Geography
School of Physical and Geographical Sciences
Faculty of Natural Sciences


Last Updated 1 October 2012

Principal Course Timetable Blocks 4


Geography Dual Honours - Level 1 Modules

Semester 1 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-10039 Fundamentals of Physical Geography C M 7.5 15
This module offers a self-contained introduction to physical geography for students from a variety of backgrounds (including students with no previous experience in the subject), and a foundation in the subject for those students who wish to pursue it to a higher level. The main learning outcomes for the successful student will be: knowledge and understanding of core material in Physical Geography; appreciation of the dynamic and research-based nature of the discipline; ability to use geographical evidence to explain features of the physical environment.
GEG-10013 Human Geographies C M 7.5 15
The module seeks to provide students with an understanding and appreciation of the diversity of approaches and content of Human Geography, ranging from human's impact on the environment to the challenges faced by contemporary societies in the forms of class, race, gender, age and sexuality. It seeks to understand the range of Human Geographical processes that have shaped and are shaping the human environment about us from agricultural and rural developments through the processes of modernization, urbanization and population growth to the problems presented by regionalism, nationalism, and globalization. It seeks to demonstrate the importance of changing and differing readings and interpretations of the human environment from large-scale empirical analyses of major human activities to small-scale qualitative appreciations of the individual's interaction with space.
Semester 1-2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-10035 Geographical Skills C C 7.5 15
This module introduces students to a core set of essential geographical techniques and basic study skills and provides hands-on opportunity for practical engagement with such skills in both laboratory and field-based environments. As such, the module is intended to equip participants with the appropriate skills and expertise to enable real world problems to be approached with confidence and practical competence.
Semester 2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-10041 People and the Environment C M 7.5 15
This module enables students to develop an understanding and appreciation of a range of environmental issues and different approaches to tackling these issues (from the natural and social science persepctives) , in particular addressing questions of how we use the environment as a resource, the impacts we have on the environment, environmental hazards, and how we can try and manage our impact on the environment.

Geography Dual Honours - Level 2 Modules

Semester 1 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-20029 Practical Physical Geography O C 7.5 15
This module provides a comprehensive introduction to a variety of specialist field, laboratory and computer-based techniques of particular relevance to physical geography. It builds upon core concepts and techniques introduced in the level 1 practical programme whilst providing a portfolio of skills applicable to level 3 independent research projects. Training and first-hand experience is provided in practical classes, which are supplemented by a tutorial programme that highlight the real-world applications of the techniques through in-class discussion and directed reading. In both teaching environments, particular effort is made to emphasise the relevance of the techniques covered to appropriate careers pathways.
ESC-20050 Dynamic Geographies (15 Credits) C C 7.5 15
This module builds upon the core concepts introduced within the first year programme and provides students with a comprehensive introduction to a range of specialist geographical disciplines and issues. Through engagement with specialist literature, students are encouraged to explore the dynamic nature of the subject as expressed through its varied research themes, recent developments and modern-day debates.
GEG-20002 Geography - Study Abroad II EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20006 Geography - Study Abroad I EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20010 Practical Human Geography O C 7.5 15
This module has been designed to build upon the basic practical skills established in year 1 and will play an important role in the preparation of the dissertation which all students submit as part of their degree assessment.
Semester 2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-20030 Regional Landsystems O M 7.5 15
The Earth&©s surface is characterised by a diverse assemblage of contrasting landscapes that reflect complex interactions between various factors including global climate, tectonic processes and variations in earth surface materials. This module explores our planet&©s diverse physical landscape by examining the processes and landforms responsible for the generation of distinctive &«Regional Landsystems&ª, investigating the fundamental controls on their geographical variability and considering their implications for human society. The module includes both lectures that focus upon various global case studies including permafrost, desert, ice-marginal, tropical and coastal environments, and tutorial sessions associated with guided reading that highlights active research in the environments covered.
GEG-20009 Geographical Research Training C C 7.5 15
This module is a course in research methods culminating in a residential overseas fieldcourse. Locations in recent years have included Malta, Spain and Kenya. The module develops students&© research abilities and enables them to acquire important transferable skills e.g. data gathering, data processing, data analysis and representation and group work.
GEG-20015 Space and Society O M 7.5 15
This module is concerned with the interrelationship between space, culture and society. Drawing together theoretical perspectives and empirical case-study examples, the module explores how societal relationships and formations shape spaces and places, whilst they are also shaped by them. Attention will be given to the built environment in terms of both public and private spheres.
GEG-20023 Geography - Study Abroad V EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20024 Geography - Study Abroad VI EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.

