Module POC3126 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Undergraduate Module Descriptor
POC3126: New York 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.
• 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 North American Dream and the Built Landscape
Field Trip:
A six day field trip to New York, including visits to iconic sites such as Ground Zero and Ellis Island, sites of community differentiation and determination such as Harlem and Brooklyn, and sites of aesthetic enactments such as the Museum of the City of New York. 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 Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 238 | 40 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching activities | 22 | The module will be taught through 6 seminars of 3 hours each, and 2 methods workshops of 2 hours each |
| Placement/Study Abroad | 40 | The module will include one field trip to New York under staff supervision. Hours include field research, keeping field guide, and participating in field-based seminar discussions. |
| Guided Independent Study | 60 | Private study reading and preparing for seminars/workshops |
| Guided Independent Study | 60 | Private study guided and independent research around field trip sites and thematics, before and after trip |
| Guided Independent Study | 118 | Researching, 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).
