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2022/2023

Geographic Thought

Code: 104250 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2503710 Geography, Environmental Management and Spatial Planning OB 3 1

Contact

Name:
Abel Albet Mas
Email:
abel.albet@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
No
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Prerequisites

A commitment to regularly follow class sessions and actively participate in them is required. In the case that circumstances may lead to virtualise -partially or completely- the course, a commitment to regularly follow class sessions and actively participate in them will be required following the proposed virtual network systems.

Students should be able to read texts in Catalan, Spanish, English, French and Italian.

Objectives and Contextualisation

Academic, scientific, political and ethical proposal:

The subject consists in the study of:

- the fundamental frameworks of geographical thought from the birth of modern geography to present days;

- epistemology and the history of geography;

- theories, concepts and methods in geography;

- geography as a critical and dissident look at the spatial expression of social, political, economic and cultural reality.

It seeks to assume:

- the critical and social commitment of geography: critical geographies as an instrument of interpretation and transformation of the world;

- the ethical commitment on injustices, imbalances and social and spatial inequalities that capitalism and neoliberalism generate in society and in the contemporary world;

- the political positioning in front of attitudes, principles and spatial initiatives that are given in relation to the territory;

- the social implication in the transformation of the territory, as citizens and as scientists;

- the capacity to generate a critical and proper discourse in front of the territorial reality, and in front of the external and dominant discourses.

Competences

  • Critically analyse the relationship between society and the region applying the conceptual and theoretical framework of geography.
  • Demonstrate skills of self-analysis and self-criticism
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Demonstrate skills of self-analysis and self-criticism.
  2. Identify the main theoretical concepts of regional studies.
  3. Make a critical evaluation of the regional proposals and reflections.
  4. Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.

Content

(Very) Orientative program

· Geography, the social science of places.

· Classical and pre-scientific geography.

· Institutionalization of geography.

· Environmental determinism.

· French regional geography.

· Theoretical-quantitative geography.

· Critical and radical geographies.

· Anarchist geographies.

· Humanistic geography.

· Geography in the postmodern context.

· Postmodern geographies: redefining the "other" (gender, orientalism, postcolonialism).

· Postmodern geographies: redefining culture, places and landscapes.

 ***

· Contemporary geography in Catalonia and Spain.

· Geographers and their professional activity.

· Geography and teaching.

 ***

· Geography and ideology; the positioning of critical geographies.

· Activism and dissidence; the critical and social commitment of geography.

· Spatial justice and territorial responsibility

· Critical cartographies.

· Critical geopolitics.

· Environmental challenges.

· Urban social movements, squatting, ZTA, the common.

· The need for a critical spatial thinking.

 

The final and effectively valid program of the subject will be distributed during the first class session of the course.

Methodology

Structure of the course

The presential classes are "theoretical" (exposition by the teacher) and "practical" (readings, debates in forum based on texts).

In the UAB's Moodle there is essential documentation and information for the course, both regarding the organizational aspects of the subject and in relation to the thematic contents of it. It is important to access Moodle often.

Possible teaching-learning strategies developed by the teacher:

- teaching in master classes;

- organization of the forum and debate sessions;

- teaching of practical sessions;

- proposal and guide in mandatory readings;

- tutorials of the essays;

- case development;

- eventually, participation of external speakers;

- eventually, field trips and visits to exhibitions.

Activities that, foreseeably, the students will realize:

- unavoidable presence/follow-up to class sessions;

- necessary participation in the forum and debate sessions;

- necessary participation in the practical sessions;

- systematic reading of mandatory texts; presentation of summaries and reviews;

- presence to eventual field trips and visits to exhibitions;

- development of a short essay (written, individual, supervised by the teacher);

- preparation and public presentation (oral, in group, tutored by the teacher) of a discussion forum on a topic related to geographical thought;

- a written or oral test.

In the case that circumstances may lead to virtualise -partially or completely- the course, an attempt will be made to adapt this course structure to the possibilities that telematic channels allow.

According to the guidelines of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters «15 minutes of a class will be reserved, within the established calendar, for the completion by the students of the surveys to evaluate the performance of the teaching staff and the evaluation of the subject».
By imposition, the teaching guide of this course includes the formula of citing some "competences", "hours", "training activities" and "learning outcomes", even though they do not correspond to the teacher's criteria.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Theoretical sessions 50 2 3, 2, 4
Type: Supervised      
Practical sessions 25 1 1, 4
Type: Autonomous      
Practical sessions 25 1 1, 4

Assessment

Evaluation and reevaluation

Evaluation of the theoretical classes:

- Short creative essay. Written, individual. [The evaluation will assess the appropriate expression, coherence in the development, bibliography management, originality, etc.].

