Module GEOG3551: CHICAGO: SITES OF GLOBAL CHANGE

Department: Geography

GEOG3551: CHICAGO: SITES OF GLOBAL CHANGE

Prerequisites

• GEOG2472 Social Research in Geography

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• GEOG3501 BERLIN: FIELD RESEARCH IN A EUROPEAN CONTEXT; GEOG3691 ICELAND: FIELD RESEARCH IN GLACIAL ENVIRONMENTS; GEOG3491 ALPINE LANDSCAPES AND PROCESSES; GEOG3581 TERRITORY AND GEOPOLITICS; GEOG3971 CAPE TOWN: GEOGRAPHIES OF ENERGY TRANSITION; GEOG3521 THE ARCTIC; GEOG3731 DYNAMIC MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENTS; GEOG3701 MOUNTAIN HAZARDS

Aims

• To understand how global processes relate to changing political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental conditions in a large US metropolitan area.
• To undertake field-based research to address the siting of global processes in a large US metropolitan area.
• To apply theoretical concepts from human geography to develop a critical analysis of the siting of global processes in a large US metropolitan area.

Content

• The global processes of change to be studied on the module, especially as they are sited in a large US metropolitan area, will reflect the research expertise of the teaching team in any given year. Themes covered in lectures, seminars, and workshops may include:
• o Race and inequality
• o Policing, protest and mass incarceration
• o Immigration, citizenship and belonging
• o Work and (in)formal labour
• o Smart and sustainable cities
• o Gender, sexuality, and identity
• o Economy, knowledge and power
• o Cities and environmental change
• The field course will consist of 6 days spent in a large US metropolitan area (Chicago) and will involve:
• o 1 day of introduction to siting global processes in Chicago, covering themes developed in lectures
• o 4 days student-led project work on one of the themes
• o 1 day of summative group presentations

Learning Outcomes

• On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
• Understand how global processes shape and are shaped by their siting in particular local urban conditions.
• Apply theoretical concepts to advance critical analysis

• On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
• Utilise key concepts in human geography to understand how global processes shape and are shaped by locally conditions.
• Demonstrate a capacity to carry out field research: by keeping notes of the findings; learning to make sense of those notes through an engagement with academic texts; learning to prepare for and structure a diary of fieldwork; to engage critically with what it means to do fieldwork and with the spatial and temporal limits of that research work
• demonstrate a capacity to reflect critically on the themes introduced in the module: to engage in depth with academic texts and other texts presented as part of the module; to identify key arguments in a text and be able to analyse the claims; to evaluate the evidence that different texts offer; to make a judgement about whether the evidence is convincing and persuasive; to make judgements about the strengths and weaknesses of an argument in relation to the questions put forward as part of the module;

• On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
• Demonstrate a variety of communication skills including: evaluating and synthesising information from a range of sources such as film, academic texts and various other forms of urban writing; present their findings and analysis both individually and as part of a group, including through oral communication with visual aids; researching, structuring and writing an academic essay; responding, engaging and commenting on each other’s work; researching, structuring and writing a longer field report that critically reflects on their experiences of the field;
• Demonstrate a capacity to evaluate and build on academic performance: through the formative and summative assessments; responding to feedback; managing time effectively – in the field and in reading;
• Work effectively as part of a team both in preparing for the field and in the field, including in the design of a collaborative research project.

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

• Lectures will provide background information and provide overviews of key theoretical approaches and themes in the recommended reading.
• Seminars will focus on close reading and critical engagement with key literature and theoretical texts, and will enhance students’ ability to identify key themes across texts.
• Reading lists will provide students with key theoretical and thematic literature, as well as background readings in preparation for fieldwork.
• Reading lists, handouts, and lecture materials will be posted on duo to assist student learning.
• Workshops will be used to develop independent research design skills to be applied in a field-based project; enable students to practice their presentational skills and comment on and discuss each other’s work; and allow instructors to provide verbal feedback on students’ project ideas.
• The residential fieldtrip will reinforce student understanding of theoretical approaches and show how they can be applied. It will also provide training and experience in project design, research and analysis, while developing student individual and group working skills.
• Students will be required to submit a report on one project (their choice) for summative assessment.
• Students will receive formative feedback on presentations in the workshop to be held before the fieldtrip. Their ability to interpret and apply theoretical concepts to empirical examples and their ability to explain things clearly and support their argument with appropriate reference to the gen-eral literature will be assessed through an essay and the field-based project report. The report also assesses skills of research design, implementation and analysis.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

(1) Verbal and written feedback will be given on the essay presentations at the end of Term 1 and pre-fieldtrip formative group presentations. (2) Verbal feedback on project development will be given in Term 2 workshops. (3) Verbal and written feedback will be given on the summative group presentation (and associated slides) delivered during the fieldtrip in preparation for the writing of the project report and the seen examination paper.

■ 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