Approaches to Human Geography I. (lh2n9729) – Course Handbook
Zoltán Gyimesi, PhD student
ELTE Faculty of Science, Department of Social and Economic Geography
2014/15 term 1st semester, for Erasmus exchange students of geography
Details of the Course
This course will be a reading seminar. We will be using a textbook designed for geography students, ’Questioning Geography’ (2005, Blackwell) edited by Noel Castree, Alisdair Rogers and Douglas Sherman. The course will cover topics such as the relation of physical to human geography, of geographical knowledge to education, of geography’s different research practices (e.g. fieldwork and ethnography versus statistical analysis and GIS), and geography’s role in policy making (e.g. spatial planning), or its relation to power and constructing social difference, and the changing public image of the discipline. Students will be expected to read at least one chapter of the book (or any other connecting texts handed out) for each class, and to participate in interactive discussions of these specific topics in human geography. Additionally, a hand-in essay of 6 pages should be produced by every student until the end of the semester on a selected topic discussed in class. Students will be provided with a significant amount of extra research materials, consisting of basic textbooks and handbooks (companions, dictionaries, encyclopedias etc.) to help them in writing their essays.
| 1. week (12 Sept.) [Friday!] | Introduction |
| 2. week (17 Sept.) | no class (conference leave from 14–20 Sept.) |
| 3. week (24 Sept.) | Introduction: Questioning Geography (Douglas Sherman, Alisdair Rogers and Noel Castree)
Ch. 17. Whose Geography? Education as Politics (Noel Castree) |
| 4. week (1 Oct.) | Ch. 1. Geography – Coming Apart at the Seams? (Ron Johnston)
Ch. 2. A Divided Discipline? (Heather Viles) |
| 5. week (8 Oct.) | Ch. 4. Is Geography a Science? (Noel Castree) |
| 6. week (14 Oct.) | Ch. 8. Process/Form (Bruce L. Rhoads) |
| 7. week (22 Oct.) | Ch. 10. Meta-Theory/Many Theories (Michael R. Curry)
Ch. 15. Theory and Theorizing (Elspeth Graham) |
| 8. week (29 Oct.) | autumn break |
| 9. week (5 Nov.) | Ch. 11. Cartography and Visualization (Scott Orford) |
| 10. week (12 Nov.) | Ch. 14. Counting and Measuring: Happy Valentine’s Day (Danny Dorling) |
| 11. week (19 Nov.) | Ch. 12. Models, Modelling, and Geography (David Demeritt and John Wainwright)
Ch. 13. Ethnography and Fieldwork (Steve Herbert, Jacqueline Gallagher and Garth Myers) |
| 12. week (26 Nov.) | Ch. 3. What Difference Does Difference Make to Geography? (Katherine McKittrick and Linda Peake) |
| 13. week (3 Dec.) | Ch. 16. A Policy-Relevant Geography for Society? (Alisdair Rogers) |
| 14. week (10 Dec.) | Ch. 6. Beyond Science? Human Geography, Interpretation and Critique (Maureen Hickey and Vicky Lawson) |
