HI5054 - Field Notes: Politics and Policy Making in Place

This module will adopt a diverse set of teaching methods. Four field trips will immerse you in case studies and the concept of learning in place. Each field trip will be preceded by a workshop where you will be introduced to the broader context and background surrounding each site. These workshops will be grounded in a body of set reading (available via the electronic reading list) and will involve small group work and larger group discussion. Each field trip will also be followed by a review session where you will develop group presentations on your observations from the trip and develop your research questions. You will receive formative feedback throughout the learning process (in both the workshops and in the review sessions) and the summative assessment will match your learning against the learning outcomes for the module.

Your academic development will be supported through your module tutor, engagement with your peers, and through the programme leader. The module tutor will be accessible within publicised Feedback and Consultation hours and via email. Your peers will provide you with a collaborative learning environment, and your programme leader will guide you through the requirements and expectations of your degree programme, of which this module is part. You will also be supported through individual engagement with the academic literature, lectures, and resources available on the eLP. Formative feedback will be on-going through seminar activities and assessment tasks.

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

Knowledge & Understanding:
1. Knowledge and understanding of how environments are created, and the forces that shape them over time
2. An appreciation of the complexity around current environmental, social and political challenges faced in the North East

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
3. An appreciation of how history can inform policy-making, and impact contemporary issues
4. Learn how to communicate research to a policy and public audience
5. Demonstrate a range of transferable skills, including the ability to make independent critical judgements, to critically evaluate sources, to summarise the research of others, and to present arguments in a cogent and persuasive way

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
6. Awareness of and sensitivity towards different social groups and interests
7. Engagement with ethical questions concerning the environment and climate change, and how they can be translated from historical to contemporary contexts

1 x 1000-word Reflective Journal (weighted 20%).
This journal will be completed during the field trips and will outline initial reflections to the environment/setting. It will act as a log of learning throughout the module and will be submitted with your final site report.

Group Presentations (weighted 10%).
Each group will present their on the fieldtrip. This will lay the foundation for the final “Site Report.”

1 x 3000-word “Site Report” (weighted 50%).
This policy report will provide an in-depth assessment of one of the case studies based on archival and secondary research.

1 x A3 Poster (weighted 20%)
This poster will summarise the findings of the site report and present it in a way legible to a public audience. This will be showcased at the final policy-briefing event.

Formative feedback for each assessment will be provided in seminars. Group presentations will help students develop the arguments for the “Site Report” and will provide a valuable feedback opportunity.

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“Field Notes” will take you into the field to immerse you in the major issues facing the contemporary world today. The North East is a region alive with controversy and contested spaces which speak to larger challenges facing the nation and the global community in the 21st century. You will be introduced to four different local sites that are at the centre of these larger environmental-social-political and economic battles and learn how to unravel the complex dynamics that underpin the spaces in which we live (from the choices made by policy makers at the local, national, and global level, to the role of communities, activist groups, and other stakeholders in shaping these places). Through the module you should better understand the dynamics of place and policy making and most importantly, how to apply historical research to contemporary social issues that impact our world today.