Troubled Times and Lost Futures: Geographical Thought After Progress
| Module title | Troubled Times and Lost Futures: Geographical Thought After Progress |
|---|---|
| Module code | GEO3145 |
| Academic year | 2023/4 |
| Credits | 15 |
| Module staff | Dr Leila Dawney (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 30 |
|---|
Module description
What does it mean to think about a better world? In a situation of climate anxiety, postcolonial melancholia and divisive politics, narratives of progress and hope are losing their grip. At the same time, modernity’s progressive reading of history has been roundly critiqued by decolonial, feminist and indigenous thinkers. In this module, we will consider the growth, problems and aftermath of progress modernity through a set of key conceptual texts, real-world examples and speculative thought-experiments.
Building on GEO2311 Ideas in Geography, this module offers opportunities for a more in-depth engagement with contemporary social, cultural and geographical theory.
Module aims - intentions of the module
The module has four aims:
To extend students’ grounding in geographical thought by engaging with contemporary social, cultural and geographical theory.
To apply these emerging geographical ideas to a set of real-world problems.
To reflect upon how our own thinking, beliefs and ways of acting are influenced by Western, enlightenment ideas.
To understand how ideas of the future and futurity shape contemporary political movements and thought.
“Troubled times” is a reference to both the unilinear narratives of progress and social evolution that underpin the histories of geography, and the social, environmental and cultural consequences of industrialisation, colonialism and late capitalism. In the final part of the module, our concern with temporalities leads us to consider how possible futures are imagined in the wake of these problems of the present.
The teaching for the module is divided into three parts:
The first series of sessions will investigate progress modernity as a historical set of ideas that shaped the contemporary world, and consider the critiques of these ideas that have emerged during the second half of the twentieth century and beyond, including Black, indigenous, feminist and queer thought. The second part of the module explores some of the spaces through which this critique becomes apparent. In the final series, we will look at imaginaries of the future in the wake of these critiques.
Teaching is designed to give you confidence in critical reading and developing an argument in relation to your reading. Students will be asked to prepare for the session using one primary text and a range of other resources (films, articles and book excerpts).
Building on the 2nd year GEO2311 Ideas in Geography module, this module is recommended for students considering study at master’s level in a humanities or social science subject.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Situate contemporary movements in geographical thought within a broader history of ideas and critique
- 2. Read, with confidence, primary philosophical and conceptual texts
- 3. Reflect on how contemporary global problems relate to the dominance of particular ideas
- 4. Develop an argument and write fluently and knowledgeably about geographical thought
- 5. Understand how imaginaries of the future relate to contemporary forms of thought
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 6. Understand and critique geographical and philosophical arguments and knowledges
- 7. Understand and take responsibility for judging and creating geographical knowledge
- 8. Communicate geographical ideas, principles and theories effectively
- 9. Understand how the conceptual themes in this module relate to geographical knowledge in other modules and in your dissertation
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 10. Develop a critical and reflexive relationship to your own knowledge and subjectivity
- 11. Present material to support a reasoned and sophisticated argument
- 12. Develop independent, self-directed study/learning skills, including time management
Syllabus plan
This is an indicative syllabus, as the precise structure will change year on year.
Series one: progress modernity
- Progress and evolutionism; growth and capital
- Problems of progress: postcolonial/indigenous, feminist, posthumanist and queer critiques
Series two: dreams of progress and contemporary pathologies
Example topics to include:
- Fin-de-siècle modernity, the technological sublime, deindustrialisation and abandonment
- Keynesian economics, austerity and debt
- Biopolitics, exhaustion and endurance
- Nuclear modernity, environmental justice and toxicity
- The American dream, cruel optimism and slow death
Series three: making futures
- Afrofuturism; queer futures; technofuturism, postindustrial futurenatures; commons and degrowth; anti-development
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | 122 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 28 | Lectures and seminars (14 x 2 hour, spread over 10 weeks to include a reading week and exam preparation time) |
| Guided independent study | 80 | Lecture and seminar preparation |
| Guided independent study | 42 | Assessment preparation |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collaborative group work | equivalent of 2 sides A4 | 1-2, 4, 6-8, 10-12 | Written and oral feedback |
| Group discussion in videoconference breakout rooms | 12 hours of interactive seminars online | 1-3, 5-12 | Group oral |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 100 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Written examination 1 | 50 | 2000 words | 1-12 | Written |
| Written examination 2 | 50 | 2000 words | 1-12 | Written |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written examination 1 | Written examination | 1-12 | August ref/def |
| Written examination 2 | Written examination | 1-12 | August ref/def |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to complete a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Berman, M. (1983). All that is solid melts into air: The experience of modernity, Verso.
Brigstocke, J., et al. (2016). Space, power and the commons: the struggle for alternative futures. London, Routledge.
Cornell, D. and S. D. Seely (2016). The spirit of revolution: Beyond the dead ends of man, John Wiley & Sons.
Dawney, L., et al. (2017). Problems of Hope. ARN Press.
Haraway, D. J. (2016). Staying with the trouble: Making kin in the Chthulucene, Duke University Press.
Latour, B. (2012). We have never been modern, Harvard University Press.
Edelman, L. (2004). No future: Queer theory and the death drive, Duke University Press.
Said, E. W. (2012). Culture and imperialism, Vintage.
Sharpe, C. (2016). In the wake: On blackness and being, Duke University Press.
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
- ELE –
| Credit value | 15 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 7.5 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 6 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 07/02/2020 |
| Last revision date | 01/08/2020 |
