Module Catalogue 2024/25

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

This module is only available to Study Abroad Students who are attending Newcastle University for one semester only (semester 1) (no co-requisite required).

Aims

This module aims to give students a thorough grounding in the concepts, practices and disciplinary traditions of political geography. In doing so, students will be equipped with the skills to critically analyse the spatialities of political life from local to global scales.

This is a wide-ranging and demanding module based on 2-hour lectures (which include participatory class discussions and debates). Lectures will only be made available on recap for a period of two-weeks after delivery.

Outline Of Syllabus

LECTURES

NM: Introduction I: visions of political geography
NM: Introduction II: Politics, geography, and political geography

NM: Sovereignty I: Territory and terrain
NM: Sovereignty II: The state of the state
MB: Sovereignty III: Indigenous sovereignties part 1
MB: Sovereignty IV: Indigenous sovereignties part 2
AW: International boundaries I:Terrestrial
AW: International Boundaries II: Maritime
NM: Summary: Sovereignty, territory and terror in Central Asia

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

By the end of the course the student will:

1.       Have a sound knowledge and understanding of the tenets and background of political geography and will be able to critically evaluate the position of the sub-discipline in relation to broader geographical enquiry.
2.       Have a sound knowledge and understanding of the relationship between sovereignty claims and space and will have a background in a broad range of case studies.

Intended Skill Outcomes

By the end of the course the student will have developed:

1.       The ability to summarise, assess, explain and critically evaluate different theories and arguments.
2.       The ability to formulate, present, defend and revise reasoned arguments in the contexts of individual writing, group discussion, and the public sphere.
3.       The ability to engage in public debate by writing letters for publication in national, regional and local newspapers
4.       The ability to recognise, interpret and critically evaluate the political geographic content of everyday life, as experienced across a range of quotidian sites including landscapes, news media, films, novels, and places of work.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

1. The lectures, directed reading, and the practical teaching on submitting a letter to a media source, aim to thoroughly ground students in the concepts, practices and disciplinary traditions of political geography, to critically evaluate these, and to connect them to a broad range of case studies in the world today.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The pre-recorded oral presentation will provide students with the opportunity to discuss their engagement with a current, relevant, news story, and explain how they have analysed and critiqued it using concepts learnt during the module.

General Notes

For pedagogical reasons, there are no online teaching slots offered. This is because the emphasis is on 2-hour in-person lecture slots which include activities such as class discussion and debate, rather than separate compulsory seminars.