Geography
Geography in the UK is the integrated study of the earth’s landscapes, peoples, GEOG 150 series
places and environments. It is unique in bridging the social sciences (Human
Geography) with its understanding of the dynamics of cultures, societies and Prerequisites: High school mathematics and
geography
economies, and the earth sciences (Physical Geography) in the understanding
of the dynamics of physical landscapes and environmental processes. This course provides an introduction to
contemporary human or physical geography.
Geography at Lancaster emphasises the development of skills and knowledge for The courses are structured so you may take
applying geography to contemporary environmental, societal and planning problems either a whole course or one term of either
one of both courses. Teaching takes the form
such as climate change, globalisation and urban development. Courses are offered in
of lectures and you are expected to undertake
many aspects of human, physical and environmental aspects of geography, often with an extensive programme of reading for the
an applied emphasis. Geographical fieldwork will give you many opportunities to course.
explore other parts of Britain, including Morecambe Bay, the Lake District and the If you are at Lancaster for the full academic
Yorkshire Dales. year, each course is assessed by one
essay/report per term and one 3-hour
examination. If you are attending for either
POSTGRADUATE OPPORTUNITIES Michaelmas or Lent/Summer, you will be
Details of Postgraduate opportunities offered by the Lancaster Environment Centre assessed by completing two essays/reports
can be found at: http://www.lec.lancs.ac.uk/postgraduate/; or email: per course.
lec.pg@lancaster.ac.uk;
GEOG 150
SOCIETY AND SPACE
FACULTY Terms taught: FY
Dr P Barker, Dr A Blackburn, Dr R Ellis, Dr J Faulconbridge, Dr A Folkard, Dr N Gill, Credits: 8 semester credits or 16 ECTS credits
Dr M Hounslow, Dr S Ilic, Prof B Maher, Dr W Medd, Prof C Pooley, Dr S Vermeylen, This course focuses on the interactions
Prof G Walker, Dr N Watson, Dr D Whyatt, Prof I Whyte, Dr P Wynn. between people and places at a variety of
spatial scales and in varied parts of the globe.
Key themes include the social and cultural
ASSESSMENT
impacts of current demographic trends,
8 or 4 credit courses are assessed by either a formal examination at the end of the course processes of urbanisation, globalisation of the
or in some cases by coursework only. Essays and practical work are often also included world economy, the spatial dimensions of
in the assessment. 2 credit courses are assessed by essay or practical work only. social and economic inequalities, the influence
of different political systems on contemporary
In many cases, the geography prerequisites may be substituted by courses in the society and the ways in which different
relevant social or natural sciences. societies adapt and react to issues of
sustainability and risk. These issues are
explored within the context of different
STUDY ABROAD ADVISER theoretical approaches current within human
geography, and are illustrated by examples
Dr Duncan Whyatt, email: d.whyatt@lancaster.ac.uk
from both rich and poor parts of the world.
GEOG 151
ENVIRONMENT, PROCESS AND CHANGE
Terms taught: FY
Credits: 8 semester credits or 16 ECTS credits
This course examines environmental processes
and their impacts at a range of spatial scales
and in a variety of environments. Global
climate and associated environmental change,
the processes of flow producing distinctive
landscape forms on land and in oceans, the
processes structuring Earth’s resources and
the environmental and societal implication of
resource depletion and environmental change
are all explored within the context of
contemporary approaches to physical
geography and using examples drawn from
a variety of environments.
GEOG 201
KEY TO SYMBOLS TECHNIQUES
Note: Courses often last for more than one term. Terms taught: FY
FY A course taught throughout the academic year. Credits: 8 semester credits or 16 ECTS credits
M A course taught in the Michaelmas term (October - December). Prerequisites: College geography or
L A course taught in the Lent term (January - March) equivalent subject preferred
LS A course taught in the Lent and Summer terms (January - June). This course aims to give you a good grounding
in methods which will be encountered in
S A course taught in the Summer term (April - June).
geographical literature. A range of
MorL A course taught in either the Michaelmas or Lent term. quantitative, qualitative and spatial data
N/A A course will not be taught in the year shown. It may be taught in future years. analysis techniques will be covered. You will
also be introduced to several software
TBC A course which has not yet been finally approved by the university.