Geography Dual Honours - Level 3 Modules

Semester 1 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
+ ESC-30006 Glaciers and Glacial Geomorphology O M 7.5 15
This course gives students the opportunity to develop a high level of expertise in a specific field of geography: the study of glaciers and glacial landscapes. The main themes of the course are: the characteristics and behaviour of glaciers; the role of glaciers as part of the global system; and the impact of glaciers on the landscape. In recent Earth history 30 per cent of the Earth's land surface has been covered by glaciers. At present, glaciers cover about 10 per cent of the land. Seventy five per cent of the world's fresh water is contained in glaciers, which provide irrigation water for some of the most densely populated areas of the world. The development potential of large areas of our planet is dependent on our ability to mitigate glacial hazards, to harness glacial resources, and to penetrate the glacial barrier to the immense terrestrial and marine resources of the polar regions. The whole global environmental system is dominated by the planet's glacial character, and an understanding of the Earth's surface is impossible without an understanding of the characteristics of glaciers. This module explores those characteristics.
ESC-30009 Natural Hazards O M 7.5 15
This module examines the causes and characteristics of a broad variety of natural hazards and their destructive impact on human society. These hazards range from small-scale to large-scale events, from relatively minor disturbances to catastrophic disasters, and are associated with both environmental and anthropogenic triggers. Particular attention is paid to the assessment of risk and the steps that can be taken to prevent or mitigate the damage and disruption associated with these processes. This module examines the causes of a variety of natural hazards, to investigate their potential impacts on human society and infrastructure, and to evaluate the measures that can be taken to mitigate their destructive effects. Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to: • Describe, illustrate and explain with reference to specific examples the causes and dangers associated with a range of natural hazards. • Assess the level of risk posed by natural hazards in a variety of real and hypothetical situations. • Describe the techniques that can be used to predict and mitigate the impacts of natural hazards, and evaluate which techniques are most appropriate in a variety of circumstances. The principal component of this module is a series of lectures. The coursework component involves two separate assignments: (1) an individual poster presentation (25%), and; (2) a group-led, problem-based exercise, involving the submission of a technical report (25%), with end semester examinations (50%) completing module assessments.
+ ESC-30017 Applied Environmental GIS O M 7.5 15
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are of increasing importance to our understanding and management of environmental problems. This module introduces fundamental GIS concepts and capabilities and examines a variety of environmental applications ranging from natural resources management to the disposal of toxic waste. The applied nature of the course is reinforced by appropriate training in the use of industry-standard GIS software and an opportunity is presented for students to apply their new skills to addressing a specific environmental case study.
+ ESC-30018 Global Environmental Change O M 7.5 15
The Earth’s environment has been constantly changing throughout the history of the planet, and continuing change will have a serious impact on human activity. However, our understanding of how the environment changes is incomplete, and thus our ability to predict and adapt to future change is limited. This module aims to examine the key issues and debates about global environmental change. In particular, it aims to highlight the relationships between global environmental change and the characteristics of the Earth's surface processes and landscapes, and to recognize the contested and limited nature of knowledge in this very dynamic subject.
GEG-30015 Postcolonialism in South Asia O M 7.5 15
This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the present-day relevance of postcolonial concepts and workings in Human Geography. It seeks to introduce students to some of the key issues within postcolonial studies and provide them with an assessment of those issues in a geographical context. It will enable students to generate a geographical framework through which they can deconstruct the power structures of the past and present, deconstructing not only institutional structures, but mental ones as well, and to understand their spatial implications and expressions for landscapes and societies. South Asia will be used as the case study for the module, providing illustrations of the various types and levels of colonial workings, impacts, and geographical outcomes.
GEG-30018 Cultural Geographies of the Everyday O M 7.5 15
This module seeks to provide students with an understanding of the geographies present in a range of everyday cultural practices, artefacts, and representations. Through a combination of lectures and seminar-based discussions students will be introduced to some key debates and ideas prominent in contemporary research in cultural geography and be given an opportunity to assess those debates/ideas in relation to a variety of everyday contexts through group discussion. Such everyday contexts will include: everyday practices of mobility (such as cycling, walking, driving); how individuals perform their identities in public life; the importance of emotions and feelings to the experience of everyday spaces; how various cultural landscapes are represented and experienced; the geographies present in various 'mediascapes' (such as film, television, video games); how certain sub-cultural activities (such as parkour, street performing) can be seen as 'subverting' social-spatial norms; and the role memory and commemoration play in our relationships with different places.
Semester 2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
+ ESC-30020 Water Resources O M 7.5 15
Water is a vital resource to life on Earth. Pressures on water resources in many regions are growing due to increasing population, decreasing quality of water and anticipated climate change. In order to effectively manage water resources it is important to understand hydrological processes and both problems and potential solutions surrounding both water quantity and water quality, and the requirements of the human and ecological water users.
+ ESC-30027 Coastal Environments O M 7.5 15
The coastal zone is a highly dynamic and diverse environment. It contains a wide variety of geomorphic landforms and is influenced by numerous processes which operate over a range of temporal and spatial scales. This module explores the processes that drive coastal morphological changes, such as sea-level change, tides and ocean waves, discusses the nature of a range of coastal landforms and examines the links between form and process at a variety of temporal and spatial scales. The final part of this module, addressed predominately through the major coursework assignment, deals with the issue of coastal zone management. The module includes both lectures, which incorporate examples of active research in the areas covered, and practical activities, which seek to reinforce the material covered in lectures and through the guided reading.
# GEG-30006 Geography Double Dissertation - ISP O C 15 30
The geography dissertation is a research project on a geographical topic of the student&©s choice. It may be based on either primary data or secondary sources, and should demonstrate competence in dealing with geographical data or source material appropriate to the topic. The dissertation provides an opportunity for students to put into practice a wide range of skills and knowledge learned during their degree programme. Students are given a free choice of topic, and are allocated to an adviser with whom to discuss research strategy, analysis of the results and presentation of the work. The double dissertation is a substantial project, typically 8-11,000 words long, with an 11,000 word limit.
GEG-30008 Geography (Single) Dissertation - ISP O C 7.5 15
The geography dissertation is a research project on a geographical topic of the student&©s choice. It may be based on either primary data or secondary sources, and should demonstrate competence in dealing with geographical data or source material appropriate to the topic. The dissertation provides an opportunity for students to put into practice a wide range of skills and knowledge learned during their degree programme. Students are given a free choice of topic, and are allocated to an adviser with whom to discuss research strategy, analysis of the results and presentation of the work. The single dissertation is a substantial project, typically 5-6,000 words long, with a 6,000 word limit.
GEG-30014 Inspirational Landscapes O C 7.5 15
The idea of landscape is at the heart of Geography. This module explores landscape from a variety of different perspectives to see how core concepts in Geography tie together in the context of this overarching theme. Marcel Proust wrote that the true voyage of discovery involves not seeing new lands but seeing through new eyes and seeing through the eyes of different people. In this module we look at landscape both through geographers&© eyes and through the eyes of artists, poets, explorers, novelists, and composers. The assessment is project-based (no exam), and students can submit work either as a conventional written report, in another medium such as video, or in a multimedia format. Students are free to tie the project directly to their own interests in areas such as music, film or literature or to adopt a more traditional geomorphological, historical, cultural or applied approach to landscape. The module encourages students to explore the boundaries of the discipline of Geography, both internal (for example between scientific and aesthetic geographical writing and between physical and human geography) and external (for example where geography meets the creative arts).
GEG-30016 Economic Development and Environmental Transformation O M 7.5 15
Are economic development and environmental concerns always opposed? Why doesn't environmental conservation seem to work? And what areas should be conservation priorities to sustain global ecosystems? What does international development assistance do for the people who depend most directly on their local environments for their livelihoods? This module helps students find their own answers to some of these pressing questions by introducing them to development geography. Students explore key ideas from this subdiscipline including political ecology - the study of environments as products of social action - and performative economy - the idea of 'economy' as an abstract realm we bring into being by describing it. Their own examinations of in-depth case studies of economy and ecology enable students to come to original conclusions about the probity and feasibility of different pathways towards - and definitions of - 'development.'
SOC-30027 Space and the City O M 7.5 15
$ùTo be tired of the city is to be tired of life&© The city is exciting, alluring, dangerous and filled with possibilities and opportunities. It offers hustle and bustle, speed and distraction, a melting pot of sights, sounds, smells, and experiences in a cosmopolitan mix of multi-culturalism. It is simplistic to say that all activities and interactions take place in space. But as the city is at the centre of the modern urban world more and more of what we take for granted takes place in towns and cities. They are the primary location for work, production, consumption, education, learning, cultural and transport institutions and leisure and pleasure. However, the city is more than the sum of its parts and it is more than merely the individual&©s experience of it. This course will give you knowledge and understanding of the city as a socially constructed space in which the physical landscape that we see, use and misuse is not an accidental or coincidental coming-together of things and people. The city is a human produced space in which combinations of factors over time have produced a variety of urban spaces that increasingly dominate our existence and our experience. However, everyone&©s experience and opportunity of the city is not the same. There are winners and losers and we can readily identify areas and people in which relative success and failure is written into the landscape of the city. This course will give you new tools to develop new ways of thinking about the world - a socio-spatial imagination - to explore and understand how cities have developed in the way they have, what role planning and urban design have played, how and why the production, regulation and organisation, the policing and surveillance of urban space affects how and why different people settle and live in different areas, what limits there are to physical movement and social mobility. In short, by thinking more critically about space, cities will never seem the same again. Information on our MA in Urban Futures and Sustainable Communities is available at http://www.keele.ac.uk/urban-futures/

Geography Major - Level 1 Modules

Semester 1 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-10039 Fundamentals of Physical Geography C M 7.5 15
This module offers a self-contained introduction to physical geography for students from a variety of backgrounds (including students with no previous experience in the subject), and a foundation in the subject for those students who wish to pursue it to a higher level. The main learning outcomes for the successful student will be: knowledge and understanding of core material in Physical Geography; appreciation of the dynamic and research-based nature of the discipline; ability to use geographical evidence to explain features of the physical environment.
GEG-10013 Human Geographies C M 7.5 15
The module seeks to provide students with an understanding and appreciation of the diversity of approaches and content of Human Geography, ranging from human's impact on the environment to the challenges faced by contemporary societies in the forms of class, race, gender, age and sexuality. It seeks to understand the range of Human Geographical processes that have shaped and are shaping the human environment about us from agricultural and rural developments through the processes of modernization, urbanization and population growth to the problems presented by regionalism, nationalism, and globalization. It seeks to demonstrate the importance of changing and differing readings and interpretations of the human environment from large-scale empirical analyses of major human activities to small-scale qualitative appreciations of the individual's interaction with space.
Semester 1-2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-10035 Geographical Skills C C 7.5 15
This module introduces students to a core set of essential geographical techniques and basic study skills and provides hands-on opportunity for practical engagement with such skills in both laboratory and field-based environments. As such, the module is intended to equip participants with the appropriate skills and expertise to enable real world problems to be approached with confidence and practical competence.
Semester 2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-10041 People and the Environment C M 7.5 15
This module enables students to develop an understanding and appreciation of a range of environmental issues and different approaches to tackling these issues (from the natural and social science persepctives) , in particular addressing questions of how we use the environment as a resource, the impacts we have on the environment, environmental hazards, and how we can try and manage our impact on the environment.

