Undergraduate Course: Geography Fieldwork: Foundations (Human) (GEGR09017)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 9 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | A week-long field course in Athens, Greece, centred around three key themes: refugees, gentrification, and street-art. These are designed to explore several ideas from human geography in a particularly fascinating context, culminating in a short research project on-site. |
| Course description |
The course will explore some of the theoretical and methodological issues that arise from doing field research in a context of severe austerity. The three themes of the course¿the refugee crisis, gentrification, and street art¿are all effected by the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis. We draw on a range of theoretical perspectives in an attempt to understand these processes in context. Even as we use established qualitative and quantitative research methods, doing so in a non-English speaking context will make us attentive to its limits as we work in hybrid spaces.
Students will gain valuable skills in designing and executing a fieldwork based research project, as well as analysing and presenting results from this exercise. Moreover, students will develop new insights on methodological issues of positionality and the relationship between research and "field".
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2019/20, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 40 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Fieldwork Hours 70,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
28 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Written Exam: 0%, Course Work: 100 %, Practical Exam: 0%.
Degree assessment:
1) Degree Essay (90%): 2,500 word essay written once back in Edinburgh after the trip related to one of the three key themes. Questions will be revealed towards the end of the trip.
2) Group Presentation (10%): on the final day of the field trip, students present their research to the group. Marks and feedback will be assigned before the end of the trip.
Assessment deadline: Week 3 |
| Feedback |
Feedback will be provided on all activities. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- An ability to make connections between theoretical concepts in geography and case studies drawn from the field.
- An understanding of the relationship between alternative/Southern theories and dominant paradigms so as to appreciate how it contests dominant thought.
- A grounding in a range of methodologies, and an ability to critically assess their weaknesses and strengths.
- Practical experience of designing and completing a small research project.
- Experience of teamwork and collaborative research, with attentiveness to ethics, safety, and respect for peers and your research constituents.
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Reading List
1. Cloke, Paul, Philip Crang and Mark Goodwin (2014) Introducing Human Geographies (relevant concepts and sections)
2. Connell, Raewyn (RW) (2007) Southern Theory: Social Science and the Global Dynamics of Knowledge (relevant chapters)
3. Crang, Mike and Ian Cook (2007) Doing Ethnographies
4. Delahunt, Meaghan (2011) To The Island Granta Books
5. Heynen, Nik, Maria Kaika and Eric Swyngedouw (Eds.) (2006) In the Nature of Cities: Urban Political Ecology and the Politics of Urban Metabolism (relevant chapters)
6. Rose, Gillian (2011) Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to Researching with Visual Materials
7. Varoufakis, Yanis (2016) And the Weak Must Suffer What they Must? UK: Bodley Head
8. Varoufakis, Yanis (2011) The Global Minotour: America, Europe and the Future of the Global Economy London: Zed Books
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Fieldwork,Human Geography |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Hamish Kallin
Tel: (0131 6)50 2533
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Carry Arnold
Tel: (0131 6)50 9847
Email: |
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