- Individual test. [The evaluation will assess the assimilation of knowledge, the capacity for analysis, synthesis and interpretation].

Evaluation of practical classes:

- Thematic discussion-forum based on the proposed readings. Collective work (oral and written) directed by two or three speakers following the calendar established in the first class session. Once presented, the speakers will have a week to deliver it in written or graphic form (non-extendable). [The evaluation will assess the preparation -including tutorials with the teacher-, the oral presentation and presentation -in group- of the debate-forum, the correct and adequate oral expression, bibliography management, the team work, the graphic presentation of the results].

- Written summary of each of the mandatory readings. Individual work. A minimum of abstracts must be submitted. [The evaluation will assess the capacity for synthesis and capture-abstraction of the main ideas; the presence, attitude, participation and contributions in the class discussions made from the readings will be valued in a special way].

- Participation at class.

In the event that tests or exams cannot be taken onsite, they will be adapted to an online format made available through the UAB’s virtual tools (original weighting will be maintained). Homework, activities and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis and/or discussion on Teams, etc. Lecturers will ensure that students are able to access these virtual tools, or will offer them feasible alternatives.

In order to be evaluated, all the evaluable parts must be submitted-presented, have attended a minimum of 75% of the classsessions and have actively participated in the class sessions and discussion-forum. The non-presentation of any of the evaluable parts will lead to a "Not evaluable" as the final grade. In order to pass, a minimum score of 3,5 must be reached in every evaluative part. In order to be re-evaluated it is necessary to have presented all the evaluable parts. Only creative essay and individual proof may be reevaluated. In the re-evaluation, the overall maximum score will be 5. The re-evaluation will not serve, in any case, to "improve grade".

On carrying out each evaluation activity, lecturers will inform students of the procedures to be followed for reviewing all grades awarded, and the date on which such a review will take place.

The copy or plagiarism of material, both in essays and examinations, constitute a crime that will be sanctioned with a zero in the activity. In case of recidivism the entire subject will be suspended. It should be remembered that a essay that reproduces all or a large part of the work of another partner is considered a "copy". "Plagiarism" is thefact of presenting all or part of a text by another author as his own, without citing the sources, whether on paper or in digital form. See UAB documentation on "plagiarism" at: http://wuster.uab.es/web_argumenta_obert/unit_20/sot_2_01.html

In the event of a student committing any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade awarded to an assessment activity, the student will be given a zero for this activity, regardless of any disciplinary process that may take place. In the event of several irregularities in assessment activities of the same subject, the student will be given a zero as the final grade for this subject.

The definitive and effectively valid evaluation criteria will be known during the first class session of the curs.

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Discussion forum based on the proposed readings 25 5 0.2 1, 3, 4
Individual text 25 5 0.2 1, 3, 2
Short basic essay 25 20 0.8 3, 2, 4
Written summary of the proposed readings and participation in class 25 20 0.8 1, 4

Bibliography

Some general bibliographic cues:

ALBET, Abel, Núria BENACH (eds.) (2012). Doreen Massey. Un sentido global del lugar. Barcelona: Icaria.

ALFARO, María Belén (et al.) (eds.) (2014). Desafíos de la geografía. Teorías, métodos i perspectivas. Santa Fe: Universidad Nacional del Litoral.

ALLEN, John, Doreen MASSEY (eds.) (1995). Geographical Worlds. Milton Keynes-Oxford: The Open University Press-Oxford University Press.

BARNES, Trevor J., Eric SHEPPARD (eds.) (2019). Spatial Histories of Radical Geography: North America and Beyond. Londres: Wiley.

BAVAJ, Riccardo, Konrad LAWSON, Bernhard STRUCK (eds.) (2022). Doing Spatial History. Londres: Routledge.

BAYÓN, Manuel, Nataly TORRES (eds.) (2019). Geografía crítica para detener el despojo de los territorios. Teorías, experiencias y casos de trabajo en Ecuador. Quito: Colectivo Geografía Crítica Ecuador / Ediciones Abya-Yala.

BENACH, Núria, Abel ALBET (eds.) (2019). David Harvey. La lógica geográfica delcapitalismo. Barcelona: Icaria.

BERTRAN, Enric (ed.) (2021). L'esguard de la Societat Catalana de Geografia (1935-2020). Barcelona: Societat Catalana de Geografia.

BLUNT, Alison, Jane WILLS (2000). Dissident Geographies. An Introduction to Radical Ideas and Practice. Londres: Guilford Press.

