Day 42 - Settling In

Since the last time I updated this blog I have attended a few more lectures for each of my courses and I have been able to get a true grasp on the content covered. Thus far, all of my classes are proving stimulating, in particular ‘Food and Environment’ is proving fascinating. Led by Professor Carney, a distinguished professor whom is proving to be one of my favourite lecturers. Her presentations are incredibly thought provoking and she talks about her topic of interest with amazing enthusiasm and passion.

The content of the first half of this course reminds me very much of what is covered in the historical geographies aspect of my first year at UCL. Carney investigates both through her book ‘Black Rice’ and her lectures the lost geographies of the African slave trade and how the knowledge systems or ‘cultural funds of knowledge’ were essential for the establishment of functioning plantations in the Americas (Carney, 2002). With this she also critiques the well-documented ‘Colombian Exchange’ and how its rather narrow definition fails to include the elaborate movement of slaves across the Atlantic and their knowledge systems (Carney, 2001). Importantly she highlights it wasn’t just the seeds that enabled the transfer of food around the world and their integration into our diets (Carney, 2002). The racist view of the African as useless and just providing labour is rather emphatically nullified with Carney’s work.

With first midterm examinations in two weeks, the academic system here is fast paced; it encourages one to keep on top of work and reading, which I believe is important as it prevents individuals flying under the radar.

In terms of the differences between how geography is practiced in the US and UK, I wouldn’t at this point suggest that the experiences I’ve had in ‘Food and Environment’ have been particularly different to what I have experienced previously in the UK. After mid term examinations however I expect this to change due to the topic of study transitioning to more modern agricultural techniques and issues we face today like providing for a growing population in a world with limited carrying capacity (Langhelle, 2000), and dealing with ethical arguments about biotechnologies.

One aspect that struck me as really interesting occurred last Friday during my Applied Climatology class, the maps my professor decided to use to illustrate the spatial distribution of satellites and remote sensing technology were ‘American centric’. Showing North and South America at the centre of the map.  It will be interesting as I read more academic articles originating from the US whether this is a common occurrence.

Despite the third module I’m enrolled in this term not being related to geography, I think it would be good to highlight some key differences and adjustments I have had to make due to drastic differences in how the subject is studied in the UK. It was important to me to continue studying Spanish and maintain and improve on the fluency that I had built on at UCL. My first few lessons however have been challenging and there are a few reasons for this. Firstly, in the US, Latin American Spanish is what is taught, understandable when one considers its proximity to Latin America, however this means dialects and some grammar is very different to Spanish taught in the UK. Another key difference is the focus of classes away from grammar and onto speaking. In the UK, I was continuously learning new grammar and how to write but not so much how to communicate orally, something that is emphasised a lot here and which I feel will be beneficial.

Overall, since my last blog post there hasn’t ben much more information to report, the notes I am taking every lesson on differences are rather bare! I’m still very pleased with the progress I’m making as a student and person and with the quality of education I am receiving.

Until next time…

Carney, J. A. (2001) ‘African Rice in the Colombian Exchange’, The Journal of African History, 42, 3, 377-396.

Carney, J. A. (2002) Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas, Harvard: University Press.

Langhelle O. (2000) ‘Why ecological modernization and sustainable development should not be conflated,’ Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 2, 4: 303-322.

The 8 Clap

Month 1

Venice - A day out with fellow UCL Geographers Tirion and Juliet

Los Angeles - A View from the Griffith Observatory

Hollywood - The Reality

 Royce Hall - The Centrepiece of UCLA

Day 28 - First Impressions

 Today marks my 4th week in Los Angeles and the last day of my full first week of classes at UCLA. Valuable and unforgettable experiences have already filled my time here, experiences that I shall reflect on briefly in this first blog post. In addition to this I will share the early signs of differences in my experience of geography in the United States.