Geography Major - Level 2 Modules

Semester 1 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-20029 Practical Physical Geography O C 7.5 15
This module provides a comprehensive introduction to a variety of specialist field, laboratory and computer-based techniques of particular relevance to physical geography. It builds upon core concepts and techniques introduced in the level 1 practical programme whilst providing a portfolio of skills applicable to level 3 independent research projects. Training and first-hand experience is provided in practical classes, which are supplemented by a tutorial programme that highlight the real-world applications of the techniques through in-class discussion and directed reading. In both teaching environments, particular effort is made to emphasise the relevance of the techniques covered to appropriate careers pathways.
ESC-20050 Dynamic Geographies (15 Credits) C C 7.5 15
This module builds upon the core concepts introduced within the first year programme and provides students with a comprehensive introduction to a range of specialist geographical disciplines and issues. Through engagement with specialist literature, students are encouraged to explore the dynamic nature of the subject as expressed through its varied research themes, recent developments and modern-day debates.
GEG-20002 Geography - Study Abroad II EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20006 Geography - Study Abroad I EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20010 Practical Human Geography O C 7.5 15
This module has been designed to build upon the basic practical skills established in year 1 and will play an important role in the preparation of the dissertation which all students submit as part of their degree assessment.
Semester 2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-20030 Regional Landsystems O M 7.5 15
The Earth&©s surface is characterised by a diverse assemblage of contrasting landscapes that reflect complex interactions between various factors including global climate, tectonic processes and variations in earth surface materials. This module explores our planet&©s diverse physical landscape by examining the processes and landforms responsible for the generation of distinctive &«Regional Landsystems&ª, investigating the fundamental controls on their geographical variability and considering their implications for human society. The module includes both lectures that focus upon various global case studies including permafrost, desert, ice-marginal, tropical and coastal environments, and tutorial sessions associated with guided reading that highlights active research in the environments covered.
GEG-20009 Geographical Research Training C C 7.5 15
This module is a course in research methods culminating in a residential overseas fieldcourse. Locations in recent years have included Malta, Spain and Kenya. The module develops students&© research abilities and enables them to acquire important transferable skills e.g. data gathering, data processing, data analysis and representation and group work.
GEG-20015 Space and Society O M 7.5 15
This module is concerned with the interrelationship between space, culture and society. Drawing together theoretical perspectives and empirical case-study examples, the module explores how societal relationships and formations shape spaces and places, whilst they are also shaped by them. Attention will be given to the built environment in terms of both public and private spheres.
GEG-20023 Geography - Study Abroad V EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20024 Geography - Study Abroad VI EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.

