GEOG501 (HAM)
Contemporary Geographical Thought
30 points

Lecturers: Dr Russell Kirkpatrick; Prof. Robyn Longhurst and Dr Colin McLeay
Emails: russellk@waikato.ac.nz; robynl@waikato.ac.nz and c.mcleay@waikato.ac.nz

Paper description

The paper is structured around a set of readings which are drawn from a wide range of texts, from within geography and from outside. Each reading addresses a particular theme, The four hours of class time per week are focused around staff – and student-led group discussion. There are practical exercises for building vocabulary, developing analytic skills, doing critical reading, identifying key components of an argument, and developing structured writing.

Paper Objectives

• to familiarise students with a broad rage of contemporary developments in geographic thought including postmodernist, poststructural, postcolonial and feminist perspectives as well as new cultural geography;
• to introduce students to a range of perspectives which have influenced the development of geographical perspectives in the past including positivism, Marxism and humanism;
• to encourage the development of critical reading and analytical skills;
• to foster the development of fluent graduate writing and the capacity to present a clear argument, which will be of great help in further research;
• to help students deal with the ‘theoretical perspective’ element of their own research projects and to understand the intimate relationship between ‘theory’ and ‘practice’ in the geography and geographical research.

Assessment

Internal assessment/examination ratio is 1:0.

There are four items of required work:

1. Reading responses                                                          20%
2. Biographical essay                                                          25%
3. Research essay                                                              25%
4. Summative test                                                               30%

Timetable and Organisation:

Refer to the Online Timetable.