Module Details

The information contained in this module specification was correct at the time of publication but may be subject to change, either during the session because of unforeseen circumstances, or following review of the module at the end of the session. Queries about the module should be directed to the member of staff with responsibility for the module.
Title VISUALISING THE CITY
Code SOCI235
Coordinator Dr K Paton
Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology
Kirsteen.Paton@liverpool.ac.uk
Year CATS Level Semester CATS Value
Session 2019-20 Level 5 FHEQ Second Semester 15

Aims

* To familiarise students with the ways in which sociologists and others have used visual methods to capture urban experiences and processes; * To encourage a reflexivity on behalf of students with respect to the production of images of urban social issues;  * To encourage students to appreciate the partialities associated with their own and others' representations of urban social worlds.


Learning Outcomes

(LO1) An overview of classic and contemporary visual urban studies

(LO2) An awareness of the power relations bound up with the visual, particularly with respect to the photographic gaze

(LO3) A sense of the tensions between what is made invisible and visible in visual studies of the cities

(LO4) An understanding of the ways in which urban photography can be i) analysed and ii) used as part of urban analyses

(S1) Problem solving/ critical thinking/ creativity analysing facts and situations and applying creative thinking to develop appropriate solutions.

(S2) Media literacy online critically reading and creatively producing academic and professional communications in a range of media

(S3) Research management developing a research strategy, project planning and delivery, risk management, formulating questions, selecting literature, using primary/secondary/diverse sources, collecting & using data, applying research methods, applying ethics

(S4) Communication, listening and questioning respecting others, contributing to discussions, communicating in a foreign language, influencing, presentations


Syllabus

 

The module is organised around three related thematic areas of inquiry: what the camera can do; what others have done; and what you can do.
* Classical and Contemporary Studies This block of lectures addresses some of the prominent ways in which urban modernity was documented, including by photographers such as Eugene Atget and Thomas Annan and social commentators such as Walter Benjamin. The partialities and assumptions of the early-modern image-makers and documenters of the city- including with respect to gender, class, and ethnicity - provides the backdrop to our discussion of contemporary visual studies scholars (such as Doug Harper, Caroline Knowles, Terence Heng, and Gillian Rose, among others).  
* Unpacking the Gaze This section of the module focuses specifically on the sets of power relations that characterise all representations. Covering some major analysts of rep resentation - including Roland Barthes, Stuart Hall, Georg Simmel, and Susan Sontag - this section takes a sociological perspective on the ways in which the creation and dissemination of images is bound up with social relationships.
* Reading the Urban Landscape and Urban Issues Against the backdrop of the previous two blocks of lectures, this section addresses directly some of the major ways in which urban sociologists in particular have made use of visual technologies in their studies and analyses. Drawing on a broad range of contemporary projects and problems, this section of the module brings together ... Assessing case studies of Liverpool and Glasgow, among other cities the world over, this section of Visualising the City addresses a number of invisibilities in the contemporary city, things that are typically overlooked and/or taken-for-granted.


Teaching and Learning Strategies

Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description: The weekly lectures will frame the independent learning that is at the core of this module.
Teaching Method 2 - Seminar
Description: Student-led seminars based on reading and the discussion of images generated.
Teaching Method 3 - Field Work
Description: Two x 2 Hour Visits to Liverpool City Centre
Teaching Method 4 - Workshop
Description: A workshop led by a professional social photographer


Teaching Schedule

  Lectures Seminars Tutorials Lab Practicals Fieldwork Placement Other TOTAL
Study Hours 12

8

    4

2

26
Timetable (if known)              
Private Study 124
TOTAL HOURS 150

Assessment

EXAM Duration Timing
(Semester)
% of
final
mark
Resit/resubmission
opportunity
Penalty for late
submission
Notes
             
CONTINUOUS Duration Timing
(Semester)
% of
final
mark
Resit/resubmission
opportunity
Penalty for late
submission
Notes
Presentation on the lines of inquiry to form the basis of the Visual Essay There is a resit opportunity. Standard UoL penalty applies for late submission. This is not an anonymous assessment.   5 minutes    10       
An extended visual and theoretical treatment of urban social issue - 2000 words reflecting upon 12-15 images There is a resit opportunity. Standard UoL penalty applies for late submission. This  -2000 words    90       

Recommended Texts

Reading lists are managed at readinglists.liverpool.ac.uk. Click here to access the reading lists for this module.