Geography Major - Level 3 Modules

Semester 1 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
+ ESC-30006 Glaciers and Glacial Geomorphology O M 7.5 15
This course gives students the opportunity to develop a high level of expertise in a specific field of geography: the study of glaciers and glacial landscapes. The main themes of the course are: the characteristics and behaviour of glaciers; the role of glaciers as part of the global system; and the impact of glaciers on the landscape. In recent Earth history 30 per cent of the Earth's land surface has been covered by glaciers. At present, glaciers cover about 10 per cent of the land. Seventy five per cent of the world's fresh water is contained in glaciers, which provide irrigation water for some of the most densely populated areas of the world. The development potential of large areas of our planet is dependent on our ability to mitigate glacial hazards, to harness glacial resources, and to penetrate the glacial barrier to the immense terrestrial and marine resources of the polar regions. The whole global environmental system is dominated by the planet's glacial character, and an understanding of the Earth's surface is impossible without an understanding of the characteristics of glaciers. This module explores those characteristics.
+ ESC-30006 Glaciers and Glacial Geomorphology EP M 7.5 15
This course gives students the opportunity to develop a high level of expertise in a specific field of geography: the study of glaciers and glacial landscapes. The main themes of the course are: the characteristics and behaviour of glaciers; the role of glaciers as part of the global system; and the impact of glaciers on the landscape. In recent Earth history 30 per cent of the Earth's land surface has been covered by glaciers. At present, glaciers cover about 10 per cent of the land. Seventy five per cent of the world's fresh water is contained in glaciers, which provide irrigation water for some of the most densely populated areas of the world. The development potential of large areas of our planet is dependent on our ability to mitigate glacial hazards, to harness glacial resources, and to penetrate the glacial barrier to the immense terrestrial and marine resources of the polar regions. The whole global environmental system is dominated by the planet's glacial character, and an understanding of the Earth's surface is impossible without an understanding of the characteristics of glaciers. This module explores those characteristics.
ESC-30009 Natural Hazards EA M 7.5 15
This module examines the causes and characteristics of a broad variety of natural hazards and their destructive impact on human society. These hazards range from small-scale to large-scale events, from relatively minor disturbances to catastrophic disasters, and are associated with both environmental and anthropogenic triggers. Particular attention is paid to the assessment of risk and the steps that can be taken to prevent or mitigate the damage and disruption associated with these processes. This module examines the causes of a variety of natural hazards, to investigate their potential impacts on human society and infrastructure, and to evaluate the measures that can be taken to mitigate their destructive effects. Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to: • Describe, illustrate and explain with reference to specific examples the causes and dangers associated with a range of natural hazards. • Assess the level of risk posed by natural hazards in a variety of real and hypothetical situations. • Describe the techniques that can be used to predict and mitigate the impacts of natural hazards, and evaluate which techniques are most appropriate in a variety of circumstances. The principal component of this module is a series of lectures. The coursework component involves two separate assignments: (1) an individual poster presentation (25%), and; (2) a group-led, problem-based exercise, involving the submission of a technical report (25%), with end semester examinations (50%) completing module assessments.
+ ESC-30017 Applied Environmental GIS O M 7.5 15
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are of increasing importance to our understanding and management of environmental problems. This module introduces fundamental GIS concepts and capabilities and examines a variety of environmental applications ranging from natural resources management to the disposal of toxic waste. The applied nature of the course is reinforced by appropriate training in the use of industry-standard GIS software and an opportunity is presented for students to apply their new skills to addressing a specific environmental case study.
+ ESC-30017 Applied Environmental GIS EP M 7.5 15
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are of increasing importance to our understanding and management of environmental problems. This module introduces fundamental GIS concepts and capabilities and examines a variety of environmental applications ranging from natural resources management to the disposal of toxic waste. The applied nature of the course is reinforced by appropriate training in the use of industry-standard GIS software and an opportunity is presented for students to apply their new skills to addressing a specific environmental case study.
+ ESC-30018 Global Environmental Change O M 7.5 15
The Earth’s environment has been constantly changing throughout the history of the planet, and continuing change will have a serious impact on human activity. However, our understanding of how the environment changes is incomplete, and thus our ability to predict and adapt to future change is limited. This module aims to examine the key issues and debates about global environmental change. In particular, it aims to highlight the relationships between global environmental change and the characteristics of the Earth's surface processes and landscapes, and to recognize the contested and limited nature of knowledge in this very dynamic subject.
+ ESC-30018 Global Environmental Change EP M 7.5 15
The Earth’s environment has been constantly changing throughout the history of the planet, and continuing change will have a serious impact on human activity. However, our understanding of how the environment changes is incomplete, and thus our ability to predict and adapt to future change is limited. This module aims to examine the key issues and debates about global environmental change. In particular, it aims to highlight the relationships between global environmental change and the characteristics of the Earth's surface processes and landscapes, and to recognize the contested and limited nature of knowledge in this very dynamic subject.
GEG-30015 Postcolonialism in South Asia O M 7.5 15
This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the present-day relevance of postcolonial concepts and workings in Human Geography. It seeks to introduce students to some of the key issues within postcolonial studies and provide them with an assessment of those issues in a geographical context. It will enable students to generate a geographical framework through which they can deconstruct the power structures of the past and present, deconstructing not only institutional structures, but mental ones as well, and to understand their spatial implications and expressions for landscapes and societies. South Asia will be used as the case study for the module, providing illustrations of the various types and levels of colonial workings, impacts, and geographical outcomes.
GEG-30015 Postcolonialism in South Asia EP M 7.5 15
This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the present-day relevance of postcolonial concepts and workings in Human Geography. It seeks to introduce students to some of the key issues within postcolonial studies and provide them with an assessment of those issues in a geographical context. It will enable students to generate a geographical framework through which they can deconstruct the power structures of the past and present, deconstructing not only institutional structures, but mental ones as well, and to understand their spatial implications and expressions for landscapes and societies. South Asia will be used as the case study for the module, providing illustrations of the various types and levels of colonial workings, impacts, and geographical outcomes.
GEG-30018 Cultural Geographies of the Everyday O M 7.5 15
This module seeks to provide students with an understanding of the geographies present in a range of everyday cultural practices, artefacts, and representations. Through a combination of lectures and seminar-based discussions students will be introduced to some key debates and ideas prominent in contemporary research in cultural geography and be given an opportunity to assess those debates/ideas in relation to a variety of everyday contexts through group discussion. Such everyday contexts will include: everyday practices of mobility (such as cycling, walking, driving); how individuals perform their identities in public life; the importance of emotions and feelings to the experience of everyday spaces; how various cultural landscapes are represented and experienced; the geographies present in various 'mediascapes' (such as film, television, video games); how certain sub-cultural activities (such as parkour, street performing) can be seen as 'subverting' social-spatial norms; and the role memory and commemoration play in our relationships with different places.
Semester 2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
+ ESC-30020 Water Resources O M 7.5 15
Water is a vital resource to life on Earth. Pressures on water resources in many regions are growing due to increasing population, decreasing quality of water and anticipated climate change. In order to effectively manage water resources it is important to understand hydrological processes and both problems and potential solutions surrounding both water quantity and water quality, and the requirements of the human and ecological water users.
+ ESC-30020 Water Resources EP M 7.5 15
Water is a vital resource to life on Earth. Pressures on water resources in many regions are growing due to increasing population, decreasing quality of water and anticipated climate change. In order to effectively manage water resources it is important to understand hydrological processes and both problems and potential solutions surrounding both water quantity and water quality, and the requirements of the human and ecological water users.
+ ESC-30027 Coastal Environments O M 7.5 15
The coastal zone is a highly dynamic and diverse environment. It contains a wide variety of geomorphic landforms and is influenced by numerous processes which operate over a range of temporal and spatial scales. This module explores the processes that drive coastal morphological changes, such as sea-level change, tides and ocean waves, discusses the nature of a range of coastal landforms and examines the links between form and process at a variety of temporal and spatial scales. The final part of this module, addressed predominately through the major coursework assignment, deals with the issue of coastal zone management. The module includes both lectures, which incorporate examples of active research in the areas covered, and practical activities, which seek to reinforce the material covered in lectures and through the guided reading.
+ ESC-30027 Coastal Environments EP M 7.5 15
The coastal zone is a highly dynamic and diverse environment. It contains a wide variety of geomorphic landforms and is influenced by numerous processes which operate over a range of temporal and spatial scales. This module explores the processes that drive coastal morphological changes, such as sea-level change, tides and ocean waves, discusses the nature of a range of coastal landforms and examines the links between form and process at a variety of temporal and spatial scales. The final part of this module, addressed predominately through the major coursework assignment, deals with the issue of coastal zone management. The module includes both lectures, which incorporate examples of active research in the areas covered, and practical activities, which seek to reinforce the material covered in lectures and through the guided reading.
# GEG-30006 Geography Double Dissertation - ISP C C 15 30
The geography dissertation is a research project on a geographical topic of the student&©s choice. It may be based on either primary data or secondary sources, and should demonstrate competence in dealing with geographical data or source material appropriate to the topic. The dissertation provides an opportunity for students to put into practice a wide range of skills and knowledge learned during their degree programme. Students are given a free choice of topic, and are allocated to an adviser with whom to discuss research strategy, analysis of the results and presentation of the work. The double dissertation is a substantial project, typically 8-11,000 words long, with an 11,000 word limit.
GEG-30014 Inspirational Landscapes O C 7.5 15
The idea of landscape is at the heart of Geography. This module explores landscape from a variety of different perspectives to see how core concepts in Geography tie together in the context of this overarching theme. Marcel Proust wrote that the true voyage of discovery involves not seeing new lands but seeing through new eyes and seeing through the eyes of different people. In this module we look at landscape both through geographers&© eyes and through the eyes of artists, poets, explorers, novelists, and composers. The assessment is project-based (no exam), and students can submit work either as a conventional written report, in another medium such as video, or in a multimedia format. Students are free to tie the project directly to their own interests in areas such as music, film or literature or to adopt a more traditional geomorphological, historical, cultural or applied approach to landscape. The module encourages students to explore the boundaries of the discipline of Geography, both internal (for example between scientific and aesthetic geographical writing and between physical and human geography) and external (for example where geography meets the creative arts).
GEG-30014 Inspirational Landscapes EP C 7.5 15
The idea of landscape is at the heart of Geography. This module explores landscape from a variety of different perspectives to see how core concepts in Geography tie together in the context of this overarching theme. Marcel Proust wrote that the true voyage of discovery involves not seeing new lands but seeing through new eyes and seeing through the eyes of different people. In this module we look at landscape both through geographers&© eyes and through the eyes of artists, poets, explorers, novelists, and composers. The assessment is project-based (no exam), and students can submit work either as a conventional written report, in another medium such as video, or in a multimedia format. Students are free to tie the project directly to their own interests in areas such as music, film or literature or to adopt a more traditional geomorphological, historical, cultural or applied approach to landscape. The module encourages students to explore the boundaries of the discipline of Geography, both internal (for example between scientific and aesthetic geographical writing and between physical and human geography) and external (for example where geography meets the creative arts).
GEG-30016 Economic Development and Environmental Transformation O M 7.5 15
Are economic development and environmental concerns always opposed? Why doesn't environmental conservation seem to work? And what areas should be conservation priorities to sustain global ecosystems? What does international development assistance do for the people who depend most directly on their local environments for their livelihoods? This module helps students find their own answers to some of these pressing questions by introducing them to development geography. Students explore key ideas from this subdiscipline including political ecology - the study of environments as products of social action - and performative economy - the idea of 'economy' as an abstract realm we bring into being by describing it. Their own examinations of in-depth case studies of economy and ecology enable students to come to original conclusions about the probity and feasibility of different pathways towards - and definitions of - 'development.'
GEG-30016 Economic Development and Environmental Transformation EP M 7.5 15
Are economic development and environmental concerns always opposed? Why doesn't environmental conservation seem to work? And what areas should be conservation priorities to sustain global ecosystems? What does international development assistance do for the people who depend most directly on their local environments for their livelihoods? This module helps students find their own answers to some of these pressing questions by introducing them to development geography. Students explore key ideas from this subdiscipline including political ecology - the study of environments as products of social action - and performative economy - the idea of 'economy' as an abstract realm we bring into being by describing it. Their own examinations of in-depth case studies of economy and ecology enable students to come to original conclusions about the probity and feasibility of different pathways towards - and definitions of - 'development.'
+ LSC-30017 Trees in their Environment EA M 7.5 15
Trees are the world&©s biggest and longest-lived organisms, weighing up to several thousand tonnes and, in some cases, living for at least 5,000 years. Using what is known about the ecology of trees this module investigates how trees function and survive in often harsh environments. Subjects include the environmental problems of supplying up to half a million leaves with water, how environmental and mechanical factors dictate the shape of trees, and how they cope with wind and other extreme events for millennia. This is used as a base to explore how groups of trees interact with their environment, including the role that forests play in climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation, and to look at the environmental issues associated with the exploitation of forests in forestry. The module is assessed by an individual essay (25%) based on a group project looking at a current problem faced by trees such as sudden oak death or squirrel damage, and an exam (75%). The module includes lectures and a mix of indoor tutorials used for the group projects and outdoor tutorials where we use the campus trees and woodland to demonstrate some of the issues discussed in the lectures.
SOC-30027 Space and the City EA M 7.5 15
$ùTo be tired of the city is to be tired of life&© The city is exciting, alluring, dangerous and filled with possibilities and opportunities. It offers hustle and bustle, speed and distraction, a melting pot of sights, sounds, smells, and experiences in a cosmopolitan mix of multi-culturalism. It is simplistic to say that all activities and interactions take place in space. But as the city is at the centre of the modern urban world more and more of what we take for granted takes place in towns and cities. They are the primary location for work, production, consumption, education, learning, cultural and transport institutions and leisure and pleasure. However, the city is more than the sum of its parts and it is more than merely the individual&©s experience of it. This course will give you knowledge and understanding of the city as a socially constructed space in which the physical landscape that we see, use and misuse is not an accidental or coincidental coming-together of things and people. The city is a human produced space in which combinations of factors over time have produced a variety of urban spaces that increasingly dominate our existence and our experience. However, everyone&©s experience and opportunity of the city is not the same. There are winners and losers and we can readily identify areas and people in which relative success and failure is written into the landscape of the city. This course will give you new tools to develop new ways of thinking about the world - a socio-spatial imagination - to explore and understand how cities have developed in the way they have, what role planning and urban design have played, how and why the production, regulation and organisation, the policing and surveillance of urban space affects how and why different people settle and live in different areas, what limits there are to physical movement and social mobility. In short, by thinking more critically about space, cities will never seem the same again. Information on our MA in Urban Futures and Sustainable Communities is available at http://www.keele.ac.uk/urban-futures/

