36
Geography
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI NAPOLI "L'ORIENTALE"
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
The course provides a critical reconstruction of the main languages, theories, and methods established over time in the international geographical debate. The study of territorial organization on a global scale, presented from a long-term perspective, will be supported by an adequate knowledge of specialized vocabulary, cartographic sources, and methodological tools of contemporary geographies. The aim is to learn how to deconstruct the interplay between representations (discursive, cartographic, iconographic) and social practices and to acquire the critical tools necessary to interpret the socio-spatial dynamics of contemporary society.
After identifying the fundamental themes outlined above, students will engage in an in-depth analysis of how these themes have evolved over time and their territorial repercussions at both global and local scales.
The course also aims to foster the acquisition of methodological skills in geographical analysis, adopting a historical-geographical approach, concerning territorial formations and the various space-time representation modes that have emerged over time, reflecting the cultures of different peoples around the world.
The specific educational objectives of the course are:
a) To foster an awareness of geographical knowledge based on a transdisciplinary approach.
b) To acquire knowledge and skills regarding the main concepts and theories that have characterized the history of geography in the modern and contemporary eras.
c) To develop interpretative skills attentive to historical contextualization, aimed at learning the specialized vocabulary of geographical culture, which are useful methodological tools for specialists in technical translation.
d) To master the discipline’s specific words, concepts, and paradigms.
e) To clearly present the topics discussed in class and documented in the bibliography.
f) To deconstruct cartographic representations, which are the result of different worldviews that have changed over time.
g) To contextualize the transforming global scenarios, in light of the awareness gained – through the themes covered in the course – of the contemporary crisis of the capitalist production model.
ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
The course aims to deepen the genealogy of the epistemological statutes of the history of geography from modernity to today. Particular attention to cartographic representations allows for an analysis of the relationship between cartography and power. Using a critical approach, students will study social practices connected to socio-historical transformations that have shaped the geographies of the contemporary world.
The students will be expected to demonstrate autonomous understanding and evaluation skills regarding current processes of territorialization, which result from political, economic, social, and cultural dynamics that characterize the geographies of the contemporary world.
In the second part of the course, attending students will present topics of their choice, agreed upon with the teacher who will coordinate the seminar activity, based on texts by D. Harvey and C. Pesaresi, using PowerPoint.
This method of presenting some themes through exposés prepared by the students, whether by a single presenter or organized into small groups of two or three, promotes the development of soft skills such as teamwork, peer coordination, and personal oral presentation skills, which are useful in any future professional activity etc.
ADDITIONAL EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Judgment Autonomy
Mastery of the themes presented and discussed, supported by the ability to develop a conscious and critical thinking.
Communication Skills
Consolidation of the discipline-specific language aimed at framing phenomena of the contemporary world, connecting different geographical themes across scales.
Arguments will be based on a methodological disciplinary acquisition of topics related to current territorial, social, and political dynamics, also considering ongoing changes in the global context, from a spatial-historical-geographical perspective.
Fundamental will be the communication of cartographic language and its applications including georeferencing systems which shows the acquired knowledge of the elements necessary for the study of digital technologies to be developed within the field of humanistic studies.
Learning Ability Autonomy
The autonomy of learning and judgment will be strengthened through seminar experiences via presentations, which allow for the development of a conscious use of different concepts, adopting an interdisciplinary perspective and, in particular, a historical-geographical approach.
Course Prerequisites
A solid basic knowledge of human geography and cartography is essential. For those who have not taken geography exams at the three-year degree courses, it is recommended to study the “Human Geography” program on the website (prof. Galluccio).
Equally indispensable is the knowledge of the fundamental historical-political processes of the modern and contemporary age, which are attested by the attainment of each High School Diploma or General certificate of Secondary Education.
Teaching Methods
The teaching activity will be carried out as follows:
20 hours of frontal teaching, including PowerPoint presentations, thematic maps, and consultations of websites.
8-10 hours (depending on the number of attendees) dedicated to multimedia presentations, with a seminar discussion in the classroom on the topics discussed during the course, including individual work by students or organized in small groups of 2 or 3 people (exposé).
6/8 hours of in-depth study on the basics of cartography and the history of cartography, with some lessons co-taught with external experts, to illustrate digitized maps available on ArcGIS Online for those who present exposés,
For those who present the exposés, these will be these will be evaluated as part of the exam.
