2 Hours Unseen examination. Answer two from four questions, one from each section
50%
Semester Assessment
3000 word assignment
50%
Supplementary Assessment
same examination format; same assignment
100%
Learning outcomes
On completion of this module students will be able to:-
demonstrate a detailed awareness of the development of European knowledge about the wider world in the period 1492-1900
be aware and appreciate how geography was defined and practiced in the period prior to the formation of the University discipline of geography
discuss some of the classic texts of geographical enquiry from the period 1500- 1900
show knowledge and understanding of the debates about the worth of, and approaches to, writing the history of geography for the present practice of the discipline
Brief description
The period from c. 1500 to c. 1900 delimits a coherent era in the history of geographical thought, spanning the voyages of Columbus and Da Gama to the formation of the modern university discipline of geography in the later nineteenth century. From Columbus's 'discovery' of the Americas to Livingstone's travels in Africa, there was an ambition to gain ever more detailed information about the surface of the globe. There was also a widespread demand for books which would summarise this information for an audience whose aims were [political, imperial and commercial. The period also saw seminal texts published which helped to forge modern geography, such as Montesquieu's Spirit of the laws, a key theorization of the relationship between society and Darwin's Origin of Species. This course provides a critical overview of the development of geography over four centuries, coupled to a series of detailed analyses of key texts in the history of geographical thought. It also introduces students to historiographical questions about the role of the history of geography in geography's nature in the present day. Areas covered:
The history of geography books and geography
The history of Exploration and Discovery
Key Texts in the History of Geographical Thought
Questions about how and why we construct histories of geography.
Aims
This module aims to give students a detailed understanding of the history of geography and of forms of geographical knowledge
Reading Lists
Books ** Recommended Text
Bacon, Frances (2000) The New Organon ISBN 0-521-56483-2 Cook, James (1999) Journals
London ISBN 0-140-43647-2 Columbus, Christopher (1969) The Four Voyages
London ISBN 0-140-44217-0 Darwin, Charles (1882) Origin of Species
London ISBN 0-140-43205-1 Lyell, Charles (1997) Principles of Geology
London ISBN 0-140-43528-X Malthus, Thomas (1986) Essays on the Principle of Population
London ISBN 0-140-43206-X Montaigue (1991) Essays ISBN 0-713-99072-4 Montesquieu (1969) The Spirit of the Laws
Cambridge ISBN 0-521-36974-6 von Humboldt, Alexander (1996) Cosmos
Baltimore ISBN 0-801-85502-0 ** Recommended Background
Boorstein, Daniel (1984) The Discoverers
London ISBN 0-460-04662-4 Bowen, Margarita (1981) Empiricism and Geographical Thought: From Francis Bacon to Alexander von Humboldt
Cambridge ISBN 0-521-23653-3 Livingstone, David (1992) The Geographical Tradition
Oxford ISBN 0-031-18586-0 Parry, J.H. (1963) The Age of Reconnaissance: Discovery, Exploration and Settlement, 1450-1650
Berkeley ISBN 0-520-04235-2