Learning about the social construction of childhood

Third year Geography students recently spent a day in London, looking at the social construction of childhood.

Getting ready for the trip

Meeting at Northampton train station - an early start to the day

The students - all of whom are studying GEO3007 Children's Geographies - visited the Museum of Childhood and the National Portrait Gallery.

At the Museum of Childhood they looked at how experiences of childhood have varied over time.  There were also opportunities for us to critically reflect on our own childhood experiences - and to play with some toys!

Learning about how childhood has changed over time

Learning about the development of board games (or auditioning for a role as a game show host?)

Trying out some of the games

After a lunch break near Trafalgar Square, the group visited the National Portrait Gallery.  This provided opportunities to critically reflect on representations of childhood - and to consider how these have changed over time.

Taking a break to explore some of the National Portrait Gallery's collections online

A bit tired after a busy day!

Professor Margaret Bates inaugurated as new President of Chartered Institution of Wastes Management

Last week Prof Margaret Bates was inaugurated as the new President of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management.

Full details of the event can be found here.

Students visit Natural History Museum

This week second year Geography and Environmental Science students taking GEO2114 Earth Science visited the Natural History Museum in London.

Meeting outside Newton building at 8.00am

Lots of enthusiasm for an early start!

The group explored a number of galleries.  They focused on rocks and minerals, and examined fossils - and dinosaurs! - too.

The minibus awaits!

Conference on interdisciplinary research with children, young people and families

A conference on interdisciplinary research with children, young people and families was hosted by Prof John Horton and Dr Faith Tucker on 7th September. 

Prof John Horton

Dr Faith Tucker

The conference, which was attended by academics from places as diverse as New Zealand, Sweden and Cumbria, provided an opportunity for people to share their research.  The audience comprised geographers, social workers, youth workers, educationalists, planners, sociologists, nurses and those working in local authorities.

A key note speech was delivered by Prof Claire Freeman of the University of Otago.  She spoke about the joys, confrontations and challenges of interdisciplinary working.

Planning field trips

As the new academic year looms, we are planning field trips for the autumn term.

More information about field trips will be provided to students in due course, but in the meantime, here's some photos of our Grand Day Out to Stonehenge and Avebury at the end of last term...

Environmental Science students at Avebury

Visiting Stonehenge

Nuffield Student joins Geography team for summer placement

This summer the Geography department is hosting a Nuffield student. Nuffield studentships give sixth form students the chance to work in a university for several weeks in the summer helping with a research project and learning what conducting university research is really like.

Alexandra Asvestapoulou will be working with Dr Joanna Wright and Dr Janet Jackson on the quality and connectedness of cycling facilities in Northampton.

This pilot study will focus on cycle routes to and from the station, town centre and university campuses, and ties in to other research on cycling commuting being carried out in the department this summer. Alex will be mapping these features using new GPS units the department acquired this year, and drawing a map of the facilities and routes using ArcGIS, the industry standard for mapping software.  This is the same software that Northampton students learn to use in Geography and Environmental science sources, which is part of improving their career opportunities and employability skills.

Sustainable transport is a very important part of planning for the new Waterside campus, and for the future as part of carbon reduction strategies, and this research will compile information to help improve cycling facilities in Northampton and the rest of the UK.

Climate KIC Pioneer Placement in Poland for Dr Joanna Wright

Dr Joanna Wright is heading to Poland in August to work at the Centre for Systems Solutions in Wrocław.

The Centre designs serious games; these are games which work both as games and which also educate people about different issues. They have designed online games, board games and role playing games for businesses, schools and environmental management professionals.

Jo will be working on games about water resources and energy, using her experience as an environmental consultant, and a sustainability advocate and academic.

Gamification is a big current research topic, and elements of gamification are used in many areas including public policy and education. Jo hopes to also learn about their game design process and bring back useful tools for my university teaching, as well as develop research contacts for the future.