Before delving into details about my first impressions on the differences between geography at UCLA and that of the UK, I will briefly share my experiences of the geography of Los Angeles as in the very first week I stumbled upon some notable surprises. Firstly, Los Angeles is vast, however it is not an archetypal metropolitan city with no easily identifiable Central Business District. Public transport within the city is limited and rather unreliable when compared with the strong public transportation system in London. This is understandable as the many distinctive areas of Los Angeles are not simply a bus stop away; thus leaving Los Angeles an automobile-orientated low-density community (Wachs, 1993). The most surprising aspect however is the incredible disparity within the city and how those very rich and those very poor live in such close proximity. Unlike cities in London where the poor are marginalised to certain areas of the city, a dynamic that keeps changing (Haines and Wood, 2002), in Los Angeles in the space of two streets, one can walk from high-rises to sidewalks overcome with homeless people. Interestingly enough, the Lonely Planet guide to Los Angeles fails to mention how the reality of Los Angeles is strikingly different to what is presented on glossy pages. Exemplified in my first experience of Hollywood, walking one block either side of the 15 block ‘walk of fame’ marginalised individuals fill the streets, a setting that is very bleak.

In terms of geography as an academic subject, my first experiences have already brought to light some differences with American Geography and what I have experienced at UCL.

In my first two years at UCL, one of the aspects of geography that interested me most was climatology, learning about the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and comprehending how all of these interact to form one complex interrelated system. After thriving in GEOG2020 last academic year it made sense for me to attempt to continue similar classes at UCLA. From the wealth of modules available to me ‘Applied Climatology’ stood out to be the most natural follow up to ‘Hydroclimatology.’ My first lecture for this module was interesting, however the term ‘Applied Climatology’ itself is quintessentially an American term and the syllabus illustrated to me there would be clear differences between what I would be studying here at UCLA and what I have studied previously at UCL. Loosely defined by American academics as the scientific analysis of climatic data in the light of useful application for an operational purpose (Chagnon, 1995), Applied Climatology investigates data collection, manipulation, its interpretation and finally how this is translated into business strategies or policymaking. This is very different to the Hydroclimatology lectures I took last year.

The differences continue with how classes are conducted and what lecturers expect of students to do outside of class. In lectures there is an emphasis on discussion and fielding ones opinions, something that isn’t as common in the UK, as many modules assess students on their contribution in classes. In addition to this, for geography classes at UCLA there appears to be less encouragement on a wide breadth of reading. This is exemplified by there being only one prescribed text for ‘Applied Climatology,’ with each lecture based around a particular chapter. Even for the more literature-based modules such as the ‘Food and Environment’ module I am studying, only two core texts are to be studied. This will pose an interesting challenge for me, as merely focusing on a select few readings is alien to me.

The exciting module ‘Food and Environment’, mentioned above is one which attracted my attention as soon as I saw the course catalogue for this quarter. After two months of attempting to get enrolled for this class I finally was able to attend my first lecture last week. This module was striking as it is a topic that UCL geography doesn’t specifically cover, it looks at agricultural techniques of the past present and future, linking them to colonial explorations of the past and climate change related problems we are to experience in the future. This class is relevant for California due to the prolonged drought the state has been experiencing of late, it is proving to be a very interesting class that I look forward to sharing details about in this blog with future entries.

I will conclude my first blog post by saying that I am thoroughly enjoying my experience so far at UCLA, I’m thriving as an individual and a student. I acquired a campus job in my first week and I was recently designated the role of International Student Ambassador of the United Kingdom for this academic year.

This post will be followed by a few pictures that illustrate my feelings towards my first month in Los Angeles and my experiences so far.

Changnon, S. A.,(1995) ‘Applied Climatology: A glorious past, and uncertain future’, American Meteorological Society, 379–393.

Haines, R. and Wood, G. (2002) ‘Unemployment, marginalization and survival in Greater East London’, Development South Africa, 19, 4, 573-581.

Wachs, M. (1993) ‘Learning from Los Angeles: transport, urban form and air quality’, Transportation, 20, 4, 329-354.