GV1AHG: Approaching Human Geography

Module code: GV1AHG

Module provider: Geography and Environmental Science; School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science

Credits: 20

Level: Level 1 (Certificate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Professor Steve Musson, email: s.musson@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 2 October 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module introduces students to disciplinary and sub-disciplinary themes, concepts and practices in Human Geography. It focuses on ‘everyday’ issues, concerns and experiences through the lenses of different sub-disciplinary concepts and approaches in Human Geography to provide students a grounding in what it means to think like and become a geographer. Students explore these different approaches to Human Geography through teaching and independent learning, but also through the practical application of these approaches as part of the module and its assessment.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Understand the disciplinary and sub-disciplinary trajectories, approaches and intellectual traditions within Human Geography
2. Apply a geographical lens to everyday concerns, experiences and engagements
3. Begin to develop themselves as Human Geographers

Module content

Introduction and setting the scene for Approaching Human Geography
Invisible Cities: Urban geography
Encountering Development and its Geographies

Formative Assessment and Feedback (formative assessment; week 5)

Of Dark Food and Tasty Spaces: Food Geographies
Living an Intersectional Life: Social Geography 

Confessions of a Materialist: Cultural Geography
It’s (Not) All Just Blah, Blah, Blah: Environmental Geography 
Political Geography is Written by the Victors: Critical Geopolitics
I’ve Got a Bad Feeling about This: Emotional Geography
Conclusion - wrap up

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Lecture and seminar sessions will be approximately and hour for each; seminars will be focused on students’ engagement with lecture and reading content and ‘using’ the methods, concepts and ideas from human geography and its various sub-disciplinary approaches. Screencasts and online materials may be used to discuss concepts and approaches before and after lectures/seminars or to engage students in various topics in the module. 

Study hours

At least 22 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Semester 2, Week 5 will be a peer to peer feedback session where you will look at their first three weeks of critical diary entries and talk to each other about how to improve on these for the final assessment

Reassessment

Additional costs