GY403 Half Unit
Contemporary Debates in Human Geography
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Dr Ryan Centner
Availability
This course is compulsory on the MPhil/PhD in Human Geography and Urban Studies and MSc in Human Geography and Urban Studies (Research). This course is available on the MSc in Development Management (Political Economy), MSc in Development Management (Political Economy) (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Environment and Development, MSc in Environmental Policy, Technology and Health (Environment and Development) (LSE and Peking University), MSc in Regional And Urban Planning Studies and MSc in Urban Policy (LSE and Sciences Po). This course is freely available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. It does not require permission. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.
How to apply: Priority: N/A. Priority is typically for students enrolled in Geography and Environment programmes, or joint degree programmes, however course specific availability is indicated via the 'Availability section' on the LSE course guide webpages. Guidance on how to apply to individual controlled access courses can also be found on LSE for You in the Graduate Course Selection system.
Please note: The number of students that can be accommodated is limited. If a course is over-subscribed, places will be allocated at the Department's discretion and a waiting list may be created. It is advised to have an alternative course in mind as a back-up in case you are unable to secure your first-choice course selection.
Deadline for application: Further guidance and information on course selection for Geography and Environment courses (GY4xx) will be available on the Geography and Environment Course Selection Moodle page which will go live from Monday 8 September and will be updated with course availability information daily throughout the course selection period. This page includes information on the timeline for course selection decisions in the Geography and Environment Department as well as the individual course application processes and requirements
A list of all taught master's courses in this Department are listed on LSE's course guide webpages.
For queries contact: geog.hgus@lse.ac.uk
Compulsary for MPhil/PhD Human Geography and Urban students without MSc Human Geography and Urban Studies.
Requisites
Additional requisites:
Assumed prior knowledge includes an understanding of the importance of theory and critique in the social sciences and interpretative humanities. Students must be prepared for intensive reading and reflection before, and related discussion during, each seminar session.
Course content
This is a reading-intensive seminar focused on grasping contemporary debates in human geography and urban studies. Given the diversity of topic, approach, and style involved in geographical research and writing, it is impossible to provide a comprehensive overview in just ten sessions. Instead, we will read and discuss texts that expose a breadth of interests and modes of human-geographical scholarship, aiming to achieve theoretical understanding while considering how the ideas involved inform empirical research. Together, we will focus on some of the most pressing concerns and lively conversations in the discipline, as well as identify the points of tension and differences of position between them. We will pay attention not only to what scholars in human geography and urban studies are talking about, but how, why, and what is at stake. The essay that students write should help them situate their research interests and understand how they might contribute to wider bodies of scholarship.
Teaching
10 hours of seminars in the Winter Term.
10 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn and Winter Term.
Formative assessment
Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the ST.
Indicative reading
Readings focused on in this course will vary from year to year. Some indicative works include:
Barua, Maan. 2023. Lively Cities: Reconfiguring Urban Ecology. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Brenner, Neil. 2019. New Urban Spaces: Urban Theory and the Scale Question. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Brown, Brené. 2021. Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience. London: Vermilion.
Cresswell, Tim. 2024. Geographic Thought: A Critical Introduction. Second edition. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
Koch, Natalie. 2023. Arid Empire: The Entangled Fares of Arizona and Arabia. London: Verso.
Liboiron, Max. 2021. Pollution is Colonialism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Maclean, Kate. 2023. Cash, Clothes & Construction: Rethinking Value in Bolivia's Pluri-Economy. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
McKittrick, Katherine. 2006. Demonic Grounds: Black Women and the Cartographies of Struggle. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Smith, Jen Rose. 2025. Ice Geographies: The Colonial Politics of Race and Indigeneity in the Arctic. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Assessment
Essay (100%, 4000 words)
Key facts
Department: Geography and Environment
Course Study Period: Autumn and Winter Term
Unit value: Half unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Keywords: critique, human geography, theory
Total students 2024/25: 18
Average class size 2024/25: 18
Controlled access 2024/25: YesCourse 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
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Communication