GG4253 Cultural geographies of climate activism

Academic year

2024 to 2025 Semester 1

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

30

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Availability restrictions

The school will operate a ballot system.

Planned timetable

Mon 2pm-5pm

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr C E Lee

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr Charlotte Lee

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

Climate activism is becoming increasingly prevalent as the urgency of the climate crisis has increased and the variety of ways to practice activism have expanded, and is therefore an important lens through which to explore climate action and our understanding of activism. This module will take a cultural geography approach to climate activism, exploring discourse, meaning, representation, and the embodied practice of climate activism. The first half will introduce key theoretical concerns around what counts as activism/an activist and the implications of these to the practice and study of activism. The second half will be empirically focused, however, empirical examples will be integrated throughout. While the main empirical focus will be climate activism, the module will also draw from broader activism literature and examples, and students will be encouraged to apply their learning to other forms of activism and to reflect on their own encounters with activism.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST ( PASS GG2011 AND PASS GG2012 ) OR ( PASS GG2014 AND PASS SD2100 ) OR ( PASS SD2001 AND PASS SD2002 ) OR ( PASS SD2005 AND PASS SD2100 )

Anti-requisites

YOU CANNOT TAKE THIS MODULE IF YOU PASS GG3277 OR TAKE GG3277

Assessment pattern

100% Coursework

Re-assessment

100% Coursework

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

1 hour lecture (x 10 weeks), 2x1 hour seminar (x 10 weeks), 2 hour assessment drop in (x 4 weeks)

Scheduled learning hours

30

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

270

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • Describe and explain assumptions around activism and their implications for activist practice and academic study.
  • Apply broader theoretical themes within human geography to the specific empirical example of climate activism, including scale, the everyday, agency, exclusion and othering.
  • Understand broader cultural geography concerns including, meaning, discourse, representation and embodied practice.
  • Appreciate the relevance of feminist, queer and indigenous knowledges to the topic of climate activism.
  • Demonstrate increased skills in literature reviewing, textual analysis and autoethnographic writing and documenting.

Awards

Golden Dandelion Prize for excellence in Education for Sustainable Development

This module exhibits an excellent method to embed sustainability within other learning: by focussing a project around reporting on St Andrews’ sustainability effort, it both meets the module goals of teaching communication and listening in academic contexts, and exposes students to real-world issues in sustainability. This module has been awarded the Golden Dandelion Prize in 2023.

You can find out about all Golden Dandelion modules