BOOKCHIN, Murray (2022). Ecología de la libertad. Surgimiento y disolución de la jerarquía. Madrid: Capitán Swing.

BRET, Bernard (et al.) (eds.) (2016). Justicia e injusticias espaciales. Rosario: Editorial de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario.

BURGUEÑO, Jesús (ed.) (2021). La nova geografia de la Catalunya postcovid. Barcelona: Societat Catalana de Geografia.

CAMPILLO, Antonio (2019). Un lugar en el mundo. La justicia espacial y el derecho a la ciudad. Madrid: Los Libros de la Catarata.

CASELLAS, Antònia (ed.) (2022). J.K. Gibson-Graham. Hacia una economía postcapitalista o cómo retomar el control de lo cotidiano. Barcelona: Icaria.

CLOKE, Paul, Philip CRANG, Mark GOODWIN (eds.) (2004). Envisioning Human Geographies. Londres: Arnold.

COX, Kevin (2021). Advanced Introduction to Marxism and Human Geography. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

CRESSWELL, Tim (2004). Place. A Short Introduction. Londres: Blackwell.

CRESSWELL, Tim (2013). Geographic Thought. A Critical Introduction. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

DEMATTEIS, Giuseppe (2020). Proyecto implícito. La contribución de la geografía humana a las ciencias del territorio. Madrid: Ediciones Asimétricas. [t.o.: Progetto implícito. Il contributo della geografia umana alle scienze del territorio. Milà: Franco Angeli, 1995].

DEMATTEIS, Giuseppe (2021). Geografia come immaginazione. Tra piacere della scoperta e ricerca di futuri possibili. Roma: Donzelli.

DÍAZ, Iban, Beltrán ROCA (2021). El espacio en la teoría social. Una mirada multidisciplinar. València: Tirant Humanidades.

DORLING, Danny, Carl LEE (2016). Geography. Londres: Profile.

EGOZ, Shelley, Karsten JØRGENSEN, Deni RUGGERI (eds.) (2018). Defining Landscape Democracy. A Path to Spatial Justice. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

FARINELLI, Franco (2016). La invenció de la Terra. Barcelona: Societat Catalana de Geografia.

FARINELLI, Franco (2021). Polifemo cegador. La geografía y los modelos del mundo. México: Instituto de Geografía UNAM [t.o.: Geografia. Un’Introduzione ai modelli del mondo. Torí: Einaudi, 2003].

FEATHERSTONE, David (2008). Resistance, Space and Political Identities. The Making of Counter-Global Networks. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.

FERRETTI, Federico (et al) (2019). Historical Geographies of Anarchism. Early Critical Geographers and Present-Day Scientific Challenges. Londres: Routledge.

GIBSON-GRAHAM, J.K. (2011). Una política poscapitalista. Bogotá: Siglo del Hombre Editores [t.o.: A Postcapitalist Politics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2006].

GIBSON-GRAHAM, J.K., Jenny CAMERON, Stephen HEALY (2017). Retomemos la economía. Una guía ética para transformar nuestras comunidades. Bogotá: Universidad Javierana [t.o.: Take Back the Economy: An Ethical Guide for Transforming our Communities. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2013].

HARVEY, David (2007). Espacios del capital. Hacia una geografía crítica. Madrid: Akal [t.o.: Spaces of Capital. Towards a Critical Geography. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2001].

HARVEY, David (2014). 17 contradicciones y el fin del capitalismo. Quito: Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales del Ecuador [t.o.: Seventeen Contradictions and the End of Capitalism. Londres: Profile, 2014].

HARVEY, David (2017). El cosmopolitismo y las geografías de la libertad. Madrid: Akal [t.o.: Cosmopolitanism and the Geographies of Freedom. Nova York: Columbia University Press, 2009].

HARVEY, David (2018). Justicia, naturalezay la geografía de la diferencia. Quito: IAEN y Madrid: Traficantes de Sueños [t.o.: Justice, Nature and the Geography of Difference. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 1996].

HARVEY, David (2019). Marx, el capital y la locura de la razón económica. Madrid: Akal [t.o.: Marx, Capital, and the Madness of Economic Reason. Londres: Profile, 2017].

HARVEY, David (2020). Razones para ser anticapitalistas. Buenos Aires: CLACSO.

HENDERSON, George, Marvin WATERSTONE (eds.) (2009). Geographic Thought. A Praxis Perspective. Londres: Routledge.

HENN, Sebastian, Judith MIGGELBRINK, Kathrin HÖRSCHELMANN (eds.) (2022). Research Ethics in Human Geography. Londres: Routledge.

