Geographical imagination - assignment report template 2020

Geographical imagination - assignment report template 2020 [report length in 2,000 words]

Essay title (e.g. "Hong Kong as a divided city", "Taranto as a polluted town")

1. Introduction [estimate 250 word]

1.1 introduce the city theme (e.g. "a ruined city", "a divided city", " a global city", "a livable city", "a crime city", "a modern city") and city profile (e.g. history, city culture, population size, location, weather, GDP per ca pita.) [** show a map to indicate the city location is OK here]
1.2 why the city and the city theme have been chosen by you (e.g. personal and public interest, and personal familiarity)

2. Description of the city representation [1350 words] and how it has been communicated to people [200 words]

2.1 show 1-5 cultural artifacts (e.g. photos, films, paintings, etc). of the city representation and describe how they can be interpreted to represent a particular city representation

2.2 elaborate on you point 2.1 with additional information gathered via Internet search.

2.3. further express, examine and clarify your points 2.1 and 2.2 with some geographical (e.g. place, locale, scale, spatial connection, spatial movement) and sociological concepts (e.g., socialization, social norm, gender, social class, social conflict).

2.4. briefly discuss (i) how the city representation has been communicated to people and (ii) what are the targeted audience and main supporters of such communication and for what purposes. [** some usage of discourse analysis ideas could be useful here]

3. Concluding remarks [about 200 words]

3.1 some reflection of your discussion in section 2, e.g. (i) about actionable values to stakeholders and (ii) limitations (e.g. blind spots).  strengths of such a city representation.

References

Appendix



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a. Need harvard referencing and some academic references (e.g. via Google scholar search with key words, e.g. "place", "sense of place", "spatial connection", "social norm", etc.. [you may find some of the academic articles on the FB group of geographical imagination useful.]
b. Regarding scale, the case study can be a city (including a city state), a district, a town, BUT not a street, nor a region (e.g. the southern region of Vietnam), nor a country.

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Assignment info - extract

For the assignment you must choose:  one representation of a city (an object, film, book, map, painting, song, advertisement, tourist guide, etc) 

Your task is to examine and discuss the ways in which your chosen city is (or was) imagined and / or represented through your chosen media. 

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The word length for the assignment is 2,000 words and should be structured in the following way: 

1. An introduction outlining your chosen city and representation; and the REASONS for your choice. 

2. A main section critically discussing how your city is represented and imagined in your source material. You should also refer to relevant academic literature. 

3. A conclusion summarizing your analysis and the key messages/forms of representation identified.

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Relevant resources
On harvard referencing [also a video]
On a video about plagiarism 

Literature review approaches at the ALRA high-level research task level

Literature review approaches at the ALRA high-level research task level :

There are three approaches:

Types 1 and 2 are good, while type 3 is weak. 

The main effort of the literature review is to express your intention (i) to make use of the chosen analytical academic ideas, with justification, to inform the conduct of the high-level research task and subsequently, (ii) to carry out the theory-driven analysis with these analytical academic ideas on the research findings** on the high-level research task.

The red arrows between academic ideas represent idea complementarity and clarification with each other. Together, the set of academic ideas constitute a systemic analytical approach to explain and evaluate issues embodied in the high-level research task associated with them.

** The research findings are gathered with research methods as covered in dissertation report, Chapter 3, while the research findings are presented in dissertation report Chapter 4.

Some quantitative targets in ALRA-based research

Some quantitative targets in agile literature review approach (ALRA)-based dissertation report work, mainly on theoretical framework construction:


1. Core-focus domain items
1.1. 2 core-focus domain items.
1.2. Each item includes 6 academic ideas, mainly analytical academic ideas.
1.3. Located in zone 2.

2. Zone 1
2.1. 2-3 items, mostly about external environment drivers.
2.2. 0-1 item on internal environmental drivers.
2.3. Each item has 1-2 analytical academic ideas

3. Non-core-focus domain items in zone 2
3.1. 1-2 items.
3.2. Each item has 1-2 analytical academic ideas.

4. Non-core-focus domain items in zone 3a
4.1. 2-3 items.
4.2. Each item has 1-2 analytical academic ideas.

5. Non-core-focus domain items in zone 3b
5.1. 1-2 items.
5.2. Each item has 1-2 analytical academic ideas.

6. Synopsis form
6.1. References used: about 5 references, mainly academic journal articles.
6.2. Try to use references published in last 5 years.

7. Proposal form
7.1. References used: about 12 references, mainly academic journal articles.
7.2. Try to use references published in last 5 years.

8. Final dissertation report
8.1. References used: about 50 references, mainly academic journal articles.
8.2. Try to use references published in last 5 years.

Size of content
9. On chapter 2: literature review on high-level research tasks
9.1. 50-60% of content is about core-focus domain items
9.2. 40-50% of content is on non-focus domain items altogether.

10. On chapter 4: findings and analysis
10.1. 50-60% of content is about core-focus domain items
10.2. 40-50% of content is on non-focus domain items altogether.

On item linkages
11. Links between theoretical framework diagram
11.1. There should be links of items horizontally across zones.
11.2. There should be links of items vertically within zones.
[Just show links between zones is not enough]