In today’s post, I want to talk about the
more practical aspects of the Geography modules that I have studied so far this
year. The four modules I have taken this semester are:
- Changing Landscapes of Singapore
- Geographies of Social Life
- Geographies of Development
- Globalisation and Asian Cities
On the practical side, the tendency to base
modules on more local geographical phenomena has resulted in courses that
require us to venture out into the field more than I have done at UCL. For the
Geographies of Social Life module, I was required to create a fieldwork journal
analysing one social group in a neighbourhood of my choice. I decided to visit
an area called Tiong Bahru (a well-known area undergoing gentrification) to
examine how its newfound popularity with the younger generations has affected
the elderly population. In Changing Landscapes of Singapore, I had two
fieldwork-based assignments. One involved us exploring the arts landscape in
Little India. The second gave us more freedom- we were allowed to choose any
location, as long as the project was based on heritage tourism. Our group chose
to visit the last remaining kampong
(rural village) in Singapore which is unknown even to many Singaporeans.
Considering Singapore’s remarkable urbanization journey of the last few
decades, it was fascinating to get a glimpse of what life used to be like on
this island.
From a geographer’s perspective, I believe
these are really good exercises for encouraging us to apply what we learn in
lecture theatres to our surroundings, and vice versa. It has also encouraged me
to engage more with the people in
these landscapes as well (because for some projects, mini-interviews were
required). From an exchanger’s perspective, this aspect of the courses is great
as it allows me to discover neighbourhoods that I would not otherwise have
visited. It also forces me to enter these landscapes with a geographical frame
of mind, whereas on a day-to-day basis, this would not necessarily be the case.
With any luck, the modules next term will continue to allow me to discover new
areas of Singapore.
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