Geography Minor - Level 1 Modules

Semester 1 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-10039 Fundamentals of Physical Geography C M 7.5 15
This module offers a self-contained introduction to physical geography for students from a variety of backgrounds (including students with no previous experience in the subject), and a foundation in the subject for those students who wish to pursue it to a higher level. The main learning outcomes for the successful student will be: knowledge and understanding of core material in Physical Geography; appreciation of the dynamic and research-based nature of the discipline; ability to use geographical evidence to explain features of the physical environment.
GEG-10013 Human Geographies C M 7.5 15
The module seeks to provide students with an understanding and appreciation of the diversity of approaches and content of Human Geography, ranging from human's impact on the environment to the challenges faced by contemporary societies in the forms of class, race, gender, age and sexuality. It seeks to understand the range of Human Geographical processes that have shaped and are shaping the human environment about us from agricultural and rural developments through the processes of modernization, urbanization and population growth to the problems presented by regionalism, nationalism, and globalization. It seeks to demonstrate the importance of changing and differing readings and interpretations of the human environment from large-scale empirical analyses of major human activities to small-scale qualitative appreciations of the individual's interaction with space.
Semester 1-2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-10035 Geographical Skills C C 7.5 15
This module introduces students to a core set of essential geographical techniques and basic study skills and provides hands-on opportunity for practical engagement with such skills in both laboratory and field-based environments. As such, the module is intended to equip participants with the appropriate skills and expertise to enable real world problems to be approached with confidence and practical competence.
Semester 2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-10041 People and the Environment C M 7.5 15
This module enables students to develop an understanding and appreciation of a range of environmental issues and different approaches to tackling these issues (from the natural and social science persepctives) , in particular addressing questions of how we use the environment as a resource, the impacts we have on the environment, environmental hazards, and how we can try and manage our impact on the environment.

Geography Minor - Level 2 Modules

Semester 1 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-20029 Practical Physical Geography O C 7.5 15
This module provides a comprehensive introduction to a variety of specialist field, laboratory and computer-based techniques of particular relevance to physical geography. It builds upon core concepts and techniques introduced in the level 1 practical programme whilst providing a portfolio of skills applicable to level 3 independent research projects. Training and first-hand experience is provided in practical classes, which are supplemented by a tutorial programme that highlight the real-world applications of the techniques through in-class discussion and directed reading. In both teaching environments, particular effort is made to emphasise the relevance of the techniques covered to appropriate careers pathways.
ESC-20050 Dynamic Geographies (15 Credits) C C 7.5 15
This module builds upon the core concepts introduced within the first year programme and provides students with a comprehensive introduction to a range of specialist geographical disciplines and issues. Through engagement with specialist literature, students are encouraged to explore the dynamic nature of the subject as expressed through its varied research themes, recent developments and modern-day debates.
GEG-20002 Geography - Study Abroad II EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20006 Geography - Study Abroad I EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20010 Practical Human Geography O C 7.5 15
This module has been designed to build upon the basic practical skills established in year 1 and will play an important role in the preparation of the dissertation which all students submit as part of their degree assessment.
Semester 2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-20030 Regional Landsystems O M 7.5 15
The Earth&©s surface is characterised by a diverse assemblage of contrasting landscapes that reflect complex interactions between various factors including global climate, tectonic processes and variations in earth surface materials. This module explores our planet&©s diverse physical landscape by examining the processes and landforms responsible for the generation of distinctive &«Regional Landsystems&ª, investigating the fundamental controls on their geographical variability and considering their implications for human society. The module includes both lectures that focus upon various global case studies including permafrost, desert, ice-marginal, tropical and coastal environments, and tutorial sessions associated with guided reading that highlights active research in the environments covered.
GEG-20009 Geographical Research Training C C 7.5 15
This module is a course in research methods culminating in a residential overseas fieldcourse. Locations in recent years have included Malta, Spain and Kenya. The module develops students&© research abilities and enables them to acquire important transferable skills e.g. data gathering, data processing, data analysis and representation and group work.
GEG-20015 Space and Society O M 7.5 15
This module is concerned with the interrelationship between space, culture and society. Drawing together theoretical perspectives and empirical case-study examples, the module explores how societal relationships and formations shape spaces and places, whilst they are also shaped by them. Attention will be given to the built environment in terms of both public and private spheres.
GEG-20023 Geography - Study Abroad V EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20024 Geography - Study Abroad VI EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.

Geography Minor - Level 3 Modules

Semester 1 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
+ ESC-30006 Glaciers and Glacial Geomorphology EP M 7.5 15
This course gives students the opportunity to develop a high level of expertise in a specific field of geography: the study of glaciers and glacial landscapes. The main themes of the course are: the characteristics and behaviour of glaciers; the role of glaciers as part of the global system; and the impact of glaciers on the landscape. In recent Earth history 30 per cent of the Earth's land surface has been covered by glaciers. At present, glaciers cover about 10 per cent of the land. Seventy five per cent of the world's fresh water is contained in glaciers, which provide irrigation water for some of the most densely populated areas of the world. The development potential of large areas of our planet is dependent on our ability to mitigate glacial hazards, to harness glacial resources, and to penetrate the glacial barrier to the immense terrestrial and marine resources of the polar regions. The whole global environmental system is dominated by the planet's glacial character, and an understanding of the Earth's surface is impossible without an understanding of the characteristics of glaciers. This module explores those characteristics.
+ ESC-30017 Applied Environmental GIS EP M 7.5 15
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are of increasing importance to our understanding and management of environmental problems. This module introduces fundamental GIS concepts and capabilities and examines a variety of environmental applications ranging from natural resources management to the disposal of toxic waste. The applied nature of the course is reinforced by appropriate training in the use of industry-standard GIS software and an opportunity is presented for students to apply their new skills to addressing a specific environmental case study.
+ ESC-30018 Global Environmental Change EP M 7.5 15
The Earth’s environment has been constantly changing throughout the history of the planet, and continuing change will have a serious impact on human activity. However, our understanding of how the environment changes is incomplete, and thus our ability to predict and adapt to future change is limited. This module aims to examine the key issues and debates about global environmental change. In particular, it aims to highlight the relationships between global environmental change and the characteristics of the Earth's surface processes and landscapes, and to recognize the contested and limited nature of knowledge in this very dynamic subject.
GEG-30015 Postcolonialism in South Asia EP M 7.5 15
This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the present-day relevance of postcolonial concepts and workings in Human Geography. It seeks to introduce students to some of the key issues within postcolonial studies and provide them with an assessment of those issues in a geographical context. It will enable students to generate a geographical framework through which they can deconstruct the power structures of the past and present, deconstructing not only institutional structures, but mental ones as well, and to understand their spatial implications and expressions for landscapes and societies. South Asia will be used as the case study for the module, providing illustrations of the various types and levels of colonial workings, impacts, and geographical outcomes.
Semester 2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
+ ESC-30020 Water Resources EP M 7.5 15
Water is a vital resource to life on Earth. Pressures on water resources in many regions are growing due to increasing population, decreasing quality of water and anticipated climate change. In order to effectively manage water resources it is important to understand hydrological processes and both problems and potential solutions surrounding both water quantity and water quality, and the requirements of the human and ecological water users.
+ ESC-30027 Coastal Environments EP M 7.5 15
The coastal zone is a highly dynamic and diverse environment. It contains a wide variety of geomorphic landforms and is influenced by numerous processes which operate over a range of temporal and spatial scales. This module explores the processes that drive coastal morphological changes, such as sea-level change, tides and ocean waves, discusses the nature of a range of coastal landforms and examines the links between form and process at a variety of temporal and spatial scales. The final part of this module, addressed predominately through the major coursework assignment, deals with the issue of coastal zone management. The module includes both lectures, which incorporate examples of active research in the areas covered, and practical activities, which seek to reinforce the material covered in lectures and through the guided reading.
GEG-30014 Inspirational Landscapes EP C 7.5 15
The idea of landscape is at the heart of Geography. This module explores landscape from a variety of different perspectives to see how core concepts in Geography tie together in the context of this overarching theme. Marcel Proust wrote that the true voyage of discovery involves not seeing new lands but seeing through new eyes and seeing through the eyes of different people. In this module we look at landscape both through geographers&© eyes and through the eyes of artists, poets, explorers, novelists, and composers. The assessment is project-based (no exam), and students can submit work either as a conventional written report, in another medium such as video, or in a multimedia format. Students are free to tie the project directly to their own interests in areas such as music, film or literature or to adopt a more traditional geomorphological, historical, cultural or applied approach to landscape. The module encourages students to explore the boundaries of the discipline of Geography, both internal (for example between scientific and aesthetic geographical writing and between physical and human geography) and external (for example where geography meets the creative arts).
GEG-30016 Economic Development and Environmental Transformation EP M 7.5 15
Are economic development and environmental concerns always opposed? Why doesn't environmental conservation seem to work? And what areas should be conservation priorities to sustain global ecosystems? What does international development assistance do for the people who depend most directly on their local environments for their livelihoods? This module helps students find their own answers to some of these pressing questions by introducing them to development geography. Students explore key ideas from this subdiscipline including political ecology - the study of environments as products of social action - and performative economy - the idea of 'economy' as an abstract realm we bring into being by describing it. Their own examinations of in-depth case studies of economy and ecology enable students to come to original conclusions about the probity and feasibility of different pathways towards - and definitions of - 'development.'

