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Everyday Lives

Module description

Geographies of everyday life refer to the rhythms and relationships of people and place, and therefore the ways geography shapes everyday lives. Rather than focus on big events or moments of disjuncture, this module  turns to the ordinary and mundane by analysing the practices, experiences, networks, institutions, and processes implicated in the production of everyday life. Engaging with social theory, art and literature, and qualitative and interpretative methodologies, we will move across diverse everyday spaces – from the city to the body – and trace the technologies and relations that variously constitute them. We will also consider how relations of power and politics produce differences in the experiences and conditions of everyday living. Sitting at the intersection between social and cultural geographies, the module draws predominantly on case studies from the United Kingdom to consider how the lens of everyday lives is empirically and conceptually productive for geography and beyond.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The aim of this module is to study the ways everyday lives inspire social and cultural geographies. Through lectures and discussion-based workshops, the module will:

• introduce the concept of everyday life in geography.
• examine attempts in geography and related disciplines to study and interpret everyday lives in a variety of geographical contexts.
• develop critical and creative thinking about everyday lives
• examine the range of methodological strategies and innovative practices that geographers have developed to research everyday lives.

We will look at recent research on the everyday, including staff research interests in cities, technology and automation, bodies, education, leisure and more. These foci will be situated within broader research on the geographies of everyday life.

Through active participation in the module and completion of the essay assessment, the module also aims to further develop the following academic and professional skills:

• problem solving (developing own ideas with confidence, identifying and using appropriate sources of information, selectively collecting and collating appropriate information)
• personal and professional development (identifying key demands of the task, setting clearly defined goals, conceptualising central issues within the task, developing strategies to ensure individual progress)
• time management (managing time effectively)
• collaboration (respecting the views and values of others, taking initiative and leading others, supporting others in their work)
• the application of critical analytical skills in relation to a range of key contemporary social and cultural issues.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate understanding of how the concept of everyday life has been developed and used across social and cultural geographies.
• 2. Discuss examples and case studies of everyday lives that reflect a range of geographical contexts.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Evaluate and apply key debates in social and cultural geography to the study of everyday lives.
• 4. Appraise different disciplinary and methodological approaches to studying everyday life with confidence.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Identify, evaluate and synthesise literature and material from a range of sources effectively.
• 6. Communicate ideas, principles and theories effectively and fluently orally and in writing.
• 7. Develop self-directed study/ learning skills, including time management, independently.
• 8. Actively reflect on the process of learning and evaluate personal strengths and weaknesses throughout the module.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Cities and urban life
• (Health) Care and technology
• Bodies and embodiment
• Data and digital lives
• Work and working identities
• Activism and advocacy
• Leisure, hobbies and enthusiasm

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to sit a further examination or submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Brinkman, S. (2012) Qualitative inquiry in everyday life: working with everyday life materials. London, UK: Sage.
• De Certeau, M. (1984) The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley, CA: University of California.
• Ehn, B., Logfren, O., & Wilk, R. (2015) Exploring everyday life: Strategies for ethnography and cultural analysis. London, UK: Rowan & Littlefield.
• Holloway, L. and Hubbard, P. (2000) People and Place: The Extraordinary Geographies of Everyday Life. Prentice Hall
• Horton, J. and Kraftl, P. (2014) Cultural Geographies: an introduction, Routledge.
• Kitchin, R. (2021) Data Lives: How Data are Made and Shape Our World. Bristol university Press.
• Lefebvre, H. (2014) Critiques of Everyday life (the one volume edition). London and New York: Verso.
• Pink, S. (2012) Situating Everyday Life: Practices and Places. London, UK Sage,
• Pain, R., et al. (2001) Introducing Social Geographies, Hodder Arnold
• Smith, D. (1987) The Everyday World as Problematic: A Feminist Sociology. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press
• Smith, S. Pain, R. Marston, S. and Jones, J-P (eds) (2009) The Sage Handbook of Social Geographies. Sage.
• Valentine, G. (2001) Social Geographies: Society and Space. Prentice Hall

Key words search

Everyday, practices, technology, space, place, people