Social Geography | GEOG 2213

Overview

Course Description

Social geographers study the ways that space and place mediate the production and reproduction of social categories such as class, race, ethnicity, gender, age, sexuality, and disability. Social geography is the study of how society and space are mutually constituted. This course will discuss issues such as homelessness, sexualities, youth mobilities, and inclusion/exclusion, and key social institutions and places like the home, street, public park, internet, school, and nation that (re)produce social norms and inequalities in our everyday lives. The course is grounded in feminist critiques and theories of intersectionality and examines how feminist geographers have engaged with queer theory, Marxism, anti-racist practices, anarchical thinking, more-than-human geographies, and other frameworks.

Course Content

Introduction

Traditions in social geography
Different social geography theories
Social geography and everyday life
Restructuring society and space

The body

"The geography closest in” (Rich, 1986)
Body as surface
Body as project
Cartesian dualism
Marked bodies: gender, sexualities, race, and disabilities

Geography of identity and difference

Definitions and classifications
Social construction of place
Social meanings of the built environment
In place/out of place

Public/Private Space

Urban morphology and the social arrangement of cities
Public space, private space, quasi-public space, and the public realm
Homelessness and housing
Regulating sex work

Urban life

Urban life in Western places
The neoliberal city and social life
Patterns of socio-economic inequality
Social interaction and community
Online-offline geographies

Place and power

Theories of power and control
Public institutions and private life
Governance structures
Places of exception
Social justice

Fear, crime, and disorder

Geographies of fear and crime
Role of the built environment
Neoliberalism and the carceral state

Race, ethnicity, and ‘the Other’

Race vs. ethnicity
Spatial discrimination of racialized groups
Colonies, enclaves, congregations, and ‘ghettos’
Nationalism and internal Orientalism
Colonialism and Indigeneity

Identity and struggles for place

Defining agency
Conflict and transgression
Place and resistance
Speaking from the margins

Spaces of hope

Social activism and civic responsibility
Transnational activism
Online and offline social networks
‘The Power of Place’

Learning Activities

This course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of

the following:

Lecture
In-class activities, such as mental maps
Fieldwork and/or field trips
Videos/DVDs/digital media
Individual and/or team projects
Small groups discussions
Map analysis

Means of Assessment

The evaluation will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College Evaluation Policy. The instructor will provide a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria during the first week of classes.

An example of an evaluation scheme would be:

Quizzes	30%
Poster presentation	25%
Project	15%
Preparation & participation	10%
Final exam	20%
Total	100%

Learning Outcomes

Synthesize the concepts, techniques, and theories of social geography.
Communicate effectively orally, graphically, in writing, and using quantitative methods.
Describe the development of social geography and explain the alternative paradigms of social geography.
Explain the concept of the spatial structuring of social differences and inequalities.
Apply the concepts, methods, and theories to different scales of geographic analysis.
Describe and analyze the arrangements and patterns of different types of groups within a given society.
Evaluate the most relevant issues and needs confronting different groups within a given society.
Describe and analyze the concepts and spatial patterns of social transformation through the collection, interpretation and presentation of relevant geographic data.

Textbook Materials

A text or custom course reader may be used. Texts will be updated periodically. A typical example of a text would be:

Del Casino, V. J., Thomas, M.E., Cloke P., and Panelli, R. (Editors) (2011). A Companion to Social Geography. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Supplemental course materials may include:

Books:

Anderson, J. (2015). Understanding Cultural Geography: Places and Traces, 2^nd Edition. London, UK: Routledge.

Del Casino, V. J. (2009). Social Geography: A Critical Introduction. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Enos, R. D., & Cambridge Core EBA eBooks Complete Collection. (2017). The Space Between Us: Social Geography and Politics. New York, NY; Cambridge.

Kitchin, R. (2007). Mapping Worlds: International Perspectives on Social and Cultural Geographies. London, UK: Routledge.

Knox, P. and Pinch, S. (2009). Urban Social Geography: An Introduction. Toronto, Canada: Prentice-Hall.

Moss, P. and K. Falconer, eds. (2008). Feminisms in Geography: Rethinking Space, Place and Knowledges. Lanham, Maryland: Rowan and Littlefield.

Panelli, R, (2004). Social Geographies: From Difference to Action. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE

Smith, S. (2010). The Sage Handbook on Social Geographies. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

Turley, B. (2018). Feminist Spaces: Gender and Geography in a Global Context. London, UK: Routledge.

Valentine, G. (2001). Social Geography: Space and Society. New York, NY: Prentice-Hall.

Videos:

Jhally, S. (2009). The Codes of Gender?: Identity and Performance in Pop Culture. Media Education Foundation.

Marx, F. (director, producer, editor) (2004). Boys to Men [video recording]. Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation.

Morris, S. (writer, director, & producer), Wise, T. (writer), Earp, J, (writer) (2014). White Like Me: Race, Racism, and White Privilege in America [video recording]. Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation.

Newsom, J.S. (writer, director, & producer) (2014). The Mask You Live In [video recording]. New York, NY: Virgil Films.

Requisites

Prerequisites

GEOG 1100

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

September 2022 (Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution	Transfer Details for GEOG 2213
Alexander College (ALEX)	ALEX ARTS 2XX (3)
Athabasca University (AU)	AU GEOG 3XX (3)
Capilano University (CAPU)	CAPU GEOG 2XX (3)
Coast Mountain College (CMTN)	CMTN GEOG 2XX (3)
College of the Rockies (COTR)	COTR GEOG 2XX (3)
Coquitlam College (COQU)	COQU GEOG 204 (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU)	KPU GEOG 2XXX (3)
Langara College (LANG)	LANG GEOG 2270 (3)
North Island College (NIC)	NIC GEO 2XX (3)
Northern Lights College (NLC)	NLC GEOG 240 (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU)	SFU GEOG 241 (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU)	TRU GEOG 2XXX (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU)	TWU GEOG 2XX (3)
University Canada West (UCW)	UCW GEOG 2XX (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO)	UBCO GEOG 2nd (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV)	UBCV GEOG 2nd (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC)	UNBC GEOG 206 (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV)	UFV GEOG 241 (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC)	UVIC GEOG 2XX (1.5)
Vancouver Island University (VIU)	VIU GEOG 344 (3)

Course Offerings

Winter 2023

CRN

12281

Fri

Start Date

03-Jan-2023

End Date

13-Apr-2023

Start Date

03-Jan-2023

End Date

13-Apr-2023

Instructor Last Name

Paynter

Instructor First Name

Sarah

Course Status

Open