Module manager: Martin Purvis
Email: m.c.purvis@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semesters 1 & 2 (Sep to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2025/26
| GEOG3291 | Geographies of Global Insecurities: New Dynamics |
This module is not approved as a discovery module
Human societies have long faced security challenges relating to physical safety, economic and social welfare and environmental sustainability. This module explores the distinctive form that key challenges take in the contemporary world, relating changes in our collective experience to broadening and deepening in the field of security studies, and in geographical approaches to security. We begin by considering recent debates about the meaning of security/insecurity, in theory and in practice. This lays the foundation for more detailed study of the challenges to international, national and human security presented by i) military conflict and organised violence involving state and non-state actors, ii) migration, population displacement and differentials in the rights of mobile individuals, and iii) climate change. To further our understanding of these themes we relate academic and policy perspectives, and often-contested popular conceptions of security, to particular geographical contexts and case studies.
The module aims to promote analysis of and engagement with:
1) Academic, policy and political/public debate about the meaning of security/insecurity in theory and practice, paying particular attention to ideas about territory, spatial scale, spatial incidence and interconnection, and environment.
2) The incidence of military conflict and serious organised violence in the contemporary world, and debates about its character and consequences for international, national and human security.
3) Key political and geopolitical dimensions of migration, displacement and (im)mobility, with attention to the role of influential entities in shaping rights to, and opportunities for, security – at a range of geographical scales.
4) Discourses of climate security and the potential, in theory and in practice, to promote climate resilience and transformative climate justice.
These themes are reflected in the structure and content of the learning activities, which begin with lectures and seminars designed to promote student understanding of the evolving scope of security studies, key theoretical perspectives on security, and its links with geography. Subsequent lectures and seminars focus on i) military conflict in the contemporary world, ii) population movements, policy responses and the (in)security of mobile bodies, and iii) climate change as a source of insecurity and the role of climate resilience and climate justice in countering this insecurity.
The assessment requires students to relate debates about theoretical conceptions of security/insecurity to particular issues and geographical contexts in ways that encourage them to draw connections between the different strands of module content.
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following learning outcomes relevant to the subject:
SSLO1: Analysis and appraisal of changing and potentially contested conceptions of security/insecurity in the contemporary world, and links (conceptual and applied) between geography and security studies.
SSLO2: Analysis and appraisal of debates about the roles of states and non-state actors in promoting security and insecurity.
SSLO3: Assessment of evidence about the incidence of military conflict and serious organised violence in the contemporary world, and to critically appraise debates about the character, causes and security implications of conflict.
SSLO4: Evaluation and analysis of ideas and evidence about the social/spatial impacts and implications of human migration and (im)mobility in an insecure world.
SSLO5: Analysis and appraisal of arguments about climate insecurity as a manifestation of larger global inequality and inequity; and to evaluate the potential, in theory and in practice, for constructing effective responses based on climate resilience and climate justice.
Skills Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of the module students will have demonstrated the following skills learning outcomes:
SKLO1: Information searching (Academic, Enterprise, Sustainability) including searching for, evaluating and using a range of appropriate and relevant sources of information and ideas to help strengthen the quality of academic work and self-directed research.
SKLO2: Critical thinking (Academic, Sustainability, Work Ready) including exploring and debating contentious issues, offering informed opinion, while recognising and respecting the opinion of others and weighing up different arguments and perspectives, using supporting evidence to form opinions, arguments, theories and ideas.
SKLO3: Academic writing (Academic) including communicating effectively combining visual materials and a written commentary to articulate a clear and concise argument, supported by relevant evidence and adhering to academic convention.
SKLO4: Presentation (Academic) including oral and visual communication on a pre-prepared topic in an accessible manner, considering the needs of the specific audience.
Details of the syllabus will be provided on the Minerva organisation (or equivalent) for the module
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lecture | 15 | 1 | 15 |
| Seminar | 15 | 1 | 15 |
| Private study hours | 170 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 30 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 200 | ||
We will provide formative feedback on students’ understanding of module material in weekly seminars; these contextualise lecture material through discussion of specific readings and small-scale research tasks. We will also support students in reviewing their learning when preparing their assessed work, by scheduling dedicated office hours in which they can discuss their initial reading and plans for their presentation and associated individual commentary.
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
|---|---|---|
| Coursework | Oral assessment (as a group) | 20 |
| Coursework | Coursework | 80 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 100 | |
Those students – including resit students – who do not participate in the group oral presentation will have the opportunity to submit a short individual set of PPT slides and an individual written commentary.
The reading list is available from the Library website
Last updated: 03/04/2025
Errors, omissions, failed links etc should be notified to the Catalogue Team