HOLLOWAY, Lewis, Phil HUBBARD (2001). People and Place. The Extraordinary Geographies of Everyday Life. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

HOLLOWAY, Sarah L., Stephen P. RICE, Gill VALENTINE (eds.) (2003). Key Concepts in Geography. Londres: Sage.

HUBBARD, Phil, Rob KITCHIN, Brendan BARTLEY, Duncan FULLER (2002). Thinking Geographically. Space, Theory and Contemporary Human Geography. Londres: Continuum.

HUBBARD, Phil, Rob KITCHIN, Gill VALENTINE (2004). Key Thinkers on Space and Place. Londres: Sage.

HUBBARD, Phil, Rob KITCHIN, Gill VALENTINE (2008). Key Texts in Human Geography. Londres: Sage.

LEFEBVRE, Henri (2013). La producción del espacio. Madrid: Capitán Swing [t.o.: La production de l'espace. París: Anthropos, 1974].

LOBO, Patricia (ed.) (2019). Ser territorio. La geografía y el anarquismo. Madrid: La Neurosis o las Barricadas.

LUNDSTEEN, Martin, Gabriela NAVAS (eds.) (2022). Espai i... Reflexions sobre el paper de l'espai en les societats contemporànies. Barcelona: Edicions Bellaterra.

MASSEY, Doreen (2005). For Space. Londres: Sage.

MATTHEWS, John A., David T. HERBERT (2008). Geography. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

MEADOWS, Donella (2022). Pensar en sistemas. Un manual de iniciación. Madrid: Capitán Swing.

MURPHY, Alexander (2020). Geografía ¿Por qué importa? Madrid: Alianza Editorial [t.o.: Geography. Why it Matters. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2018].

NAREDO, José Manuel (2022). La crítica agotada. Claves para el cambio de civilización. Madrid: Siglo XXI.

NAYAK, Anoop, Alex JEFFREY (2011). Geographical Thought. An Introduction to Ideas in Human Geography. Londres: Routledge.

NOGUÉ, Joan, Joan ROMERO (eds.) (2006). Las otras geografías. València: Tirant lo Blanc.

PETERLE, Giada (2021). Comics as a Research Practice. Drawing Narrative Geographies Beyond the Frame. Londres: Routledge.

PETRELLA, Riccardo (2010). Una nova narració del món. València: Edicions 3i4.

PRYKE, Michael, Gillian ROSE, Sarah WHATMORE (eds.) (2003). Using Social Theory. Thinking Through Research. Londres: Sage.

RAMÍREZ, Blanca, Liliana LÓPEZ (2015). Espacio, paisaje, región, territorio y lugar: la diversidad en el pensamiento contemporáneo. Mèxic: Instituto de Geografía, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.

ROUTLEDGE, Paul (2017). Space Invaders. Radical Geographies of Protest. Londres: Pluto Press.

SAQUET, Marcos Aurélio (2020). Saber popular, praxis territorial y contra-hegemonía. México: Itaca [t.o.: Saber popular, práxis territorial e contra-hegemonia. Rio de Janeiro: Consequência, 2019].

SHOBEIRI, Ali (2021). Place: Towards a Geophilosophy of Photography. Leiden: Leiden University Press.

SMITH, Neil (2020). Desarrollo desigual. Naturaleza, capital y la producción del espacio. Madrid: Traficantes de Sueños [t.o.: Uneven Development. Nature, Capital and the Production of Space. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1984, 3ª ed., 2008].

SOLANA, Miguel (coord.) (2016). Espacios globales y lugares próximos. Barcelona: Icaria.

SPRINGER, Simon (2019). Las raíces anarquistas de la geografía. Hacia la emancipación espacial. México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México [t.o.: The Anarchist Roots of Geography: Toward Spatial Emancipation. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 2016].

SULLIVAN, Rob (2017). The Geography of the Everyday. Toward an Understanding of the Given. Athens: The University of Georgia Press.

TALLY, Robert T. (ed.) (2021). The Routledge Handbook of Literature and Space. Londres: Routledge.

TAMBASSY, Timothy, Marcello TANCA (eds.) (2021). The Philosophy of Geography. Cham: Springer.

The Antipode Editorial Collective (ed.) (2019). Keywords in Radical Geography: Antipode at 50. Londres: Wiley.

UNWIN, Tim (1995). El lugar de la Geografía. Madrid: Cátedra [t.o.: The place of Geography. London: Longman, 1992].
 

 

The definitive and effectively valid bibliography will be announced during the first class session of the course.

For each theme of the program, the professor will provide a specific bibliography.

Software

Word processor (MS Word), power-point and Internet access.