Module GEOG3931: GEOGRAPHIES OF DIFFERENCE AND IDENTITY

Department: Geography

GEOG3931: GEOGRAPHIES OF DIFFERENCE AND IDENTITY

Prerequisites

• Any Geography Level 2 Module

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• To offer final year Geographers and others an opportunity to engage with advanced theoretical perspectives on difference and identity in relation to diverse contexts of socio-political change
• To develop students’ understanding of the relevance of questions of identity and difference to current policies and activism around social and spatial inequalities and exclusion
• To encourage reflection on the political, ethical, and methodological issues involved in researching difference and identity
• To introduce students to the reflexive practices of scholarship required for Level 3 study in the field

Content

• This module will explore specific geographies of difference and identity, such as those relating to race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, class, age, or ability. The module will focus on a range of forms of difference, placing particular emphasis on the spacing, placing and scaling of these, as well as on intersections between them. Empirical case studies from a range of local/global contexts will be examined in depth.
• Conceptual frameworks and methodological issues of geographical research on difference and identity will be explored in lectures and staff-led seminars. Ethical aspects of research on the geographies of difference and identity will also be examined in these lectures and seminars.
• Conceptually, the lectures and seminars will focus on theories of difference, potentially including postcolonial, poststructuralist, psychoanalytic, feminist and historical-materialist approaches, as well as work on emotions, affect, embodiment and performativity. These conceptual approaches will be applied to research on specific aspects of difference and identity, such as race and racism, gender and sexuality, ethnic identity and nationalism, age, health, wellbeing and embodiment.

Learning Outcomes

• On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
• Demonstrate critical understanding of different conceptual frameworks for research on the geographies of difference and identity
• Explain how cultural identities and social inequalities intersect and are produced spatially, historically, politically
• Critically evaluate the methodological implications of different conceptual approaches for research on the geographies of difference and identity

• On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
• Synthesise and critically assess interdisciplinary and geographical literatures on difference and identity
• Integrate conceptual understanding of difference and identity with empirical analysis of a particular topic
• Identify and critically discuss the methodological and ethical implications of new theoretical approaches to difference and identity for geographical research
• Communicate the results of an independent research projects by means of an oral presentation and a written report

• On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:
• Demonstrate expertise in critical reflection and analysis
• Work collaboratively in a team to co-produce knowledge for an group research project
• Develop the skills to execute a research project on the geographies of difference and identity
• Synthesise, critically appraise and present the outcomes of an independent research project in an oral presentation and a written report

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

• The module strongly encourages students to make connections between topics, to grasp the relevance of wider theoretical approaches for specific issues and to understand how forms of difference and identity intersect. Students can follow their own interests in some depth, thus capitalising on the availability of a wide range of material accessible to Level 3 students to promote the development of individual choice, judgement and application.
• The module will be delivered through lectures, seminars, tutorials. These will introduce and explore recent empirical and conceptual work on the geographies of difference and identity and provide the academic support for student-led group projects (to be written up individually). The seminars will involve a variety of teaching styles appropriate to the course material and designed to facilitate student engagement with particular geographies of difference and identity, potentially including student-led discussion, film sessions and visits to spaces such as galleries or museums.
• Lectures and seminars will focus on key theoretical, methodological and ethical issues and concepts, introducing students to interdisciplinary and geographical literatures and using selected case studies in illustration. They will encourage students to reflect critically on the implications of different conceptual approaches for research on difference and identity, as well as for policy and practice.
• The seminars will involve a variety of teaching styles appropriate to the course material and designed to facilitate student engagement with particular geographies of difference and identity, potentially including student-led discussion, film sessions and visits to spaces such as galleries or museums.
• Students will work in groups to design and implement independent research projects on key issues in the geographies of difference and identity. The projects can be conducted in a variety of formats, including field research, engagements with artistic works, media analyses and literature based conceptual discussions.
• The projects will be supported by a series of tutorials and seminars which provide guidance on the formulation, design, delivery and analysis of the student research projects and will encourage students to reflect iteratively on their experiences and relate these to key concepts and critical debates. An individually written up report on the independent research project will make up 50% of the summative assessment.
• The individual research report will require students to develop research skills, critically analyse and present research findings, and practice critical reflection on the process of doing their project. Students will be required to read widely and synthesise the literatures on geographies of difference and identity in order to produce an advanced discussion of key theoretical, methodological and ethical issues.
• Students will present the results of their research projects in a final seminar, which will encourage the integration of methodological and conceptual issues and forms the second part of the summative assessment (worth 25%). In the third term a seen exam (worth 25%) will enable the students to integrate theoretical and empirical understandings of the geographies of difference and identity.
• Student preparation and reading includes time spent preparing for and conducting research on their individual projects; reading; and report and presentation preparation.
• The formative assessment will be a group project proposal that requires students to put their subject knowledge into practice and design an independent research project.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Group project plan, 4-page document to be submitted at the end of Term 1.

■ 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