Fieldwork Skills for Professional Geographers

Module code: GY1026

In this module you will gain basic skills that are critical to conducting fieldwork, including keeping a field notebook, observation skills, collecting, collating and presenting different types of data. Through a mixture of group work, independent research and guided fieldwork, you will explore Leicester and the wider East Midlands through the lens of multiculturalism, heritage and regeneration. 

Often, ethnic difference and cultural diversity are studied as 'problems', or given a high profile when conflict emerges. While there has been a tradition of celebrating diversity in municipal policy, in recent years multiculturalism has been incorporated into crisis talk. A good example of this includes the Channel 4 documentary ‘Make Leicester British’. We will explore some of the dangers of framing matters in these ways, instead exploring multiculture as something that most people living in urban areas actually experience and live with.

After looking at Leicester, the second part of the module will focus on the heritage and regeneration of Corby, a former steel town in Northamptonshire. Corby grew dramatically in the 20th century around steel manufacturing and was devastated by the plant's closure in 1979. We will explore the impact of this closure on a town that depended on it for jobs alongside the regeneration efforts of private companies and public authorities in Corby. As part of this strand of the module you will write an application for the (fictional) job of Corby Borough Council Regeneration Officer.