Geography Single Honours - Level 1 Modules

Semester 1 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-10039 Fundamentals of Physical Geography C M 7.5 15
This module offers a self-contained introduction to physical geography for students from a variety of backgrounds (including students with no previous experience in the subject), and a foundation in the subject for those students who wish to pursue it to a higher level. The main learning outcomes for the successful student will be: knowledge and understanding of core material in Physical Geography; appreciation of the dynamic and research-based nature of the discipline; ability to use geographical evidence to explain features of the physical environment.
GEG-10011 Geography & Geographers C C 7.5 15
This module encourages students to identify and consider the influential roles played by key figures within both Human and Physical Geography. In so doing, students are encouraged to engage with independent and self-directed modes of learning, with additional support being provided through workshops, one-to-one supervision meetings and bespoke WebCT resources.
GEG-10013 Human Geographies C M 7.5 15
The module seeks to provide students with an understanding and appreciation of the diversity of approaches and content of Human Geography, ranging from human's impact on the environment to the challenges faced by contemporary societies in the forms of class, race, gender, age and sexuality. It seeks to understand the range of Human Geographical processes that have shaped and are shaping the human environment about us from agricultural and rural developments through the processes of modernization, urbanization and population growth to the problems presented by regionalism, nationalism, and globalization. It seeks to demonstrate the importance of changing and differing readings and interpretations of the human environment from large-scale empirical analyses of major human activities to small-scale qualitative appreciations of the individual's interaction with space.
Semester 1-2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-10035 Geographical Skills C C 7.5 15
This module introduces students to a core set of essential geographical techniques and basic study skills and provides hands-on opportunity for practical engagement with such skills in both laboratory and field-based environments. As such, the module is intended to equip participants with the appropriate skills and expertise to enable real world problems to be approached with confidence and practical competence.
Semester 2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-10032 Global Warming or a New Ice Age? EA C 7.5 15
This module aims to provide non-specialists with a scientific context for contemporary debates about climate change. There are many myths and misunderstandings surrounding the topic of climate change and this module seeks to provide students with a scientific perspective on some of these issues. The module will provide students with basic information about climate change, global warming, and the impacts of both past and future climate change on sea level, glaciers, the oceans and terrestrial regions of the world. We will also address the ways in which styles of scientific communication, and the reporting of science in popular media, affect public understanding and peoples’ perceptions of climate change.
ESC-10038 The Practice of Physical Geography C M 7.5 15
This module provides a foundation of knowledge and understanding of the nature of the discipline of Physical Geography, including its context within a broader scientific framework, its professional conventions, and the principles and concepts underlying current approaches to the subject. The module is intended for students who plan to pursue Physical Geography to a higher level within the Single Honours Geography or Dual Honours Physical Geography programmes. Teaching includes ten 1-hour lectures (with web support and directed reading) and a 1-day field excursion.
ESC-10041 People and the Environment C M 7.5 15
This module enables students to develop an understanding and appreciation of a range of environmental issues and different approaches to tackling these issues (from the natural and social science persepctives) , in particular addressing questions of how we use the environment as a resource, the impacts we have on the environment, environmental hazards, and how we can try and manage our impact on the environment.
ESC-10043 Greening Business: Employability and Sustainability EA C 7.5 15
The 'Greening Business' module explores the environmental and sustainability responsibilities of businesses and will develop your skills and understanding in driving sustainability improvements in organisations. The module will provide opportunity for you to research and to drive recommendations for improvements in aspects of the University's sustainability performance. This is a module for all students who want to make a difference to the world and their place of work, providing a framework within which to consider employers' environmental responsibilities, and to provide the practical skills and knowledge to direct enhanced environmental performance in the workplace
GEG-10012 Practising Human Geography C C 7.5 15
The module introduces students to a range of approaches, skills and techniques that are relevant to the practice of Human Geography. It will allow students to develop an awareness of the process of human geography research practice, focusing particularly upon the relation between concepts and theories, research methodology and the articulation of arguments and debates within research presentation. Students will also have the opportunity to reflect on how they can articulate geographical skills and develop their subject specific and generic skills.

Geography Single Honours - Level 2 Modules

Semester 1 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-20029 Practical Physical Geography C C 7.5 15
This module provides a comprehensive introduction to a variety of specialist field, laboratory and computer-based techniques of particular relevance to physical geography. It builds upon core concepts and techniques introduced in the level 1 practical programme whilst providing a portfolio of skills applicable to level 3 independent research projects. Training and first-hand experience is provided in practical classes, which are supplemented by a tutorial programme that highlight the real-world applications of the techniques through in-class discussion and directed reading. In both teaching environments, particular effort is made to emphasise the relevance of the techniques covered to appropriate careers pathways.
ESC-20049 Dynamic Geographies (30 Credits) C C 15 30
This module builds upon the core concepts introduced within the first year programme and provides students with a comprehensive introduction to a range of specialist geographical disciplines and issues. Through engagement with specialist literature, students are encouraged to explore the dynamic nature of the subject as expressed through its varied research themes, recent developments and modern-day debates.
GEG-20002 Geography - Study Abroad II EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20006 Geography - Study Abroad I EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20007 Geography - Study Abroad III EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20008 Geography - Study Abroad IV EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20010 Practical Human Geography C C 7.5 15
This module has been designed to build upon the basic practical skills established in year 1 and will play an important role in the preparation of the dissertation which all students submit as part of their degree assessment.
Semester 2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
ESC-20030 Regional Landsystems C M 7.5 15
The Earth&©s surface is characterised by a diverse assemblage of contrasting landscapes that reflect complex interactions between various factors including global climate, tectonic processes and variations in earth surface materials. This module explores our planet&©s diverse physical landscape by examining the processes and landforms responsible for the generation of distinctive &«Regional Landsystems&ª, investigating the fundamental controls on their geographical variability and considering their implications for human society. The module includes both lectures that focus upon various global case studies including permafrost, desert, ice-marginal, tropical and coastal environments, and tutorial sessions associated with guided reading that highlights active research in the environments covered.
GEG-20009 Geographical Research Training C C 7.5 15
This module is a course in research methods culminating in a residential overseas fieldcourse. Locations in recent years have included Malta, Spain and Kenya. The module develops students&© research abilities and enables them to acquire important transferable skills e.g. data gathering, data processing, data analysis and representation and group work.
GEG-20015 Space and Society C M 7.5 15
This module is concerned with the interrelationship between space, culture and society. Drawing together theoretical perspectives and empirical case-study examples, the module explores how societal relationships and formations shape spaces and places, whilst they are also shaped by them. Attention will be given to the built environment in terms of both public and private spheres.
GEG-20018 Concepts and Debates in Geography C C 7.5 15
This module is a core component of the level 2 programme for Single Honours Geography programmes that encourages students to actively engage with the geographical research undertaken by the Geography staff members. The first part of the module involves a series of lectures delivered by various members of the Geography staff that serve to highlight the ongoing research, debates and methodologies associated within their own specialist research areas. Students subsequently chose a subject area of particular interest and with the assistance of the staff member concerned, undertaking extensive research that culminates in the production of a comprehensive literature review.
GEG-20023 Geography - Study Abroad V EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20024 Geography - Study Abroad VI EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20025 Geography - Study Abroad VII EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.
GEG-20026 Geography - Study Abroad VIII EP C 7.5 15
This is a module that is automatically allocated to the records our Keele level II students who are going to Study Abroad at a partner University for a semester of their second year and cannot be selected by any other level II students.

