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GG3031: APPROACHES TO GEOGRAPHY (2020-2021)

Last modified: 05 Aug 2021 13:04


Course Overview

This core course is designed to introduce Honours students to key debates on the nature and scope of academic geography.  Geographers past and present have studied a huge variety of phenomena using a variety of tools for investigating their subject.  This course will help you understand this diversity.  Example topics include: the changing meaning of the 'environment'; the use and abuse of statistical analysis; the influence of left-wing and post-modern perspectives, and the role of technology.  Students may specialise in particular aspects, or mix-and-match across the breadth of the discipline, as you wish.

Course Details

Study Type Undergraduate Level 3
Session First Sub Session Credit Points 30 credits (15 ECTS credits)
Campus Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Dr Nicholas P. Spedding

Qualification Prerequisites

  • Either Programme Level 3 or Programme Level 4

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • Any Undergraduate Programme (Studied)
  • Geography (GG) (Studied)

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

The course is designed to introduce students to key debates, both past and present, on the nature and scope of academic geography. As such, it provides essential background for study of geography at an advanced level, irrespective of any intended specialisation. Wherever possible, parallels are drawn between the physical, environmental and human branches of the subject, although the reality (or otherwise) of geography as a single, coherent discipline is also put under scrutiny. Students are encouraged to take a critical stance towards the various claims made for and against the different types of geography, and the notion of geography as a 'contested enterprise' forms a major theme of the course.

Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 31 August 2023 for 1st half-session courses and 22 December 2023 for 2nd half-session courses.

Summative Assessments

Presentation (25%)

Essay (25%)

Coursework (25%)

Online Exam (25%)

Alternative Resit Arrangements for students taking course in Academic Year 2020/21

As for first attempt. Contact course coordinator.

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Course Learning Outcomes

Knowledge LevelThinking SkillOutcome
FactualRememberILO’s for this course are available in the course guide.

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