Contemporary times are marked by unprecedented levels of movement by people, objects, capital, information and ideas: the world is constantly ‘on the move’. However, a number of inequalities/factors influence the extent to which society is mobile: some move further, with greater ease or with more choice than others. This module focuses on the effects that mobility patterns - old and new - have on spaces and places, and how the rapid growth in both physical and virtual mobility is connected to issues of politics and power. This will be examined through three main themes: travel, tourism and communication. The module will draw upon a number case studies and examples including the planning of cities as economic engines and leisure destinations; examining factors that influence tourist related travel and their impacts; the role of virtual communications (e.g. apps and smart phones) in reshaping our experiences of places; the representation of mobility in contemporary media (e.g. film and news). In so doing the module sheds light on the relevance of mobility as a framework for understanding contemporary relations between economy, society and culture, and the shifting dynamics of place, scale and borders.  

1. Evaluate claims in the mobilities literature regarding the increasing scale and connectivity of cultural worlds.
2. Recognise the ways in which changes in physical and virtual mobility produce and reshape place and culture.
3. Appraise factors that influence tourist travel decisions and assess their impacts.
4. Analyse the ways in which mobility is represented and mobilized in different media (e.g. film, planning documents, tourism brochures)
5. Engage with methodological debates arising from understanding mobility as a meaningful object of study in its own right.

The module will be delivered through lectures and seminars.

Lectures will be delivered by the module team. They provide a theoretical framework and case studies to understand contemporary debates and shifts in mobility.

Seminars provide an environment where students can deepen their understanding of specific issues, practice their research and analytical skills, apply concepts to contemporary debates, and critically evaluate academic and policy knowledge.

Subject-related:

• Use case study material and data to explore, illustrate and test theoretical propositions
• Develop an understanding of the impacts of increased mobility on the social and physical environment
• Understand sources of mobility inequality and critically assess ways in which they can be transformed and reproduced
• Make links between social, cultural and economic phenomena and geographical distributions

Transferable:

• Make links between abstract theoretical knowledge and everyday life
• Handle conceptual and factual material in oral and a range of written forms
• Write clearly and competently, and make reflective comments upon topics learned
• Sharpen argumentative skills through small group discussions and reasoned debate

Values/attitudes:                      

• Develop reasoned arguments, both orally and in written form, and demonstrate the ability to critically assess and evaluate evidence and claims
• Develop an active sense of citizenship through group debate and understanding sources of inequality
• Enhance understanding of personal identity and social position in a globalising world

Type of assessment

%

Contribution

Title

Duration
(if applicable)

Approx. date of Assessment

Presentation

25

To be defined within the module

10 minutes

Autumn

Essay

75

To be defined within the module

3000 words

Autumn

The opportunity for reassessment in this module

Students are permitted to be reassessed in a module which they have failed, in line with the course regulations. The reassessment will usually take place during the summer.

1. Theorising mobility
2. Mobility, place and power (i): landscape and infrastructure
3. Mobile Devices: objects and apps
4. Urban events, travel and resource use implications
5. Cinematic mobilities: analysing mobility in film
6. Researching Mobilities: methodologies and applications
7. Tourism in cities

Adey, P. Bissell, D., Hannam, K., Merriman, P., Sheller, M. Eds (2013) The Routledge Handbook of Mobilities (Oxford, UK)

Cresswell, T. & Merriman, P. (2013) Geographies of mobilities: practices, spaces, subjects (Ashgate, Farnham)

de Souza e Silva, A. (2002) ‘From Cyber to Hybrid: Mobile Technologies as Interfaces of Hybrid Spaces’, Space & Culture, 3, 261–77

Collins, A. J., Munday, M. C. R. and Roberts, A. (2012) Environmental consequences of tourism consumption at major events: An analysis of the UK stages of the 2007 Tour de France. Journal of Travel Research 51(5), pp. 577-590.

Cresswell, T. & Dixon, D. (Eds) (2002) Engaging Film: Geographies of Mobility and Identity (Roman & Littlefield, Maryland US) (Chapters 8, 9 &14)

Imrie, R. (2000) “Disability and discourses of mobility and movement” Environment and Planning A, Vol. 32, p1641-1656

Cresswell, T. (2006) On the Move (Routledge, Oxford)

Hall C M & Page S J (2014) (4th Ed) The Geography of Tourism and Recreation. Environment, Place and Space (4^th Edition), Routledge, London.

Sheller, M. & Urry, J. (2006) “The new mobilities paradigm” Environment & Planning A, Vol. 38, p207-226

Spinney, J. (2010) Performing resistance? Re-reading urban cycling on London’s South Bank, Environment and Planning A, 42(12), pp. 2914–2937

Urry, J. (2000) Sociology Beyond Societies: mobilities for the twenty-first century (Routledge, London and New York)