Module GEOG3501: BERLIN: CULTURE, POLITICS AND CONTESTATION

Department: Geography

GEOG3501: BERLIN: CULTURE, POLITICS AND CONTESTATION

Prerequisites

• GEOG2472 SOCIAL RESEARCH IN GEOGRAPHY

Corequisites

• NONE

Excluded Combination of Modules

• 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; GEOG3551 CHIGAGO: SITES OF GLOBAL CHANGE

Aims

• To undertake critical analysis of the ways in which economic, cultural and social transformations in Europe are shaping, and being shaped by, urban places
• To apply key concepts in urban geography through field-based research in a leading European metropolis in order to develop a specialist understanding of these processes

Content

• The course combines a mixture of lectures, film showings and workshops to address a broad range of topics across contemporary human geography. A key aim of the course is to enable students to develop their own research ideas and to undertake original research in Berlin, following a theme and topic of their choice. As a result, lectures and workshops are focused on developing themes and critical understanding of core debates so as to inform research projects. The following principal themes are addressed in order to help develop research ideas:
• The changing nature of European cities and the role of the 'urban' in European history
• The politics of memory and memorialisation
• Urban nature and cultures of non-human life
• Political change and contestation, from squatting to public protest
• European culture, identity and representation
• Urban mobilities and movement
• Berlin as a site of refugee integration
• Urban violence and security
• The field course will consist of a week in a European city and will involve:
• 1 day of introduction to the city, covering themes developed in lectures
• 4.5 days student-led project work on one of the themes
• 0.5 day of summative group presentations

Learning Outcomes

• To critically assess urban change in Europe
• To demonstrate and deploy a range of fieldwork skills, working as part of a group

• To analyse and understand the role of a range of actors and institutions in these processes
• To demonstrate and deploy a range of fieldwork skills, working as part of a group

• At the end of this module, students are expected to be able to:
• Demonstrate a variety of communication skills including: evaluating and synthesising information from a range of sources including 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 reflect critically on the themes introduced in the course: to engage in depth with academic texts and other texts presented as part of the course; 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 course
• 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
• 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
• To 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 impart part basic facts and information and will help students understand key theoretical approaches and get to grips with the recommended reading
• Reading lists, handouts, and lecture materials will be posted on duo to assist student learning
• Concepts introduced in lectures will be explored in more depth through discussion and in field-based project work.
• Workshops will be used to develop independent research design skills to be applied in a field-based project.
• Films will be used to illuminate and reflect on lectures, reading and the fieldclass, and to explore the links between films and urban change.
• The seminar will enable students to preactice their presentational skills and comment on and discuss each other's work
• 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 receive formative feedback on presentations in the seminar to be held before the fieldtrip.
• Students will be required to submit a report on one project (their choice) for summative assessment. 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 general literature will be tested through a field-based project report. The report also assesses skills of research design, implementation and analysis

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Verbal and written feedback will be given on the pre-fieldtrip formative group presentation and associated group wiki. 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. Finally, verbal feedback will be given on the group film reviews in the film discussion session.

■ 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