| Unit name | Energy Geographies |
|---|---|
| Unit code | GEOG30038 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Ed Atkins |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
None. |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None. |
| Units you may not take alongside this one |
None. |
| School/department | School of Geographical Sciences |
| Faculty | Faculty of Science |
Why is this unit important?
You rarely turn on the news without something about ‘energy’. From electricity price rises to emissions driving climate breakdown, energy is ever-present. But its complexity is often overlooked. The generation, transmission and use of electricity is an inherently political and geographical process. From the burning of coal to power the cotton mills of Manchester to today’s expansion of offshore wind, energy and its infrastructure creates new relationships between people, community, space, and the wider world itself.
This unit will explore these changes through the study of different energy sources from both the fossil fuel regime (oil, coal, gas) and emergent ‘green’ technologies (wind, solar, nuclear) before examining issues of energy poverty and energy justice and reflecting on what a ‘future energy geography’ might be.
In taking this unit, students will gain a knowledge of the historical, political, geopolitical, economic, social, and cultural importance of energy – evident not just in the electricity and power it generates but also in terms of how its infrastructure transforms the world around us.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study
This unit provides a specialist exploration of the political, economic, and cultural significance of energy geographies. This unit explores topics in the Political Economies and Mobilities and Nature and Environment themes.
An overview of content
This unit reviews the histories and contemporary stories of energy and electricity generation. It focuses on tracing the political, geopolitical, economic, cultural, and social elements and complexity of different energy sources. It examines energy sources one by one, including: coal, oil, natural gas, hydropower, nuclear, wind, and solar. This unit will primarily focus on how we generate, access and use energy and focuses on the geographies that new forms of energy create, consolidate, or alter. Other classes will focus on contemporary issues such as petromasculinities and energy poverty and energy justice.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit:
This unit will broaden and deeper students’ knowledge of a significant element of our lives – but which can often be overlooked. We only realise the complexity of energy when the lights go out. This unit will take this disconnect as a valuable entry-point into the political, economic, cultural, and social elements of energy and electricity generation, both historically and today. It will enable students to see the connections between these elements, national and local histories, and their own lived experiences.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the unit, students will be able to:
All such Learning Outcomes would allow students who complete this unit to demonstrate skills of comprehension and understanding of complex topics and the links between – but also the ability to analyse, synthesise, apply and evaluate such links.
This unit requires students to gain knowledge of topic they are aware of but have not studied in any depth previously. As a result, lectures will introduce students to the key topics, concepts, and processes that underpin the unit.
These will be supported by smaller group workshop/seminar sessions, which will be based around inquiry-based and reflective tasks. The third seminar session will be focused on the summative assignment.
In addition, opportunities will be provided for students to widen their understanding of these topics through film screenings and a field trip. This will further allow students to engage in the topics discussed in different ways and from different directions, developing a further understanding of the complexity of historical and contemporary energy geographies, and informing their assessment.
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
One think-piece for a popular audience [ILOs 1-4]
This formative assessment will be used to help students prepare for the final summative essay, with students encouraged to explore and write on a question/topic that they wish to base the later assignment on. Whilst the assignments take a different form, the formative assessment gives an opportunity to trace ideas and arguments that will be expanded upon in the summative work. Feedback will be given with this in mind.
The formative assessment will also give students an opportunity to write and present information to different audience. This requires a different writing style and desire to make topics engaging and interesting.
Seminars – the submission of the formative work will be followed by seminars, during which students will presents ideas related to the topic they have chosen for their summative essay.
Tasks with counts towards your unit mark (summative):
Essay (100%) [ILOs 1-4]
This will be responding to one question or prompt selected from a list provided, linked to the topics discussed across the unit. These questions will vary – with some asking direct questions to be answered and others posing a thought-experiment to be explored creatively. This is to give students the opportunity to be as inventive in their approach as they might wish to be.
Guidance will be given on each question/prompt posed.
When assessment does not go to plan:
If a student is not able to complete the essay, they will be required to complete an essay assignment at a later date. This assessment is individually-devised, selecting a question/topic from a variety of questions provided. In the case of re-assessment, the format of the assessment will stay the same, but the questions or topics may change to ensure that Learning Outcomes are achieved.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. GEOG30038).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the University Workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. For appropriate assessments, if you have self-certificated your absence, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (for assessments at the end of TB1 and TB2 this is usually in the next re-assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any exceptional circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
