Undergraduate Module Descriptor

POC3136: Field Trip

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Please note that this module is only delivered on the Penryn Campus.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, particularly in response to students’ own research interests, it is envisaged that the taught syllabus will cover at least some of the following material, in a mix of seminars and methods workshops before and after the field trip and through students’ extensive self-directed study.

The precise location of the field trip will vary from year to year and will be subject to UK Government travel restrictions. Should the trip not be deliverable as specified (e.g. in Online Module Selection or marketing) then you will be notified of the alternative delivery that nonetheless meetings the ILO of the module.

  • Politics in Place: Cities, Urbanism, and Urbanization
  • Whose Politics and Whose Place?: Dominant Narratives and Critical Orientations
  • Fixes and Flows: The Complex Economies of Cities
  • Postcolonial, Settler-Colonial, and Decolonial Cities
  • The Aesthetic City: Feeling Sensing Living Breathing Wearing Creating Politics
  • Building the Good Life: the Built Landscape

Field Trip:
A six day field trip, including visits to iconic sites, sites of community differentiation and determination, and sites of aesthetic enactments such as museums . Content of the field trip will vary from year to year, depending on the current political climate.

Methods Workshop 1: Field Work Ethics and Public-Engaged Research
An introduction to power relations in politics research, reviewing key concepts such as voluntary informed consent, research bias, anonymity, confidentiality and the dignity of research participation. Focuses on the politics of “public” research, from engaging with community organizations and marginalised people to structuring interview questions and participating in shared knowledge production.

Methods Workshop 2: Ethnography, Data Diversity and Research Reflexivity
A seminar on interdisciplinary approaches to the politics of ethnographic research, including participant observations, ethnographic walking, photography/visual recording, rhythmanalysis and other methods. Students will learn about using multiple forms of data gathering and keeping effective records of fieldwork.

 

*Training provided through the methods workshops is mandatory for participation in the field trip. Participation will be monitored, and those students who miss the seminar will have to retake it. 

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
2223840

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activities 22The module will be taught through 6 seminars of 3 hours each, and 2 methods workshops of 2 hours each
Placement/Study Abroad 40The module will include one field trip under staff supervision. Hours include field research, keeping field guide, and participating in field-based seminar discussions.
Guided Independent Study 60Private study – reading and preparing for seminars/workshops
Guided Independent Study 60Private study – guided and independent research around field trip sites and thematics, before and after trip
Guided Independent Study 118Researching, creating/writing assessments: planning and writing presentation, portfolio and critical essay.

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).