Module description
This module stems from one simple assertion: that there is no such thing as a ‘natural disaster’. Conceptually grounded in social theory around the social construction of nature, the module invites students to unpack and critique widely-held ideas about disasters – specifically, that they are extra-ordinary phenomena driven by 'out there' nature, the notion that certain people and places are inevitably more vulnerable to risk than others (namely, those in the Global South), and that disasters are a-political. Addressing each myth in turn, the module will deconstruct where these ideas come from, why they are powerful, and why they matter politically, by drawing on cutting-edge research on post-coloniality, the politics of responsibility and social justice in critical disaster studies. Each myth will be explored from the perspective of how they inform disaster management in practice (through real-life case studies of disaster preparedness and response), and how they are reproduced in mainstream cultural discourse, using film as a lens. Film scholars have long-emphasised the role of popular cinema as an essential site of contemporary meaning-making, and this module invites students to think critically and creatively about how film imagery, narrative and characterisation serve to reflect, normalise and perpetuate particular ideas of disaster. Students will undertake an analysis of disasters-on-film via an independent group project and poster presentation, and an individual essay on conceptual aspects of the module.
This module has interdisciplinary appeal, bringing together critical social science approaches to disasters and development with humanities-oriented techniques in visual analysis. This combination seeks to equip students with a rich understanding of how real-world social and environmental problems are fundamentally shaped by processes of meaning-making and cultural reproduction.
Film students should note this is not a traditional film module; it is taught by a geographer from a social science perspective. It offers Arts & Humanities students the opportunity to engage with geographical literatures, in part through the medium of film.
For further information please refer to the full module description.
Assessment details
100% Coursework
For further information please refer to the full module description.