The purpose of this module is to engage in the close reading and close writing of place in order to deepen understandings of key factors that influence the creation, evolution, and/or analysis of place and people. This module engages an approach that can enhance the curriculums and the learning experiences of a range of disciplines: for example, it is of relevance to students designing places for people (eg. architecture, landscape architecture, urban design) and to students of writing or students studying literary texts (eg. students of creative writing, fiction and creative non-fiction, English literature) and to students for whom the understanding of place as well as its relationship with people is central to aspects of their disciplines (eg. geography, sociology).

The following is indicative of the content of the module. This module concentrates on place, specifically a focus on close and careful observation, on appreciation, on meaningfulness. Two activities are undertaken during the module: close reading and careful writing. The texts to be read will consider place across a range of scales - the scale of the land, of the city, of the domestic, of the interior, of the body. The writing of both urban and rural places are considered. Texts will be extracts from novels, short stories, and creative non-fiction including memoir and essays. In addition, to gain a wider context and position on place, we will also read and discuss extracts from the writings of contemporary philosophers of place along with the work of some cultural geographers focused on place. Each student will develop their own portfolio of writings about a specific place and/or place-experience, by exploring one place through writing, whether urban or rural. The writing output prepared by students is creative prose, with a supporting short piece of academic writing engaging the philosophies of places that have been considered. Each student will work their writing through a number of stages of drafts.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: Recognize the significance of place in the lives of people. Describe the role of place in a piece of writing. Appraise the source texts under consideration in relation to the work of the philosophers of place being read. Evaluate the merits of a piece of writing. Prepare a piece of writing for discussion and presentation. Synthesize strategies, techniques and feedback in revising creative work in writing.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: Participate in the constructive criticism of the written work of others. Listen to constructive criticism in the workshop setting.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to: n/a

The module is taught through seminars and workshopping of writing, involving peer-to-peer discussion and review of writing-in-progress. The learning environment is hands-on and active with students engaged in listening to one another, reading and discussing one another's work, and learning to receive and respond to constructive critique on their creative work in writing from teaching faculty and from their peers. The module also offers an optional opportunity for students to engage in an informal reading of extracts of their final submissions to an audience of fellow students from other modules which enables their COURAGEOUSNESS and resilience. Taking the module students develop their capacity to become ARTICULATE through developing skills in empathy and inter- and intra-personal skills through the learning environment of the workshop, discussing one another's writing-in-progress, and through listening to and reading the work of their classmates and engaging empathy through reading in seeing the world through their eyes. Students will develop their CURIOSITY through the key focus of the module on engagement with place through detailed observation of the world around them, enabling their capacities to become more inquisitive and developing their capacity to communicate this in imaginative ways through writing that can be read broadly, and to thus increase the impact of the module far beyond the classroom and university. The students on the module are RESPONSIBLE as they develop, through hands-on engagement in the classroom, skills in ethics and professionalism, through the act of treating one another's creative work with respect through offering constructive critique.