Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

N/A

Co Requisite Comment

N/A

Aims

This module offers a hands-on, experiential approach to urban studies: it is an introduction to urban anthropology, geography and sociology through interactive field trips, lectures, and workshops where you will get to explore the urban topics and spaces that are most interesting to you and develop your own projects with support from the lecturers and your peers.

Through our first-hand explorations of the city, you will get the opportunity to apply what you learn to real-world examples in Newcastle. We will learn about the contemporary urban politics and development as well as histories of the city and examine how they connects to wider urban and global processes. In the process you will draw on a rich body of literature from urban anthropology, sociology, and geography, which provide theoretical, empirical, and methodological tools for exploring and understanding cities and urban experiences.
You will get the opportunity to further develop your research skills using creative methods, conducting your own research, gathering, and creating data which you will analyse in a research report. You will also focus on your learning journey and how you can use the skills you are developing for your future career plans. You will hear from guest speakers with a range of experiences and understand how your degree is relevant to urban practitioners.

Aims:
1) For students to learn about urban processes and apply learning to real-world examples through first-hand exploration of Newcastle.
2) For students to become familiar with a range of research on cities and urban experiences from urban anthropology, sociology, and geography, through a range of learning and assessment methods.
3) For students to have the opportunity to further develop research skills, graduate skills and employability through inquiry and analysis of specific topics, issues or problems relating to cities and urban lives. Including facilitated planning opportunities that empower students to take positive action in setting goals and working towards these before graduation.
4) For students to develop critical, theoretically informed approaches to understanding, exploring, and reporting on urban topics, issues or problems.
5) Equipping students with the capability to confidently articulate the ways in which their university experience has enabled them to develop personally and professionally.

Outline Of Syllabus

This module will introduce students to a range of topics related to cities and urban experience and critical approaches to the study of key issues and processes in contemporary urban life such as gentrification, studentification, everyday urban multiculture, night-time economy and urban contestation. This will include scholarships from across urban anthropology, sociology, and geography, and involve a range of experiential and multi-media engagements. Students will learn about these topics through a focus on the surrounding city of Newcastle-Gateshead, as well as national and global experiences, and will have the opportunity to explore a chosen topic in-depth through their research project.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

At the end of the module the successful student will be able to:

1.Critically discuss a range of research on cities and urban experiences and connect these to real-world examples in Newcastle, as well as other urban contexts.
2. Provide a rationale for their learning and research activities undertaken throughout the module, and link these to the key graduate skills they are developing on this module.
3. Apply contemporary urban research to analysis of specific problems, issues or phenomena being studied and produce a report on this.

Intended Skill Outcomes

At the end of the module the successful student will be able to:

1. Understand and critically evaluate urban anthropological and sociological texts and apply these to a specific case.
2. Identify and interrogate specific problems and issues, and plan and conduct a research project in order to explore and understand this.
3. Gain experience with a range of urban research methods.
4. Analyse data and formulate and clearly communicate arguments verbally and in writing.
5. Demonstrate development of key graduate skills through specific evidence of activities undertaken on the module.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Fieldtrips utilise city as a resource and help students gain ideas and develop focus for their research projects. They are scaffolded by specific themes, which we critically engage with in the classroom reflection, drawing on ongoing research happening at Newcastle University, bringing urban theory to life.

Lectures in first half of module introduce students to key ideas, themes and methods in urban studies.

The studio allows for a collaborative, creative approach to the research project, drawing on studio-based learning in the arts, where the teaching team will be engaging with students throughout the session with structured and unstructured tasks, with ongoing feedback from staff and peer feedback.

Invited talks in second half of the module enable a diversity of perspectives on urban processes and issues from beyond academia and connect to employability in urban.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

Assessment enables knowledge and skills developed in the module to be fully assessed.

Assessment is via a Module Portfolio in two parts, overall word count 3500 (+/- 10%):

100% portfolio submitted at the end of the module:
40% Learning journal of engagement on the module; and reflection on learning and graduate attributes.
Part A. Photo, images used to document learning activities on the module. This can be in preferred format (e.g. social media, physical notebook, video montage or simple photos + captions). A bespoke marking criteria will be created for this.
Part B. Reflection on what you did on the module, how you challenged yourself, and what went well or not so well. Reflection will be based around key attributes from the Newcastle Graduate Framework and help to develop employability skills. A bespoke marking criteria will be created for this.
Intended knowledge outcomes: 1 - 3
Intended skill outcomes: 1 – 4

60% research project report. Identify a problem, issue or phenomena to explore, decide which methods to use, plan, conduct research and write it up. Students will draw on literature from urban anthropology, sociology and geography as well as primary research in order to make an argument about the issues being explored. Appendices can be used to demonstrate research gathered.
Intended knowledge outcomes: 1 and 3
Intended skill outcomes: 1 - 3

General Notes

N/A