KE6007 - Geographies of 'race', ethnicity and multiculture

What will I learn on this module?

You will learn about the politics and geographies of identity and difference with specific reference to racial and ethnic identities at a range of scales and in a variety of contexts. You will discover how social relations are impacted by racial and ethnic identities through space and place, and how such identities intersect with other social axes such as migration, citizenship status, gender, class and age in different ways. The module places particular emphasis on:
- Histories of racialisation
- Whiteness
- ‘Race’ and racism
- Identity (re)construction
- The role of place in contextualising identities
- Contemporary migration and belonging
- Social policy
- Everyday multiculturalism
You will also learn a range of skills including the ability to analyse processes and experiences in relation to a range of theoretical approaches, to abstract, synthesise and evaluate a range of source material and to develop an appreciation of your own positionality through reflexive and reflective learning.

How will I learn on this module?

You will learn through lectures, small group discussions and workshop based tasks. Throughout the semester you will have two sessions per week, one of which will be more formal and lecture-based, through which you will learn about relevant theories, concepts and issues, and the other which will be more informal and participatory and which will require preparation and engagement with directed reading. In addition you will take part in a short overnight residential fieldtrip which will help you to explore some of the early themes and ideas of the module as applied to a specific geographical context. You will also be encouraged to engage more widely with relevant academic literature and a diverse range of media, to reflexively examine the politics caught up in their own and others’ identities, and critically examine theoretical approaches to understanding in/exclusion. All your learning will be supported through resources made available on the module ELP.

How will I be supported academically on this module?

Support will include directed reading from the lectures, feedback and directed tasks from tutors during seminars. On-going opportunities for formative feedback on the progress of your assignments will be available and there will be sessions especially focused on deciding the detail of the second assessment. Your tutors will provide an open door policy. All your learning will be supported through resources made available on the module ELP.

What will I be expected to read on this module?

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. Online reading lists (provided after enrolment) give you access to your reading material for your modules. The Library works in partnership with your module tutors to ensure you have access to the material that you need.

What will I be expected to achieve?

Knowledge & Understanding:
• MLO 1: You will critically evaluate the construction of racial and ethnic identities with reference to academic literature and media representations
• MLO 2: You will analyse the processes involved in inter-ethnic relations at scales from the global to the everyday

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:
• MLO 3: You will abstract, synthesise and evaluate information on the geographies of identity construction and production
• MLO 4: You will demonstrate reflexivity and be able to comment on your own positionality in relation to ‘race’ and ethnicity

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):
• MLO 5: You will critically review the forms and consequences of discrimination and racism as manifest in variety of spatial contexts.

How will I be assessed?

There is one summative assessment for this module.

The assessment is a 5000 word reflexive journal (100%) which asks you to discuss and evaluate everyday personal experiences as well as critically reflect upon national and global media/news/topics/events relating to the themes of the module. While personal contemplation is encouraged to think through the politics and geographies of ethnic identities, entries must reference module lectures and session work, and be grounded in the academic literature and theoretical approaches discussed. You are asked to submit a draft journal entry which is marked formatively and returned in advance of the final submission deadline.
(MLOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

You will receive both written and verbal feedback on both draft and final journal. Verbal feedback is also given during teaching sessions.

Pre-requisite(s)

KE5006 Political geographies
KE5007 Social geographies

Co-requisite(s)

None

Module abstract

Geographies of ‘race’ and ethnicity will enable you to build on both Social Geographies and Political geographies at level 5, by exploring in more depth and detail the politics of racial and ethnic identities at international, national, regional and local scales. With reference to a range of contemporary and multi-scalar issues and diverse approaches, you will explore your own positionality within intersectional hierarchies of difference and think through how ‘race’ and ethnicity are both experienced and presented to us in everyday life as key markers of difference, identity and exclusion.

Course info

UCAS Code L700

Credits 20

Level of Study Undergraduate

Mode of Study 3 years Full Time or 4 years with a placement (sandwich)/study abroad

Department Geography and Environmental Sciences

Location City Campus, Northumbria University

City Newcastle

Start September 2025

Fee Information

Module Information

All information is accurate at the time of sharing. 

Full time Courses are primarily delivered via on-campus face to face learning but could include elements of online learning. Most courses run as planned and as promoted on our website and via our marketing materials, but if there are any substantial changes (as determined by the Competition and Markets Authority) to a course or there is the potential that course may be withdrawn, we will notify all affected applicants as soon as possible with advice and guidance regarding their options. It is also important to be aware that optional modules listed on course pages may be subject to change depending on uptake numbers each year.  

Contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with possible restrictions imposed by the government or the University in the interest of maintaining the health and safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and visitors if this is deemed necessary in future.

 

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