Attending the course is highly recommended, especially given the methodological approach of the course that involves exposés and practical applications in cartography, particularly digital cartography. This will allow students to work on GIS maps to highlight the informational and performative power of digital cartographies.
Assessment Methods
The exam consists of an oral test.
ONLY students enrolled in the course are permitted to give A presentations (exposé) on specific topics selected from the assigned texts.
These classroom presentations, supplemented by in-depth analyses and supported by PowerPoint slides, will be evaluated and will contribute to the final grade of the oral exam.
There is NO difference in the syllabus between attending and non-attending students.
The exam will involve an oral discussion related to the course content, and specifically, the student will be asked:
One question about each of the texts listed in the respective sections of bibliographie.
The evaluation will follow these CRITERIA:
The final grade, expressed out of thirty, aims to assess the acquisition of the expected disciplinary knowledge and skills.
The criteria used to verify the knowledge and abilities acquired are: clarity of exposition, coherence, completeness of information, and correct use of disciplinary language; the ability to critically interpret tools of geographical analysis applied to various social, political, economic, and cultural phenomena from the local to the global scale; and the skill in reading cartographic representations (as well as cartograms, diagrams, histograms) that summarize the phenomena studied across different territorial contexts.
Texts
FOR PART I
a) LODOVISI A., TORRESANI S., Cap. I Storia della Cartografia, in IDD. Cartografia e informazione geografica. Storia e tecniche, Pàtron, Bologna, 2005, pp. 11-100.
b) HARLEY B., Deconstructing the map, in C. MINCA, Introduzione alla geografia postmoderna, CEDAM, Milano, 2001 (presente tra i materiali didattici della docente).
c) PESARESI C., APPLICAZIONI GIS. Principi metodologici e linee di ricerca. Esercitazioni ed esemplificazioni guida, UTET, Torino, 2017, pp. 3-30.
For the basic understanding of the elements of geodetic-topographic cartography, which is preparatory to the study of the history of cartography, its symbolic languages, the conceptualization of mental maps, and the implementation of digital cartographies, reference is also made to the teaching materials provided by the professor available on the university’s website. In particular, see the brochure:
d) GALLUCCIO F., VIGANONI L. (editors), ), Le rappresentazioni del mondo. Elementi di cartografia, University of Naples “L’Orientale”.
FOR PART II
e) GALLUCCIO F., Spazialità politiche: la natura dello spazio geografico e le sue rappresentazioni, in A. TRUCCHIO (a cura), Cartografie di guerra. Le ragioni della convivenza a partire da Kant, Mimesis, Milano-Udine, 2011, pp. 101-116 (reperibile fra i materiali didattici della docente).
FOR PART III
f) HARVEY D., Diciassette contraddizioni e la fine del capitalismo, Feltrinelli, Milano, 2014.
Contents
Course Title: THEORIES, METHODS, AND LANGUAGES OF GEOGRAPHY
LIST OF TOPICS:
PART I – On Languages –
1. The dual nature of geographical knowledge between worldview image and writing about the world.
2. A critical framework of geographical discourse: from the multiplicity of representations to social practices.
3. The cartographic language as an expression of hegemonic cultures. Cartographic representations in Western history, from the ancient world to the present.
4. Geodetic cartography and digital cartographies (GIS, GPS), covering the most relevant methodological principles for GIS applications in the Human and Social Sciences.
PART II – On Methods –
5. The geohistorical approach and field surveys.
6. Qualitative methods: a reflection starting from the nature of geographic space and the deconstruction of the cartographic device.
PART III – On Theories –
7. Globalizations in history and the postmodernist turning point.
8. Practices: contemporary capitalism and its contradictions.
9. Structural crises: primitive accumulation and accumulation through dispossession
10. A brief history of neoliberalism, the financialization of power, conflicts, and wars.
Course Language
Italian
More information
All students are advised to use a good geographical atlas or a cartographic image viewer available among the main software on the web (DeAwing, Google-Earth, Google-Map, etc.).
Recommended texts are available at the library of the Department of Human and Social Sciences (Palazzo Giusso, first floor).
Interested students are eligible for the loan according to the regulations in force