6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 4019628FNR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (F) Master - specialised level.

Semester
2nd semester
Enrollment based on exam contract
Impossible
Grading method
Grading (scale from 0 to 20)
Can retake in second session
Yes
Taught in
English
Partnership Agreement
Under interuniversity agreement for degree program
Faculty
Faculty of Sciences and Bioengineering Sciences
Department
Geography
Educational team
David Bassens (course titular)
Manuel Aalbers
Activities and contact hours
30 contact hours Lecture
30 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study
Course Content

The course constitutes a mixture of lectures and seminars, including student presentations and a field trip. This is an overview of the sessions:

1: Case-based introduction

2: Contemporary agglomeration dynamics

3: Creative industries

4: Geographies of retail

5: Financialization

6: Financial geographies of real estate

7: World/global cities

8: New economic powers

9-10: Capita selecta: Offshoring, Eurozone crisis, Islamic finance, etc. (possible topics and possible (guest) lecturers will be defined at the beginning of the semester)

 

Additional info

Study material

Papers and book chapters (poincarré).

Prerequisite

Basic knowledge in economic geography or in economic sociology/anthropology/history. Students who lack basic knowledge in economic geography can ask the lecturers for relevant textbook readings.

Learning Outcomes

General Competences

Learning objective

This course aims to:

- Expand awareness and knowledge of economic and financial geography and insights in the relationship between spatial economy and society.

- Acquire knowledge of the different ways in which geography or place play an important role in the contemporary economy, in particular in the field of finance.

- Develop critical understanding of processes of agglomeration dynamics, financialization, economic globalization, offshoring, and so forth.

- Develop analytical understanding of the complex interactions between globalization, localization, real estate, financial crises and states.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 50% of the final mark.
PRAC Presentation determines 25% of the final mark.
PRAC Paper determines 25% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • written exam with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 50% of the final mark.

Within the PRAC Presentation category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • critical summary with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 25% of the final mark.

Within the PRAC Paper category, the following assignments need to be completed:

  • discussion paper with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 25% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

Assignment 1: All students will be scheduled to prepare a critical summary of one required reading in a powerpoint format. This part accounts for 25% of the final grade.

Assignment 2: Each student writes an individual 1000w position paper about a key element you have learned during the full-day field trip in Brussels. This part accounts for 25% of the final grade.

The written exam during the exam period accounts for 50% of the final grade. Questions can be asked related to all parts of the course, i.e. including the literature, (guest) lectures, and the field trip.

Participation in lectures and in the field trip is obligatory. Non-participation will exclude the student from taking the written exam. In case the absence is legalized (e.g. medical proof), the lecturers need to be contacted as soon as possible. Students must pass both the critical summary and position paper part (together 50%) and the final written exam (50%). Failing either or both parts will result in a grade of max. 9/20. Students who fail the final exam, must do a re-take of the written exam. Students who fail the paper or presentation, have the opportunity to write a new paper and/or rework the powerpoint presentation.

Partial marks for the each of the assignments, if the student obtains at least half of the score each part, are transferred to the second session and to the next academic year. Students may not relinquish partial marks.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark
The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context

This offer is part of the following study plans:
Master of Geography: Standaard traject (only offered in Dutch)
Master of Geography: Standard track
Master of Urban Studies: Standard track
Master of Teaching in Science and Technology: geografie (120 ECTS, Etterbeek) (only offered in Dutch)