packages for data analysis. For part of course,
Additional syllabus information can be found at http://www.lusi.lancs.ac.uk/OnlineCoursesHandbook/ModuleCatalogue/Default.aspx
the class will be divided into physical and GEOG 209 mechanisms that produce systematic changes
human geography streams for more specialised ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY in the organisation of work, commodities,
work. Assessment will take the form of project consumption and production in different
work, into which the skills taught will be Terms taught: M contexts, countries and times. The
embedded, thus allowing you to practice Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits consequences of these changes for the lived
use of the skills in a ‘real’ research context. Prerequisites: College geography or realities of communities, producers and workers
equivalent subject preferred will also be examined. All of the above are
GEOG 202 explored in lectures and through a one day field
CONCEPTS IN GEOGRAPHY This course deals with the ways in which the trip to Manchester at the end of the course.
environment is perceived, understood, valued
Terms taught: FY and managed in developed societies. Beginning GEOG 215
Credits: 8 semester credits or 16 ECTS credits with the examination of the historical evolution GEOGRAPHIES OF EVERYDAY LIFE
of ideas and concerns about the environment,
Prerequisites: College geography or Terms taught: LS
the course considers how environmental
equivalent subject preferred
decision-making is carried out, how Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits
This course explores in more depth a series of environmental management strategies are
key geographical concepts. It takes a thematic Prerequisites: College geography or
developed and how the greening of politics has
approach and examines the concepts of space, equivalent subject preferred
evolved in different contexts. The challenges
place, time, scale and systems within the faced by society in dealing with problems that The course aims to explore key concepts in
context of society and environment. are complex, uncertain and ‘messy’ are the study of Human Geography through the
Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on particularly considered. The roles for members lens of everyday life. The aim is to move
the integration of concepts from both human of the public as ecological citizens and as from theoretical to practical considerations,
and physical geography. The course also links participants in more open and inclusive decision demonstrating the ways in which the
these concepts to practical research problems making processes are evaluated drawing on conceptualisation of societal processes can
and provides a conceptual framework from concepts of justice, ethics and responsibility. inform understanding of how society works
which you can develop your own research in Various ways in which conflicts between the and, potentially, influence policy. The course
dissertations or projects. Part of the course many different stakeholders interested in examines both historical and contemporary
provides specific training for dissertation environmental and resource management examples emphasising links between the past
preparation in all branches of the discipline. issues can be addressed and constructive and the present. The following topics will be
debates can be enabled are also examined. covered in lectures and workshops:
GEOG 203 Introduction: concepts and approaches; House
EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES GEOG 210 and home; Family, life course and identity;
NATURAL RESOURCES AND Health and welfare; Consumption; Work ;
Terms taught: M SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Leisure and popular culture; Movement;
Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits What has changed?; What is normal?
Terms taught: LS
Prerequisites: College geography or
equivalent subject preferred Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits GEOG 335
Prerequisites: College geography or SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY OF 19TH
The aim of this course is to provide an CENTURY URBAN BRITAIN
advanced level overview of the processes that equivalent subject preferred
determine the nature of the Earth’s surface This course builds on GEOG 150. It draws Terms taught: M
features and their interactions with human upon human geography, social anthropology, Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits
society, following from material covered in social legal studies and development studies to
Prerequisites: College geography or
GEOG 151. The course will cover atmospheric, critically review a wide range of approaches to
equivalent subject preferred
hydrological, sedimentary, oceanic and glacial understanding selected concepts and practices
processes and will take a theoretical, process- concerning sustainable development. Drawing The first industrial nation produced
based perspective, but will illustrate concepts upon examples from Latin America, South and unparalleled social problems in the new urban
with case studies and examples throughout. South East Asia and Africa, it first introduces and industrial areas: problems which have
It will be assessed via laboratory and fieldwork the idea of ‘development’ and traces how its often left a legacy for the present and which
exercise reports and a written examination. meaning has evolved in line with changing are to some degree mirrored in developing
global politics and economics. It then looks at countries today. The course provides a detailed
GEOG 204 how these ‘top-down’ approaches to examination of selected social problems in
INTERACTING LANDSCAPES: development have attempted to rebuild 19th century cities, emphasising the ways in
BIOGEOGRAPHY AND GEOMORPHOLOGY relationships with ‘bottom-up’ and alternative, which these affected different groups of the
participatory and local forms of development. population and varied over time or between
Terms taught: LS regions. Key issues to be explored include
Issues addressed during the course range from
Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits bio-prospecting to mining, forest conservation poverty and employment, inequalities in
Prerequisites: College geography or to water and gas wars, and from human housing and health, the geography of gender
equivalent subject preferred impacts on climate change to weighing up the and ethnicity, the impact of crime on society
advantages and disadvantages of and the characteristics of urban communities.
