Undergraduate Course: Geography in the Archive (GEGR10064)
Course Outline
| School | School of Geosciences |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 4 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course is designed to provide students with advanced research skills training in the use and analysis of a broad range of documentary records, cultural heritage and museums, and oral histories for research. The course introduces students to critical analysis techniques drawn from the arts and humanities, and introduces students to the practical, theoretical and ethical challenges of using textual, visual and cartographic materials, oral histories and eye-witness testimonies, and museums and cultural heritage for research. |
| Course description |
Using lectures, tutorials, and field trips to organisations across the city of Edinburgh, attention will be paid to the ways that different government institutions, community organizations, cultural heritage sites and others create and maintain records of their past and present. These practices of memory-making, record-keeping and story-telling shape the ways we can understand and study them. This course is of particular benefit to undergraduate and postgraduate students who plan to use textual, visual and/or cartographic analysis and interpretation, cultural heritage, oral history, or cultural representation (e.g. literature, games, film) in their research.
Past field trips have included Dovecot Studios, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh Archives, and the National Library of Scotland map library.
This course is open to 3rd and 4th year students. This course is open to all university students (in programmes that include, but aren't limited to, Geography Pathway) but priority will be given to students on the Geography Degree Programmes and Geography Pathway programmes.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | This course is open to 3rd and 4th year students. This course is open to all university students (in programmes that include, but aren't limited to, Geography Pathway) but priority will be given to students on the Geography Degree Programmes and Geography Pathway programmes. |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 40 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Research Essay (100%):
- This assessment is a 4,000-word research essay. Students are required to examine a particular problem / issue (whose subject will be determined by the contents of given archives), and to comment on the archive history and management of the sources used.
AI-Assisted Generation:
AI tools may be used to identify ideas, key themes, and plan your assessment, but not to generate content. If you use AI, you must acknowledge it in your submission.
Coursework Extensions:
Extensions are permitted for this assessment. Please review the guidance on the Registry Services website and apply via MyEd.
Extra Time Learning Adjustments:
Students with Extra Time Learning Adjustments may request additional time for this assessment. Applications should be made using the Extra Time Learning Adjustment (ETA) tool, available via the Disability Support page in MyEd.
Course Pass Requirements:
Students must attain an overall mark of 40% (or above) in order to pass the course.
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| Feedback |
Formative Assessment:
- The formative assessment is a 1,500-word essay on the concepts covered in the first three lectures and the early seminars, together with material from one of the archive visits.
- It is strongly recommended that students use the assessment as a preliminary ¿run¿ at the summative assessment. You will receive written and verbal feedback on your essay (if submitted on time).
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| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
| Rather than focus alone on the content of relevant geographical and other archived material, students will be expected to interrogate and to understand the archives' own conditions of existence, including provenance, cataloguing and accessibility. As a result, students will: have a detailed, comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the management and content of selected archives as research repositories; be able to exercise critical judgement in the management of a research problem, with reference to its intellectual content and with insight into the provenance, and archival treatment of the sources in question. In undertaking and successfully completing this research elective, students will attain skills in the design, implementation, and critical examination of specific research questions and offer professional level interpretations of their results. Students will be able to present, verbally and in writing, a reasoned argument exploring the theory of the archive as a space for the storage, preservation and management of scholarly materials.
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Reading List
| There are no set readings for this course. The majority of the reading material is from journal articles and most will be available via the course Learn page. Further guidance is provided in the Course Handbook. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
This course is open to 3rd and 4th year students. This course is open to all university students (in programmes that include, but aren't limited to, Geography Pathway) but priority will be given to students on the Geography Degree Programmes and Geography Pathway programmes. |
| Keywords | GEGR10064 |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Hannah Fitzpatrick
Tel: (0131 6)50 2294
Email: Hannah.Fitzpatrick@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Leigh Corstorphine
Tel: (0131 6)50 9847
Email: lcorstor@ed.ac.uk |
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