Durham University
Programme and Module Handbook

Undergraduate Programme and Module Handbook 2017-2018 (archived)

Module GEOG2541: GEOGRAPHIES OF DEVELOPMENT

Department: Geography

GEOG2541: GEOGRAPHIES OF DEVELOPMENT

Type Open Level 2 Credits 20 Availability Available in 2017/18 Module Cap Location Durham

Prerequisites

  • None

Corequisites

  • None

Excluded Combination of Modules

  • None

Aims

  • The module provides students with a critical understanding of:
  • The changing and diverse ways in which geographers have theorised the spatiality of development
  • The history of development theories, strategies and ideologies
  • The changing geopolitical and geoeconomic contexts of development
  • The ways in which development is lived, experienced and resisted in the ‘everyday’

Content

  • The module will address key themes in geographies of development, for example:
  • Critical geographical approaches to development
  • Theories, ideologies and strategies of development past and present
  • Orientalism and tropical geographies; postcolonialism and development
  • The changing geographies of trade, production and development co-operation and the rise of ‘new’ development donors and actors
  • The geopolitics of development
  • Geographies of resistance and alternatives to development
  • The Security-Development nexus
  • Insurgencies, counterinsurgencies, new wars and failed states
  • Climate change, refugees, migration and development

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:
  • Students are expected to be able to:
  • Understand key theories, ideologies and strategies of development past and present
  • Trace the emergence and evolution of geographical approaches to development
  • Appreciate the geographical contingencies of development experience in the global South
Subject-specific Skills:
  • On successful completion of the module students will be able to:
  • Show an appreciation of the spatiality of development
  • Analyse a range of contemporary development debates through an engagement with relevant theoretical frameworks and empirical experiences
  • Think critically about contemporary development theory and practice
Key Skills:
  • On completion of the module students will be able to:
  • Demonstrate an ability to formulate critical and sophisticated arguments and analysis
  • Demonstrate a capacity to communicate effectively in written assignments
  • Demonstrate an ability to gather, evaluate and synthesise information obtained from a variety of sources
  • Demonstrate a capacity to evaluate the merits of contrasting theoretical and conceptual approaches
  • Demonstrate an understanding of both the theoretical debates and empirical issues through case studies and grounded examples

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • The lectures will introduce students to the concepts, theories and contemporary issues of development and its geographies
  • In their independent learning, including reading widely, students will deepen their understanding of different perspectives on development
  • Small group discussion and debate in seminars will allow students to work through theoretical understandings introduced in lectures and apply such understandings to contemporary examples
  • Examination and coursework will test critical understanding of concepts and critical thinking

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Activity Number Frequency Duration Total/Hours
Lectures 16 Term 1 and 2 1 hour 30 mins 24
Lectures 2 Term 1 and 3 2 hours 4
Seminars 4 Term 1 and 2 1 hour 4
Preparation and Reading 168
Total 200

Summative Assessment

Component: Exam Component Weighting: 50%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
unseen exam 2 hours 100%
Component: Essay Component Weighting: 50%
Element Length / duration Element Weighting Resit Opportunity
essay 5 x sides A4 100%

Formative Assessment:

An individual 2 x side A4 written report containing an evaluation and critique of selected key articles.


Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University