This course will explore the interaction
biotechnology for ensuring food security. The course will be taught through lectures and
between biogeography and geomorphology in
linked seminars, with an emphasis on the use
three contrasting but contiguous
GEOG 213 of relevant sources, student involvement and
environments, namely: uplands and lake
GEOGRAPHIES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY seminar discussion.
basins; lowland; estuaries and coasts. Four
lectures will be devoted to each environment Terms taught: LS GEOG 336
and will be similarly structured. The first two THE MAKING OF THE BRITISH
lectures will be devoted to biogeography and Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits
COUNTRYSIDE
geomorphology while the third and fourth will Prerequisites: College geography or
bring these two themes together and examine equivalent subject preferred Terms taught: M
their interactions. The lectures will be The course will explore how to interpret Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits
supported by two field trips. One will examine contemporary international changes in political Prerequisites: College geography or
upland environments and lakes, the other and economic systems from the perspective first equivalent subject preferred
lowlands, estuarine and coastal environments. of developing world economies and secondly of
The course will be assessed through a developed world economies. You will be This is a course in historical geography
combination of coursework and exam. encouraged to relate the changes that are that examines the evolution of the cultural
evident in the world political-economic system landscape of Britain from prehistoric times
to deeper historical and geographical causal to the present under the impact of human
www.lancs.ac.uk 61
activity. The course shows how changes in GEOG 366 Lecture topics address theoretical issues, such
population, rural settlement patterns, WATER, SOCIETY AND SUSTAINABILITY as the problems of representing real world
agriculture and territorial organisation have phenomena in GIS databases, and also
affected the countryside and combined to Terms taught: M consider emerging trends within the discipline
shape the present landscape. Various sources Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits such as the growth of location-based services
of information which allow the reconstruction Prerequisites: College geography or and related developments in data sharing.
of past landscapes and the interpretation of equivalent subject preferred Also explored is the use of GI in government,
their evolution will be examined using commercial and academic sectors and related
archaeological and palaeoenvironmental data, In the context of climate change, population employment opportunities.
place names, aerial photography, cartographic growth and lifestyle change, debates about
sustainable water management have gained Lectures are complemented by a series of
and documentary sources. No previous practical sessions in ArcGIS. Initial exercises
knowledge of history is required. increased prominence. Addressing key issues
such as managing water resources, reducing are concerned with creating and manipulating
demand for water, preparing for flood risk and spatial databases using the core functionality
GEOG 352 of the software. Subsequent exercises
HOLOCENE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE minimising pollution all involve important
issues about rights, responsibilities, meaning, demonstrate more sophisticated forms of
Terms taught: L N/A 2010/11 ownership, decision making processes, cost spatial analysis using a range of extension
and power. This course examines the social products including spatial analyst and
Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits network analyst.
dimensions of sustainable water management
Prerequisites: College geography or The last two practical sessions are dedicated
ranging from the different institutional
equivalent subject preferred to individual project work during which you
arrangements of water management through
The Holocene is the last ca.11,500 years of to the changing patterns of water use in are encouraged to develop a topic of your
earth history that encompasses the most everyday life. own choice. A project handbook containing
important phases of human development and information on project design and
A key argument presented in the course is that
landscape evolution. Its study provides an implementation is issued midway through
the effectiveness of water management is as
historical perspective on contemporary the course.
much about addressing the social dimensions
problems such as climate change,
as it is about technological solutions or
deforestation and soil erosion. The first part of GEOG 371
scientific knowledge.
the course deals with natural environmental ENVIRONMENTAL REMOTE SENSING
change beginning in the immediate post- Looking first at the sustainable water AND IMAGE PROCESSING
glacial period. It then considers early human management in the UK and then case studies
from around the world, the course will include Terms taught: LS
ecology, the origins of agriculture and the
environmental impact of dynastic civilisations examples of drought, flood and pollution. Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits
in the Mediterranean and Meso America. Themes addressed through a combination of Prerequisites: College geography or
Examples are drawn from around the world lectures, group based teaching and individual equivalent subject preferred
but an emphasis is placed on the tropics and learning include: the global water crisis,
sustainability, integrated catchment The course has four aims: to illustrate the
other low-latitude regions. The study of the
management, public participation, privatisation increasing importance of remotely-sensed
Holocene enables the identification of
and demand management. data in extending our understanding of
background processes, abrupt, often
environmental processes; to enable you to
catastrophic events and the sensitivity of
GEOG 367
understand the principles on which remote
landscapes to change. The subject is
COASTAL PROCESSES sensing systems operate and how we can
approached from a scientific perspective but
derive useful environmental information from
you will be required to synthesise material Terms taught: LS remotely sensed data; to compare the
from a variety of sources.
Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits information provided by remote sensing to
that from other means of sampling; to develop
GEOG 353 Prerequisites: College geography or your image processing skills. The aims are
RECENT CHANGES IN AQUATIC equivalent subject preferred
ENVIRONMENTS fulfilled by initially examining the physical basis
To be able to define and understand the of remote sensing, electromagnetic radiation
Terms taught: M N/A 2011/12 shoreline change and the environmental and its interactions with the Earth’s
Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits issues facing the coastline, one needs a atmosphere and surface and the sensors and
basic knowledge of physical coastal processes. systems, which are used to acquire data.
Prerequisites: College geography or The aim of this course is to gain such an The techniques used to analyse and interpret
equivalent subject preferred understanding through the study of imagery are then explored. This is followed
The last 200 years have seen important water hydrodynamics, sediment transport and by an examination of the environmental
quality changes in many lakes and reservoirs. morphology. The importance of their interactions applications of remote sensing. Here, examples
In some parts of Europe acid rain has caused and complexity will be also addressed. are used from several areas, in order to
severe pollution of some water-bodies and led The course consists of lectures, fieldwork and illustrate the increasing importance of
to major ecological changes. Elsewhere, seminars. Working in small groups, you will remotely-sensed data in extending the
changing land-use practices have increased use the knowledge gained throughout the scope of existing studies.
nutrient levels, leading to damaging blooms of course to address practical problems from Laboratory practicals allow you to investigate
blue-green algae and fish-kills. An examination around the UK coast. Coursework will consist the physical principles of remote sensing and
of the causes and consequences of these of your proposed solutions to these practical computer practicals are used to demonstrate
problems using the evidence contained in the problems. image analysis techniques using ERDAS
sediments of lakes will be made. A substantial Imagine, a state-of-the-art software package.
part of this course will involve practical GEOG 370
laboratory work. Techniques of environmental GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION GEOG 377
reconstruction including sediment and diatom SYSTEMS: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE QUATERNARY ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
analysis will be used to detect recent water
quality changes in a local lake or reservoir. Terms taught: M Terms taught: M
The respective roles of human agency and Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits
environmental change on lake catchment Prerequisites: College geography or
ecosystems will be critically discussed and Prerequisites: College geography or
equivalent subject preferred equivalent subject preferred
strategies for water resource management
evaluated. This course covers both the principles of GIS The aims of this course are the acquisition of a
and GIScience and practical experience in the sound understanding of the great environmental
use of GIS using ArcGIS, a leading windows- changes which occurred during the Quaternary
based package. period (ie the last ~1.8 million years) and of
Additional syllabus information can be found at http://www.lusi.lancs.ac.uk/OnlineCoursesHandbook/ModuleCatalogue/Default.aspx
the extent to which the modern environment (much like GIS), but with a wide range of knowledge systems. The course will represent
is the result of those changes and to use this application areas in geography. a multitude of voices; findings from Euro-
understanding as a context against which to The intentions are to foster understanding of American scholars will be compared and
assess recent, present and future environmental the types and sources of magnetic minerals in contrasted with the opinions of African
changes of anthropogenic origin. the environment; the mechanisms and scholars. It will ‘demystify’ and ‘decolonise’
The Quaternary Period has been a time of pathways by which these materials are persistent mainstream perceptions of Africa as
enormous environmental changes and the produced, dispersed, modified and finally the ‘dark continent’ characterised by a single
course will cover the six great interlinked deposited in environmental systems; the set of problems and challenges. Instead, the
‘themes’ of environmental change: the growth context through which it is possible to course is designed in such a way that you will
and decay of ice sheets; the changing level of interpret mineral magnetic data in terms of experience the huge cultural, political,
the sea; changes in atmospheric and oceanic environmental change. economic and social diversity of Africa though
circulation; terrestrial biological changes; engaging with voices that have so far been
human influences; the engine of the ice ages. GEOG 383 kept subdued such as women and indigenous
GEOGRAPHIES OF THE STATE peoples through a diverse set of case studies.
