School of Geography - Faculty of Environment

MA IN ACTIVISM AND SOCIAL CHANGE

THE PROGRAMMES

Components of an MA in Activism and Social Change (Full Time)

Students complete 180 credits on the MA in Activism and Social Change. This is composed of 120 credits of taught modules and the action research dissertation.

Components of an PGDip in Activism and Social Change (Full Time)

Students complete 120 credits for a Diploma in Activism and Social Change. The primary difference between a diploma and an MA is that students studying for the diploma do not complete a 60 credit action research dissertation.

Components of an PGCert in Activism and Social Change (Full Time)

Students complete 60 credits for a Postgraduate Certificate in Activism and Social Change.

CORE MODULES

GEOG5360M Spaces of Radical Thought (30 credits)

Political activism today has its roots in a body of social theory that has evolved over the last hundred years. There are many different radical traditions but most have been inspired by a ‘core’ number of thinkers and their thoughts around key societal ‘spaces’. Rather than attempting an encyclopaedic review of all existing radical thinking traditions, the module team will introduce selected thinkers and their works, enabling follow-up discussion on issues and themes that have been raised. More specifically the discussions will be organised around three particular “author blocs” as representatives of three distinctive terrains of current critical thinking: David Harvey, Gibson-Graham and John Holloway

Can also be taken as a 15 credit version as GEOG5300M 

GEOG5310M Researching for Social Change (15 credits)

Achieving progressive social change is impossible without the research and development of ideas, practices and experiences, and the commitment to self-reflexive inquiry. Researching for social change, however, demands new ways of understanding what research is and who it is actually for. This module provides grounding in the principles, methods and strategies of action research, a methodology aimed at 'improving practice' and 'achieving goals' rather than simply 'producing knowledge'. The module opens by situating action research within the current neoliberal takeover of higher education. It introduces students to different action research traditions but focuses specifically on 'militant research' and what we call 'solidarity action research', a form of participatory research that is organically connected to social movement struggles. The remainder of the module is spent exploring the advanced skills and knowledge necessary to working with social movements and grassroots groups and undertaking action research planning, from problem identification, to engagement, to design. Students will learn a range of advanced research tools, participatory techniques, inter-personal skills and self-reflexive praxis. A crucial part of action research is the organic unity between the means and ends. So, as the goal of the module is to produce critical thinking action researchers dedicated and equipped for progressive social change, the module will be open to students' ideas, questions, and ways of thinking; it will be committed to 'free and open discussion' and will encourage 'independent thinking' and 'reflective practice'.

GEOG5120M Qualitative Research Methods (15 credits) 

This module provides an advanced treatment of core issues in qualitative research design, data collection and analysis. The module is primarily seminar based although there is some used of lecture and other techniques. Students will develop sophisticated critiques of published qualitative work while providing practice in applying qualitative techniques.
Methods of data collection discussed include participant observation interviewing (both individual and group) and textual analysis. Attention is also given to qualitative analysis and writing practics and students will remove an introduction to the use of NVIVO software.

GEOG5380M Campaigning for Social Change (30 credits)

This offers a mixture of theoretical insights and practical tools. Students will study 10 major social movement struggles of the post-war era and consider the different cultures of protest and resistance and their relative successes and failures. These lessons form an important knowledge base for equipping students with the ideas, techniques and skills for effective campaigning. Practical skill-sharing sessions will include: planning and running campaigns; repertoires of direct action; legal training; media strategies and skills (web design/film); doing popular education; facilitation skills; consensus-based decision-making; and conflict resolution and crisis-management. The module will also enable students to apply knowledge and skills by working alongside local campaign groups, providing mutual benefits to the student and local community.

GEOG5320M Action Research Dissertation (60 credits)

In this module students develop and implement course ideas through a dissertation. The module is built around a placement with a group/organisation, during which original, primary research for the dissertation is undertaken. The assessed work comprises: a 2,000 word feature article; and a substantive 10,000 word dissertation relating this research placement to literature, theory, concepts, methods, analysis, implications. 

OPTIONAL MODULES

 

GEOG5580M Climate Crisis: Exploring Ideas, Solutions and Action (15 credits)

This module, undertaken during a week long field trip at the UKs leading eco-centre _ the Centre for Alternative Technology in the Snowdonia National Park in West Wales (www.cat.org.uk), investigates some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time, focusing on climate change, energy scarcity, environmental justice and the effects of industrial agriculture and living in a toxic society. Students will gain an indepth understanding of these cross cutting issues in late capitalist society and use them as a bedrock to explore solutions and responses. In the second part of the module, students will explore different responses – market based, government, grassroots and those from social movements. This module, then, will give students a breadth of knowledge as to the main environmental issues of our age, but also a sense of the range of responses to these problems. The module will also focus on the nature of change which is increasingly rapid, non linear 

GEOG5370M Empire and resistance (30 credits)

North Atlantic capital has dominated global developments over the last 200 and more years. This module examines the ways in which the power of the political economies of north-western Europe and north America were translated into global empires and how this continues to underpin the state of the world today. It starts with an introduction to attempts to explain the underlying structures of the modern world, including world systems theory, and a brief overview of the history of Western colonialism. Subsequent sessions examine a worldwide range of more specific examples of the exercise of imperial power and the struggles of resistance movements. These include a discussion of the nature of slavery and the role it played as a basis for European colonialism, followed by a review of one of the world's more enduring and complicated struggles for autonomy, that of the Polisario Liberation Front in the Western Sahara. Anti-imperial struggles in Latin America are examined both in the context of the struggles against European dominance and against dominance from Washington. From there the focus moves to East Asia, where an ambivalent relationship has been struck with the United States; Japan has hosted some of the US's largest bases, despite wide opposition, and at the same time -- alongside South Korea and China -- has bankrolled US military policy. The module concludes by looking at the spaces for resistance that are being opened up by global social movements campaigning against neoliberal policies.

Can also be taken as a 15 credit version as GEOG5330M

GEOG5660M Quantitative Research Methods (15 credits)

This module provides a practical refresher for those wanting to consolidate and further develop there skills in quantitative methods in human geography and the social sciences. It will develop an appreciation of the nature, rationale and of utility of quantitative geographical data and its analysis. There will be particular focus on: data display, data description, statistical inference, and statistical modelling. The module will also develop practical skills in: using the SPSS software package, interpreting statistical analysis, and also reading research articles that contain quantitative results. The major piece of assessed work will be preparation of a report that demonstrates the use of methods covered in the module and will be based substantive topic of the student's choosing. A range of different teaching methods are used.

GEOG5110M Research Frontier: Citizenship and Belonging (15 credits)

This module introduces students to research currently being undertaken by members of the School of Geography's Citizenship and Belonging research cluster. The module thus offers students the opportunity to engage with issues at the forefront of contemporary geographical research. Members of this research cluster are engaged in research around several core themes including social identity, social inclusion, equality and diversity, the construction of 'publics', transnationalism and diaspora. Attendance at selected departmental and research cluster seminars are a central part of the module.