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.
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