Module Information

Module Identifier
GG25410
Module Title
HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHIES OF THE MODERN WORLD
Academic Year
2010/2011
Co-ordinator
Dr Heidi V Scott
Semester
Semester 1
Other Staff
 

Course Delivery

Delivery Type Delivery length / details
Lecture 20 Hours. 10 x 2 hour
 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Exam 2 Hours   Two-hour unseen examination. Answer two questions from four.  100%
Supplementary Exam 2 Hours   Two hour unseen examination. Answer two questions from four.  100%

Learning Outcomes

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

  • Identify, describe and explain the key contemporary research agendas in historical geography.
  • Discuss in a critical and informed manner the historical geographies of early modern European expansion and of nineteenth and twentieth century Britain.
  • Develop critical skills in reading, as well as in the analysis of other media.
  • Show evidence of the depth of their reading and their ability to construct an argument in written form.

Brief description

The module introduces students to the sub-discipline of historical geography. Identifying themes that are of current concern to historical geographers, it discusses these within the contexts of i) European expansion in the early modern era and ii) nineteenth and twentieth century Britain. The first section, which places particular emphasis on the Americas, critically examines the characteristics of early European colonial and imperial ventures and their role in shaping the modern world. In particular, it considers how neat divisions between colonisers and colonised were challenged and blurred by diverse and intersecting identities, interests and knowledges. The second section examines how a range of different spaces and subjects refract the historical geographies of nineteenth and twentieth century Britain. Students will also undertake a self-guided tour of the Ceredigion Museum, in order to examine how the museum presents the past histories and geographies of Aberystwyth and beyond.





Content

SECTION 1: HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHIES OF THE EARLY MODERN WORLD
  1. Historical geography: an overview
  2. Colonialism and imperialism
  3. Mapping and cartography: inventing visions of the world
  4. Europe and its 'others': identity and 'race'
  5. Women and gender in early colonial worlds
SECTION 2: HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHIES OF MODERN BRITAIN
  1. Presenting and remembering the past: history, heritage and memory
  2. Self-guided tour of the Ceredigion museum
  3. Imperial and institutional geographies
  4. City, suburbia and spaces of travel
  5. Landscape and national identity

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Application of Number Not developed through this module
Communication Written communication skills will be developed and assessed through the examination
Improving own Learning and Performance Students should implicitly develop their skills in this area through the organisation of free-time reading and exam preparation. Not explicitly developed through the module
Information Technology Students will be directed to source material from the internet that is relevant to lecture topics
Personal Development and Career planning Not explicitly developed through the module. The content of lectures and reading may indirectly encourage students to reflect on their own beliefs and views and may identify potential career paths for some
Problem solving Problem solvng will be indirectly addressed through some lecture content but not explicitly developed in the module
Research skills Students will be encouraged to develop their research skills through collating material from library and internet sources and through fieldwork on the self-guided museum tour
Team work Not developed through this module

Reading List

Recommended Text
Gilbert, D., Matless, D., Short, B. (Eds.) (2003) Geographies of British modernity: space and society in the twentieth century Oxford: Blackwell Primo search Graham, B., Nash, C. (Eds.) (2000) Modern Historical Geographies Harlow: Prentice Hall Primo search Loomba, A. (1998) Colonialism/Postcolonialism London: Routledge Primo search Nash, C. and Ogborn, M. (2003) Historical Geography: Making the Modern World, in A. Rogers and .A. Viles (Eds.) The Student's Companion to Geography (second edition) Oxford: Blackwell Primo search Pratt, M.L. (1992) Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation London: Routledge Primo search Supplementary Text
Blaut, J. (1993) The Coloniser's Model of the World: Geographical Diffusionism and Eurocentric History London and New York: Guildford Press Primo search Daniels, S. (1993) Fields of vision: landscape and national identity in England and the United States Cambridge: Polity Primo search Driver, F. and Gilbert, D. (Eds.) (1999) Imperial cities: landscape, display and identity Manchester: Manchester University Press Primo search Harley, J.B. (2001) The New Nature of Maps: Essays in the History of Cartography The John Hopkins Press Primo search Hendricks, M., Parker, P. (1994) Women, 'Race' and Writing in the Early Modern Period London and New York: Routledge Primo search Matless, D. (1998) Landscape and Englishness London: Reaktion Primo search Mignolo, W.D. (1995) The Darker Side of the Renaissance: Literacy, Territoriality, and Colonization Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press Primo search Ogborn, M. (1998) Spaces of modernity: London's geographies London: Guilford Press Primo search Schivelbusch, W. (1978) The railway journey: the industrialisation of time and space in the 19th century Oxford: Blackwell Primo search Wade, P. (1997) Race and Ethnicity in Latin America London and Chicago: Pluto Press Primo search (1975 - current) Journal of Historical Geography Primo search

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 5