Geography Single Honours - Level 3 Modules

Semester 1 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
+ ESC-30006 Glaciers and Glacial Geomorphology O M 7.5 15
This course gives students the opportunity to develop a high level of expertise in a specific field of geography: the study of glaciers and glacial landscapes. The main themes of the course are: the characteristics and behaviour of glaciers; the role of glaciers as part of the global system; and the impact of glaciers on the landscape. In recent Earth history 30 per cent of the Earth's land surface has been covered by glaciers. At present, glaciers cover about 10 per cent of the land. Seventy five per cent of the world's fresh water is contained in glaciers, which provide irrigation water for some of the most densely populated areas of the world. The development potential of large areas of our planet is dependent on our ability to mitigate glacial hazards, to harness glacial resources, and to penetrate the glacial barrier to the immense terrestrial and marine resources of the polar regions. The whole global environmental system is dominated by the planet's glacial character, and an understanding of the Earth's surface is impossible without an understanding of the characteristics of glaciers. This module explores those characteristics.
+ ESC-30006 Glaciers and Glacial Geomorphology EP M 7.5 15
This course gives students the opportunity to develop a high level of expertise in a specific field of geography: the study of glaciers and glacial landscapes. The main themes of the course are: the characteristics and behaviour of glaciers; the role of glaciers as part of the global system; and the impact of glaciers on the landscape. In recent Earth history 30 per cent of the Earth's land surface has been covered by glaciers. At present, glaciers cover about 10 per cent of the land. Seventy five per cent of the world's fresh water is contained in glaciers, which provide irrigation water for some of the most densely populated areas of the world. The development potential of large areas of our planet is dependent on our ability to mitigate glacial hazards, to harness glacial resources, and to penetrate the glacial barrier to the immense terrestrial and marine resources of the polar regions. The whole global environmental system is dominated by the planet's glacial character, and an understanding of the Earth's surface is impossible without an understanding of the characteristics of glaciers. This module explores those characteristics.
ESC-30009 Natural Hazards EA M 7.5 15
This module examines the causes and characteristics of a broad variety of natural hazards and their destructive impact on human society. These hazards range from small-scale to large-scale events, from relatively minor disturbances to catastrophic disasters, and are associated with both environmental and anthropogenic triggers. Particular attention is paid to the assessment of risk and the steps that can be taken to prevent or mitigate the damage and disruption associated with these processes. This module examines the causes of a variety of natural hazards, to investigate their potential impacts on human society and infrastructure, and to evaluate the measures that can be taken to mitigate their destructive effects. Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to: • Describe, illustrate and explain with reference to specific examples the causes and dangers associated with a range of natural hazards. • Assess the level of risk posed by natural hazards in a variety of real and hypothetical situations. • Describe the techniques that can be used to predict and mitigate the impacts of natural hazards, and evaluate which techniques are most appropriate in a variety of circumstances. The principal component of this module is a series of lectures. The coursework component involves two separate assignments: (1) an individual poster presentation (25%), and; (2) a group-led, problem-based exercise, involving the submission of a technical report (25%), with end semester examinations (50%) completing module assessments.
+ ESC-30017 Applied Environmental GIS O M 7.5 15
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are of increasing importance to our understanding and management of environmental problems. This module introduces fundamental GIS concepts and capabilities and examines a variety of environmental applications ranging from natural resources management to the disposal of toxic waste. The applied nature of the course is reinforced by appropriate training in the use of industry-standard GIS software and an opportunity is presented for students to apply their new skills to addressing a specific environmental case study.
+ ESC-30017 Applied Environmental GIS EP M 7.5 15
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are of increasing importance to our understanding and management of environmental problems. This module introduces fundamental GIS concepts and capabilities and examines a variety of environmental applications ranging from natural resources management to the disposal of toxic waste. The applied nature of the course is reinforced by appropriate training in the use of industry-standard GIS software and an opportunity is presented for students to apply their new skills to addressing a specific environmental case study.
+ ESC-30018 Global Environmental Change O M 7.5 15
The Earth’s environment has been constantly changing throughout the history of the planet, and continuing change will have a serious impact on human activity. However, our understanding of how the environment changes is incomplete, and thus our ability to predict and adapt to future change is limited. This module aims to examine the key issues and debates about global environmental change. In particular, it aims to highlight the relationships between global environmental change and the characteristics of the Earth's surface processes and landscapes, and to recognize the contested and limited nature of knowledge in this very dynamic subject.
+ ESC-30018 Global Environmental Change EP M 7.5 15
The Earth’s environment has been constantly changing throughout the history of the planet, and continuing change will have a serious impact on human activity. However, our understanding of how the environment changes is incomplete, and thus our ability to predict and adapt to future change is limited. This module aims to examine the key issues and debates about global environmental change. In particular, it aims to highlight the relationships between global environmental change and the characteristics of the Earth's surface processes and landscapes, and to recognize the contested and limited nature of knowledge in this very dynamic subject.
GEG-30015 Postcolonialism in South Asia O M 7.5 15
This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the present-day relevance of postcolonial concepts and workings in Human Geography. It seeks to introduce students to some of the key issues within postcolonial studies and provide them with an assessment of those issues in a geographical context. It will enable students to generate a geographical framework through which they can deconstruct the power structures of the past and present, deconstructing not only institutional structures, but mental ones as well, and to understand their spatial implications and expressions for landscapes and societies. South Asia will be used as the case study for the module, providing illustrations of the various types and levels of colonial workings, impacts, and geographical outcomes.
GEG-30015 Postcolonialism in South Asia EP M 7.5 15
This module aims to provide students with an understanding of the present-day relevance of postcolonial concepts and workings in Human Geography. It seeks to introduce students to some of the key issues within postcolonial studies and provide them with an assessment of those issues in a geographical context. It will enable students to generate a geographical framework through which they can deconstruct the power structures of the past and present, deconstructing not only institutional structures, but mental ones as well, and to understand their spatial implications and expressions for landscapes and societies. South Asia will be used as the case study for the module, providing illustrations of the various types and levels of colonial workings, impacts, and geographical outcomes.
GEG-30018 Cultural Geographies of the Everyday O M 7.5 15
This module seeks to provide students with an understanding of the geographies present in a range of everyday cultural practices, artefacts, and representations. Through a combination of lectures and seminar-based discussions students will be introduced to some key debates and ideas prominent in contemporary research in cultural geography and be given an opportunity to assess those debates/ideas in relation to a variety of everyday contexts through group discussion. Such everyday contexts will include: everyday practices of mobility (such as cycling, walking, driving); how individuals perform their identities in public life; the importance of emotions and feelings to the experience of everyday spaces; how various cultural landscapes are represented and experienced; the geographies present in various 'mediascapes' (such as film, television, video games); how certain sub-cultural activities (such as parkour, street performing) can be seen as 'subverting' social-spatial norms; and the role memory and commemoration play in our relationships with different places.
Semester 2 C/O TYP ECTSCATS
+ ESC-30020 Water Resources O M 7.5 15
Water is a vital resource to life on Earth. Pressures on water resources in many regions are growing due to increasing population, decreasing quality of water and anticipated climate change. In order to effectively manage water resources it is important to understand hydrological processes and both problems and potential solutions surrounding both water quantity and water quality, and the requirements of the human and ecological water users.
+ ESC-30020 Water Resources EP M 7.5 15
Water is a vital resource to life on Earth. Pressures on water resources in many regions are growing due to increasing population, decreasing quality of water and anticipated climate change. In order to effectively manage water resources it is important to understand hydrological processes and both problems and potential solutions surrounding both water quantity and water quality, and the requirements of the human and ecological water users.
+ ESC-30027 Coastal Environments O M 7.5 15
