-person experience and understanding of the issues explored in the lectures.

The lectures will cover topics including the ethics of critique in military research; approaches and limitations to the concepts of 'militarism' and 'militarisation'; the politics of military land use; military environmental impacts; gender, military participation and military association; racism, militarism and imperialism; and popular cultural responses to military phenomena.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

A basic working knowledge of the scope and consequences of militarisation, militarism and military activities, including teminologies, organisational structures, roles, functions and deployments.

Proven comprehension of the processes by which military activities and phenomena are geographically constituted and expressed, and a critical understanding of the approaches through which these activities and phenomena can be understood.

Proven comprehension of the complex relationships between military phenomena and civil society, at the levels of the individual, the household, the community and the nation-state, and the structuring of this through class, race and gender.

Intended Skill Outcomes

Students will be given the opportunity to develop the following skills:

Skills in independent study and critical thinking to flesh out and comprehend theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of military geographies.

The ability to construct and deliver informed, coherent arguments about the contemporary spatial and social manifestations of military geographies, drawing on theoretical approaches and empirical materials.

The ability to find, read, use and interpret critically a variety of textual and non-textual (visual) materials, from a variety of sources (academic, policy, media) in support of arguments about military geographies.

The opportunity to develop teamwork skills through preparation, research and writing of the group assessed assignment.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

This module is taught through interactive lectures, which combine traditional lecturing with opportunities for whole-class and small-group discussion and the critical examination of course materials. The intention is to introduce empirical materials and to situate these within an appropriate conceptual framework, to enhance knowledge and understanding.

Two whole-day fieldtrips (provisionally North Yorkshire, Northumberland, with local Newcastle options if required) will introduce students to concepts in the field, through empirical observation and field-based exercises.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The exam is designed to assess knowledge and understanding gained over the course of the module (breadth) while the group presentations allow students to explore a topic of particular interest (depth). The group presentation also assesses the teamwork skills aspect of the learning outcomes.

General Notes

N/A