GEOG 379
GLOBALISATION AND THE WORLD Terms taught: LS GEOG 385
ECONOMY Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits GLACIAL SYSTEMS
Terms taught: LS Prerequisites: College geography or Terms taught: M
equivalent subject preferred Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits
Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits
One aim of this course is to alert you to the Prerequisites: College geography or
Prerequisites: College geography or
myriad ways in which the state imbues your equivalent subject preferred
equivalent subject preferred. This course is
everyday life. The course will initially examine
available subject to approval. The aim of this course is to give insight into the
the institution of the state through the lenses of
The aim of this course is for you to engage Right-wing and Left-wing politics. The concerns physical dynamics and ecological interactions
with contemporary debates about the that surround the state, and the aspirations of within glacial systems. Understanding begins
processes of the globalisation of the World both approaches for it, are examined. The with the concept of glacial mass balance;
economy which illustrate: course then examines the ways in which debates glacial energy balance; thermal regime and
about the state within geography have glacial hydrology; glacier dynamics; glacial
a) The uneven spatial patterns of economic
transcended these opposite positions. Both geomorphology; glacier hydrochemistry; the
globalisation; the drivers of change and the
approaches tend to take the state as a stable, concept of the glacial ecosystem; Ice core
affect on geographies of economic activity;
coherent institution, yet it has proven remarkably records of palaeoclimate; the response of
a range of debates about the changing
elusive, difficult to study and resistant to final, glacial systems to climatic change.
nature of production in a globalized economy
(eg fordism to postfordism) and the spatial totalising definition. Geography is in a strong Specific skills include: being able to manipulate
and societal shifts involved; and the position to highlight these problems by asking: raw data sets for use in solving models of
implications of globalisation for everyday life. where is the state and where are its borders? energy balance and mass balance calculations;
The reason these questions turn out to be so using raw data to analyse the hydrochemical
b)The key actors (transnational corporations)
difficult to address, a number of scholars are regime of meltwater within a glacial
and the theoretical debates about their
arguing, is because the state is, at root, a state catchment; interpret this in terms of
strategies, practices and affects; the political
of mind – a thought virus that structures the reconstructing melt water flowpaths through
and social implications of the growth of such
ways in which individuals interact – a myth that a glacier and potential chemical weathering
organisations; and the affect of global
is so deeply engrained in social life that it reactions; using isotopes to interpret
production networks of the geographies of
appears to have taken on a life of its own. palaeoclimate records from ice cores.
manufacturing activities.
Ultimately, the state imbues our everyday life
c) The importance of the globalisation of the because we and those around us believe in it. GEOG 386
service economy and finance; the economic The way this insight has been mobilised in GEOGRAPHIES OF AGRICULTURE,
and socio-cultural nature of the spaces of geography, including through research on GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AND
global service activity (ie world cities); ECOSYSTEM CHANGE
migration, research into colonialism and post-
theoretical debate about the spatial colonialism and theories of activism and Terms taught: LS
articulations of the service economy (analysis resistance form the second part of the course.
of the rise of e-commerce forms an important Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits
part of this discussion); and strategies to GEOG 384 Prerequisites: College geography or
‘measure’ and analyse economic globalisation. AFRICA: GEOGRAPHIES OF equivalent subject preferred
TRANSFORMATION
The course will explore the impact of
GEOG 382 agriculture on development and global
ENVIRONMENTAL MAGNETISM Terms taught: LS
ecosystem change. Agriculture is one of the
Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits
Terms taught: LS main drivers of economic development and
Prerequisites: College geography or environmental change, particularly in
Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits equivalent subject preferred developing countries. Patterns of agricultural
Prerequisites: College geography or The aim of this course is to examine the production, consumption and trade vary within
equivalent subject preferred processes of socio-economic, political, and between countries depending on inter
Magnetic minerals are an increasingly utilised environmental and legal transformations of alia: bio-physical or agro-ecological conditions,
source of environmental proxy information. African societies. Within this framework the historical, socio-technical, infrastructural,
The content, mineralogy and grain size can course provides a critical assessment of colonial political economy and geo-political factors.
be sensitive indicators of past climatic change, and post-colonial theories. It involves the study These patterns affect not only the quantity
changes in sediment budgets, sediment of rural and urban African landscapes and and quality of other ecosystem services such
delivery and source mechanisms. In present- acknowledges the many challenges to be faced as land, water and biodiversity, but also the
day environments, magnetic minerals can also in areas of political, socio-economic and standard of living or human well being
be short or long-term indicators of environmental governance. You will be through for instance food (in) security and
environmental pollution related to fossil fuel encouraged to discover not only the challenges human (ill) health.
combustion. Magnets produced by some types and crises that African countries are facing but The course will critically assess the role of
of organisms can also be significant. In the also the resilience and resurgence that agriculture as a producer and consumer of
human organism these can act as potential characterises the African experience. You will ecosystem services and the implications of this
tracers for certain kinds of health disorders. learn to critically assess different methods of on ecosystem change and human well being.