The coastal zone is a highly dynamic and diverse environment. It contains a wide variety of geomorphic landforms and is influenced by numerous processes which operate over a range of temporal and spatial scales. This module explores the processes that drive coastal morphological changes, such as sea-level change, tides and ocean waves, discusses the nature of a range of coastal landforms and examines the links between form and process at a variety of temporal and spatial scales. The final part of this module, addressed predominately through the major coursework assignment, deals with the issue of coastal zone management. The module includes both lectures, which incorporate examples of active research in the areas covered, and practical activities, which seek to reinforce the material covered in lectures and through the guided reading.
+ ESC-30027 Coastal Environments EP M 7.5 15
The coastal zone is a highly dynamic and diverse environment. It contains a wide variety of geomorphic landforms and is influenced by numerous processes which operate over a range of temporal and spatial scales. This module explores the processes that drive coastal morphological changes, such as sea-level change, tides and ocean waves, discusses the nature of a range of coastal landforms and examines the links between form and process at a variety of temporal and spatial scales. The final part of this module, addressed predominately through the major coursework assignment, deals with the issue of coastal zone management. The module includes both lectures, which incorporate examples of active research in the areas covered, and practical activities, which seek to reinforce the material covered in lectures and through the guided reading.
# GEG-30006 Geography Double Dissertation - ISP C C 15 30
The geography dissertation is a research project on a geographical topic of the student&©s choice. It may be based on either primary data or secondary sources, and should demonstrate competence in dealing with geographical data or source material appropriate to the topic. The dissertation provides an opportunity for students to put into practice a wide range of skills and knowledge learned during their degree programme. Students are given a free choice of topic, and are allocated to an adviser with whom to discuss research strategy, analysis of the results and presentation of the work. The double dissertation is a substantial project, typically 8-11,000 words long, with an 11,000 word limit.
GEG-30014 Inspirational Landscapes O C 7.5 15
The idea of landscape is at the heart of Geography. This module explores landscape from a variety of different perspectives to see how core concepts in Geography tie together in the context of this overarching theme. Marcel Proust wrote that the true voyage of discovery involves not seeing new lands but seeing through new eyes and seeing through the eyes of different people. In this module we look at landscape both through geographers&© eyes and through the eyes of artists, poets, explorers, novelists, and composers. The assessment is project-based (no exam), and students can submit work either as a conventional written report, in another medium such as video, or in a multimedia format. Students are free to tie the project directly to their own interests in areas such as music, film or literature or to adopt a more traditional geomorphological, historical, cultural or applied approach to landscape. The module encourages students to explore the boundaries of the discipline of Geography, both internal (for example between scientific and aesthetic geographical writing and between physical and human geography) and external (for example where geography meets the creative arts).
GEG-30014 Inspirational Landscapes EP C 7.5 15
The idea of landscape is at the heart of Geography. This module explores landscape from a variety of different perspectives to see how core concepts in Geography tie together in the context of this overarching theme. Marcel Proust wrote that the true voyage of discovery involves not seeing new lands but seeing through new eyes and seeing through the eyes of different people. In this module we look at landscape both through geographers&© eyes and through the eyes of artists, poets, explorers, novelists, and composers. The assessment is project-based (no exam), and students can submit work either as a conventional written report, in another medium such as video, or in a multimedia format. Students are free to tie the project directly to their own interests in areas such as music, film or literature or to adopt a more traditional geomorphological, historical, cultural or applied approach to landscape. The module encourages students to explore the boundaries of the discipline of Geography, both internal (for example between scientific and aesthetic geographical writing and between physical and human geography) and external (for example where geography meets the creative arts).
GEG-30016 Economic Development and Environmental Transformation O M 7.5 15
Are economic development and environmental concerns always opposed? Why doesn't environmental conservation seem to work? And what areas should be conservation priorities to sustain global ecosystems? What does international development assistance do for the people who depend most directly on their local environments for their livelihoods? This module helps students find their own answers to some of these pressing questions by introducing them to development geography. Students explore key ideas from this subdiscipline including political ecology - the study of environments as products of social action - and performative economy - the idea of 'economy' as an abstract realm we bring into being by describing it. Their own examinations of in-depth case studies of economy and ecology enable students to come to original conclusions about the probity and feasibility of different pathways towards - and definitions of - 'development.'
GEG-30016 Economic Development and Environmental Transformation EP M 7.5 15
Are economic development and environmental concerns always opposed? Why doesn't environmental conservation seem to work? And what areas should be conservation priorities to sustain global ecosystems? What does international development assistance do for the people who depend most directly on their local environments for their livelihoods? This module helps students find their own answers to some of these pressing questions by introducing them to development geography. Students explore key ideas from this subdiscipline including political ecology - the study of environments as products of social action - and performative economy - the idea of 'economy' as an abstract realm we bring into being by describing it. Their own examinations of in-depth case studies of economy and ecology enable students to come to original conclusions about the probity and feasibility of different pathways towards - and definitions of - 'development.'
+ LSC-30017 Trees in their Environment EA M 7.5 15
Trees are the world&©s biggest and longest-lived organisms, weighing up to several thousand tonnes and, in some cases, living for at least 5,000 years. Using what is known about the ecology of trees this module investigates how trees function and survive in often harsh environments. Subjects include the environmental problems of supplying up to half a million leaves with water, how environmental and mechanical factors dictate the shape of trees, and how they cope with wind and other extreme events for millennia. This is used as a base to explore how groups of trees interact with their environment, including the role that forests play in climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation, and to look at the environmental issues associated with the exploitation of forests in forestry. The module is assessed by an individual essay (25%) based on a group project looking at a current problem faced by trees such as sudden oak death or squirrel damage, and an exam (75%). The module includes lectures and a mix of indoor tutorials used for the group projects and outdoor tutorials where we use the campus trees and woodland to demonstrate some of the issues discussed in the lectures.
SOC-30027 Space and the City EA M 7.5 15
$ùTo be tired of the city is to be tired of life&© The city is exciting, alluring, dangerous and filled with possibilities and opportunities. It offers hustle and bustle, speed and distraction, a melting pot of sights, sounds, smells, and experiences in a cosmopolitan mix of multi-culturalism. It is simplistic to say that all activities and interactions take place in space. But as the city is at the centre of the modern urban world more and more of what we take for granted takes place in towns and cities. They are the primary location for work, production, consumption, education, learning, cultural and transport institutions and leisure and pleasure. However, the city is more than the sum of its parts and it is more than merely the individual&©s experience of it. This course will give you knowledge and understanding of the city as a socially constructed space in which the physical landscape that we see, use and misuse is not an accidental or coincidental coming-together of things and people. The city is a human produced space in which combinations of factors over time have produced a variety of urban spaces that increasingly dominate our existence and our experience. However, everyone&©s experience and opportunity of the city is not the same. There are winners and losers and we can readily identify areas and people in which relative success and failure is written into the landscape of the city. This course will give you new tools to develop new ways of thinking about the world - a socio-spatial imagination - to explore and understand how cities have developed in the way they have, what role planning and urban design have played, how and why the production, regulation and organisation, the policing and surveillance of urban space affects how and why different people settle and live in different areas, what limits there are to physical movement and social mobility. In short, by thinking more critically about space, cities will never seem the same again. Information on our MA in Urban Futures and Sustainable Communities is available at http://www.keele.ac.uk/urban-futures/

C Compulsory Core Module
O Optional Core Module
EP Programme Elective Module
EA Approved Elective Module
EF Free-Standing Elective Module
M Mixed Assessment e.g. a mixture of essay(s) and examination, with the latter's weighting below 90%.
E Examination, providing 90% or more of the mark.
C Continuous Assessment e.g. essay(s) or practical work (as appropriate).
+ Available to qualified non-principal, Erasmus, Exchange and Study Abroad students but there may be a restriction on the number of places available
~ Specific pre-requisite(s) needed by non-principal, Erasmus, Exchange and Study Abroad students wishing to take these modules
# Not normally available to Erasmus, Exchange and Study Abroad students (except by prior negotiation with Departmental Tutor)
Note: Modules not marked with a # are available to suitably qualified Erasmus, Exchange and Study Abroad students.