GY144     
The London Lab: Geography in the City

This information is for the 2019/20 session.

Teacher responsible

Dr Alan Mace STC315a

Availability

This course is available on the BA in Geography and 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

20 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the MT. 18 hours of lectures and 9 hours of classes in the LT.

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.

The course’s own website www.Londongeographies.com

Assessment

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

Key facts

Department: Geography & Environment

Total students 2018/19: 4

Average class size 2018/19: 4

Capped 2018/19: No

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Personal development skills

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