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GEOG3561: GEOGRAPHIES OF TRANSFORMATION

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Type	Open
Level	3
Credits	20
Availability	Not available in 2023/24
Module Cap
Location	Durham
Department	Geography

Prerequisites

Any Level 1 or level 2 GEOG module.

Corequisites

NONE

Excluded Combinations of Modules

NONE

Aims

To examine the causes and consequences of contemporary social, cultural, economic and political transformations in a variety of post-socialist and non-Western contexts in a comparative form.
To explore the connections between local and global change, while emphasising the specific ways in which transformation is experienced and lived in the different contexts.

Content

Theorising transition
Sameness and difference: the dangers of transitology
Legacies of socialism and colonialism
Restructuring governance
Globalisation and economic change
Social reproduction and the transformation of livelihoods
Tackling inequalities, old and new
Identity politics and the contested meanings of transition
The symbolic spaces of transition

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the causes and consequences of social, economic, political and cultural change in a variety of post-socialist and non-Western contexts
Explain and critically evaluate different theoretical approaches to the study of transformation
Discuss the differential lived experiences of those transformations and demonstrate how they articulate with matrices of identity such as gender, race, class and generation
Understand and examine critically the changing scales and spatialities of lives, from the personal to the global

Subject-specific Skills:

Apply the conceptual and methodological tools required for a critical analysis of transformation

Key Skills:

A high level of written communication skills

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

Lectures will be used to impart basic facts and information necessary to fulfil the aims of this course
Concepts introduced in lectures will be explored in more depth in seminars
Students will develop presentation skills in a seminar talk that constitutes the formative assessment
Students ability to interpret and apply theoretical concepts will be tested through an examination and in an essay

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity	Number	Frequency	Duration	Total	Monitored
Lectures	18	weekly	1.5	27
Seminars	2	term 1	2	4	Yes
Tutorials	1	term 2	1	1	Yes
Student Preparation & Reading				168
Total				200

Summative Assessment

Component: Essay		Component Weighting: 50%
Element	Length / Duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
Essay	5 x sides A4	100	None

Component: Examination		Component Weighting: 50%
Element	Length / Duration	Element Weighting	Resit Opportunity
End of Module Examination	1.5h	100	None

Formative Assessment

Seminar presentations with feedback

More information

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