GY144     
Human Geography and the City

This information is for the 2022/23 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Alan Mace

Availability

This course is compulsory on the BA in Geography. This course is available on the BSc in Geography with Economics. This course is not available as an outside option. This course is available to General Course students.

Course content

How can we understand the human geography of London? How have people shaped the city and how does the city’s landscape impact people? How is this differentiated by race, class, gender, sexuality and ethnicity? We address these questions using London as a lab. You will be encourage to engage with the city in numerous ways including through walks, media and the use of archives. Themes include; landscapes of empire, suburbanism, migration & diaspora, social housing and gentrification. To capture the specificity of the relationship between people and place the themes are sometimes developed in relation to particular settings; for example, Finsbury (housing), Hackney (gentrification) and Westminster (empire).

Teaching

In the Department of Geography and Environment, teaching will be delivered through a combination of classes/seminars, pre-recorded lectures, live online lectures, in-person lectures and other supplementary interactive live activities.

This course is delivered through a combination of classes and lectures across Michaelmas and Lent Term.

This course includes a reading week in Week 6 of Michaelmas Term and in Week 6 of Lent Term

Formative coursework

Students are expected to write two formative assignments and to participate actively in classes in the MT and the LT.

Indicative reading

Mapping tool (don’t miss ‘layer tools’ in bottom left of right-hand window) https://www.layersoflondon.org/map

Municipal dreams – https://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/

Jonathan Meades on Letchworth Garden City (The suburbanisation of the UK) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qT5FquwhpA

de Botton, Alain. 2009. A Week at the Airport: A Heathrow Diary. London: Profile Books.

Hall, Stuart. 2017. Familiar Stranger: A Life Between Two Islands. London: Penguin.

Assessment

Essay (50%, 2000 words) in the MT.
Essay (50%, 2000 words) in the LT.

Key facts

Department: Geography and Environment

Total students 2021/22: 42

Average class size 2021/22: 14

Capped 2021/22: Yes (50)

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course selection videos

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.

Personal development skills

  • Self-management
  • Problem solving
  • Communication
  • Specialist skills