Module Information

Module Identifier
GS20410
Module Title
Concepts for Geographers
Academic Year
2025/2026
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Reading List
Other Staff

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment End of module assessment  100%
Supplementary Assessment End of module assessment  100%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

1. Outline the different conceptual approaches human geographers use to understand the social world

2. Critically assess the social and historical context of those approaches and their continuing relevance for geographers

Brief description

Geography is an expansive discipline that encompasses a range of perspectives. While other disciplines tend to have a strong tradition of core topics that constitute their disciplinary purview, geographers often think of themselves as bringing a ‘spatial perspective’ to a wide variety of phenomenon, processes and events. This way of thinking has spawned a number of theoretical and methodological traditions in the discipline, many of which continue to be practiced in various ways. This module will examine a number of those traditions and explain their historical and contemporary relevance to the field of human geography, including the types of independent dissertation projects potentially undertaken by students.

Content

The module will not cover all core concepts in the history of the discipline but will focus particularly on those deemed to have continuing relevance for undergraduate research. Indicative content includes: regional geography, humanistic geography, spatial science and statistics, cultural geography and/or landscape studies, feminist geography, Marxist geography, geographies of race, post-colonial geography, policy relevance, and non-representational theory.

The emphasis of the module is on four themes: 1) explaining a number of core geographic concepts and the key associated terminologies and theories; 2) examining the social and historical context in which those concepts emerged; 3) understanding the relevance of those concepts to contemporary issues and problems; and 4) understanding the relevance of those concepts to the types of independent dissertation projects potentially undertaken by students.

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number N/A
Communication Demonstrated via written answers under exam conditions
Improving own Learning and Performance Gained via independent reading and contribution to in-class discussions
Information Technology Students will demonstrate their competency with using Blackboard and the e-resources available in that information environment
Personal Development and Career planning he skills developed through this module can provide the foundation for higher-level studies and also are transferable to many applied, non-academic contexts. Students will be made aware of the relevance for further study and employability throughout the module
Problem solving Demonstrated via discussion of conceptual frameworks and relevance to student research
Research skills Reading, thinking and writing skills demonstrated through in class discussion and the exam
Subject Specific Skills Understanding geographic concepts
Team work Team work and small group discussion will be involved in many lectures

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5