Dr Paula Meth: Teaching

I teach on the following modules:

TRP 108 Information and communication skills

This is an essay writing module which aims to train undergraduates in the art of argument making and essay writing. I teach students how to source information, how to reference and how to avoid plagiarism. I engage students in practical tasks to encourage their learning of these skills and also to continually apply their learning to their own needs, in other words I don’t teach skills simply for the sake of it. I use practical sessions to develop students’ awareness of the features of good essay writing and students get given a chance to produce a draft essay in order to practice and develop their growing understanding. In the process students get to learn about feedback and how to make good use of feedback from staff and their peers.

TRP 4008 / 6013 Cities of Diversity

This graduate level option module develops my own interests in current urban realities by focusing on questions of diversity in modern cities. The module explores issues faced by various individuals living in cities including youth and men as two core examples. My focus on men is to encourage a broadening of understanding of the idea of gender and to think critically about how social theorisations change and develop over time in relation to spatial and social change. The module also considers other topical realities such as shifts in ICT and problems of urban violence. This latter topic and the focus on men draw on my own research in South Africa, just one example of the international focus of the module more generally. I use student presentations to develop students’ understanding of issues of migration, ethnicity and planning for diversity in relation to cities across the world.

FCS670 Qualitative Research Methods

This is a new module (for 2011-12) being delivered across the Faculty of Social Science to all interested PhD students. I am the convener of this module but am benefitting from teaching it with 2 other colleagues from other departments (Geography and Sociological Studies). The module aims to provide a foundational introduction to Qualitative Methods and to give students some practical experience of some of the methods they are most likely to make use in the course of their PhDs. The module also draws on methodological debate (through reading) to stimulate awareness and critical reflection of methodology more broadly.