Dr Murray Low STC S512

This course is compulsory on the MSc Human Geography and Urban Studies (Research). This course is available on the MPhil/PhD Human Geography and Urban Studies, MPhil/PhD in Geography, MSc in Development Management, MSc in Development Studies, MSc in Development Studies (Research), MSc in Environment and Development, MSc in International Migration and Public Policy, MSc in Regional And Urban Planning Studies and MSc in Urban Policy (LSE and Sciences Po). This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Compulsary for MPhil/PhD Human Geography and Urban students without MSc Human Geography and Urban Studies.

This is a reading seminar course, organised around key works pertinent to cities, development and human geography. While by no means comprehensive, the syllabus provided in the first week of the course will detail some key debates in geography, urban studies and development studies, which we explore in some detail over the term. The readings will reflect a range of approaches to the disciplines of human geography, urban studies and development studies, in order to convey the dynamic interplay between these three areas of scholarship. Discussions with colleagues in these areas of research, alongside readings of foundational texts, will be aimed at exploring how theory and evidence connect in critical geographical research. There will also be a component on crafting a research proposal, a necessary stage for conducting successful social scientific research.

10 hours of lectures in the MT. 10 hours of lectures in the LT.

10 x two-hour directed reading lecture/seminars meeting in MT and LT. Students (including those auditing the course) are expected to read, circulate critical comments, and participate actively in discussion.

A 2,500 word essay and a critical reflection on one week's readings for discussion in class.

A detailed syllabus will be provided at the beginning of the course, but would include works such as D Gregory et al, The Dictionary of Human Geography (5th edn), 2009; D Harvey, Social Justice and the City, 2009; D Harvey, The Enigma of Capital, 2010; N Smith, Uneven Development, 2008; D Massey, Space, Place and Gender, 1994; E Soja, Seeking Spatial Justice, 2010; R Peet and M Watts, Liberation Ecologies, 2004; J Ferguson, The Antipolitics Machine, 1994; T Mitchell, Rule of Experts, 2002; A Roy, Poverty Capital, 2010; and D Gregory and Allan Pred, Violent Geographies, 2006.

Essay (100%, 5000 words) in the LT.