Module GEOG3471: CONTESTED NATURES

Department: Geography

GEOG3471: CONTESTED NATURES

Prerequisites

• Any Level 1 or level 2 GEOG module.

Corequisites

• NONE

Excluded Combination of Modules

• NONE

Aims

• To provide students with a critical understanding of the ways in which nature is represented and contested in historical and contemporary contexts
• To critically evaluate the ways in which discourses of nature are represented in painting, publication, academic texts, and policy arenas, and with what effect
• To introduce students to visual cultures of geography

Content

• Nature and geography
• Representing nature: empire, national identity and contemporary culture
• Philosophies of nature made real: gardens, species and science Making and mediating nature news
• Contemporary environmental politics and policy in the UK
• Understanding politics, policy and power
• The role of knowledge in environmental contests and conflicts
• Defining and defending interests
• Conflicting values and environmental ethics
• Protest, participation and the public
• These themes will be addressed through a range of historical examples and sites, such as Kew Gardens, art galleries, film and broadcast media, as well as through contemporary environmental contests and conflicts including climate change, biodiversity, genetic modification, waste, transport and planning

Learning Outcomes

• Demonstrate an understanding of concepts of representation, power, values, and knowledge, and the links between them
• Develop an understanding of the links between environmental philosophies and discourses historically, and the mobilisation of image within the sphere contemporary environmental politics
• Critically assess the nature of environmental conflicts and their implications for policy-making in relation to specific case-studies

• Analyse a variety of texts, paintings and images
• Think critically about the ways in which nature is represented and contested historically and in contemporary society

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Lectures will be used to impart the concepts and information necessary to fulfil the aims of this course
• These will be supported by additional reading lists, which will enable the student to build on the material provided in the lectures
• Concepts introduced in lectures will be explored in more depth in seminars and in field-based teaching. Students will develop their individual and group working skills through participating in discussion and presentation activities within lectures, and in researching their assessed essay
• The students ability to interpret and develop theoretical concepts in relation to particular examples will be tested through an examination and the summative essay. The essay will in addition test the students research and analytical skills, and will enable them to pursue a particular topic in depth to gain an advanced level of understanding

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Essay plan with individual written comments and verbal feedback provided in Seminar 2

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University