The aim is to introduce these growing topic development ranging from high-tech market- Specifically, the course will address
areas, which covers a range of environmental based Western solutions to programmes that contemporary issues in the geographies of
issues. The aims are methodologically driven strengthen indigenous and local skills and
www.lancs.ac.uk 63
food, agriculture, development and ecosystem GEOG 388
change, including: impact of agricultural LAKES, RIVERS AND ESTUARIES
expansion on global development and
environmental change; agricultural impacts on Terms taught: M
water quality and quantity; agricultural impacts Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits
of, and responses to climate change; the Prerequisites: College geography or
political economy of the global food and equivalent subject preferred
agricultural system - what, where, how, why
and by whom food is produced, processed, The course will be split into three topics: lakes,
distributed and consumed; the globalisation rivers and estuaries. Focus will be on physical
of food and agriculture and its implications on (hydrodynamic) processes, but there will be
efficiency and equity; persistence of hunger strong links between these and related
and famine in parts of the developing world; geomorphic, biological and chemical processes
agriculture and land use changes; consumer in these environments.
preferences and agro-food technologies. Each third will comprise a) a 50-minute
classroom session on post-graduation
GEOG 387 employment potential related to each topic.
ENVIRONMENT, POLITICS AND SOCIETY If possible, this will centre on a presentation
IN AMAZONIA by an external speaker from a graduate
Terms taught: M employer, which will be followed up with a
Q&A/discussion session, led by the course
Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits convenor, linking to the science/physical
Prerequisites: College geography or geography covered subsequently; b) five 50-
equivalent subject preferred minute classroom sessions covering scientific
This course aims to introduce you to the human and physical geography aspects; c) a 3-hour
(indigenous and non-indigenous) and natural practical session based on analysing field data.
complexity of the Amazon as a region currently
at the centre of debates in environmental GEOG 389
politics. Whilst the focus will be upon social, PERSPECTIVES IN ENVIRONMENTAL
HISTORY
political, economic and environmental issues
which are currently topical, it will - with the Terms taught: LS
combined resources of text and film - Credits: 4 semester credits or 8 ECTS credits
encourage you to observe contemporary
Amazonia as the outcome of intertwined Prerequisites: College geography or
histories of humans and non-humans (animals, equivalent subject preferred
forests and rivers). The course will draw upon Environmental history is an interdisciplinary
literatures from social anthropology, human field, bridging the humanities and the sciences,
geography and ecological science and, in so which involves the study of the interactions
doing, provide you with different but related between human societies and the physical
approaches to the relationships between human environment in the past. In doing so it provides
social and political organisation and styles of a time dimension for current environmental
natural resource. problems and issues. It considers how
Lectures will draw upon and illustrate the environmental changes, whether the result of
readings selected for each week. Given the natural processes or human agency, have
complex nature of some of the topics affected societies and sometimes threatened
introduced during lectures, you will be their very viability. On a timescale of centuries
challenged to engage critically with the and millennia, it involves the interpretation of
recommended literature in order to develop archaeological, palaeoecological and historical
further insights on the material delivered sources. The course is concerned to study
during the lecture. This process will be general principles and broader theoretical
facilitated by discussion and debate during issues but will do this through selected case
seminar sessions which will be organised studies, some chosen from within Britain and
around particular problem-based issues. others from around the globe. The course
Seminars will often involve group work and would provide an environmental option for
sometimes you will be expected to prepare a human geographers but would also give
presentation (either individually or in a group) physical geographers an insight into the
through which you will be expected to learn to human impacts of environmental change.
critique academic positions on specific issues
and to critically analyse concerns of current
interest. Films will be occasionally used as
complementary and sometimes provocative
material for further analysis.
Additional syllabus information can be found at http://www.lusi.lancs.ac.uk/OnlineCoursesHandbook/ModuleCatalogue/Default.aspx