Module GEOG2641: ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

Department: Geography

GEOG2641: ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

Prerequisites

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• Introduce students to developments in the academic field of economic geography
• Promote an appreciation of the changing and diverse ways in which geographers have theorized, conceptualized and debated the economic
• Develop understandings of the spaces and spatiality of economies across both the Global North and the Global South
• Engage critically in issues in contemporary economic geography, with particular reference to global production, global finance, and worlds of work

Content

• Introduction: What is ‘economy’?
• Monopolies, Markets and Production Networks
• Resources, Commodification and Commodity Chains
• Postcolonial Economies
• Finance Capital, Cities and Speculation
• Financialization, Production and Work
• Labour and Work
• Work, Women and Bodies
• Alternative and Proliferative Economies
• Conclusion: Theories and Themes

Learning Outcomes

• Students are expected to be able to:
• Trace the development of the academic field of economic geography
• Understand key theories, concepts and debates in economic geography
• Show an appreciation of the ways in which space and spatiality matters in global economies

• Students are expected to be able to:
• Understand and synthesize key literatures in economic geography
• Reflect critically about issues in contemporary economic geography, with particular reference to global production, global finance, and worlds of work
• Evaluate sources of evidence in contemporary public economic debates

• Students are expected to be able to:
• Demonstrate expertise in critical reflection and analysis
• Communicate effectively in written form
• Demonstrate an ability to formulate critical and sophisticated arguments

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

• Lectures will introduce students to the academic field of economic geography, theoretical and conceptual debates, and contemporary issues in production, finance, and work
• Discussion in workshops will allow students to work through theoretical and conceptual understandings introduced in lectures and apply such understandings to contemporary issues
• Small Group (n= 6) presentations in workshops and to the class conference held at the conclusion of the module will allow students to develop their critical reflections on the issues in contemporary economic geography studied in the module
• Examination and coursework (fieldtrip report) will test critical understanding of concepts and critical thinking

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative assessment is provided through feedback on small group workshop presentations and class conference presentation prior to summative assessment.

■ 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