Digital Geography › Teaching

The Digital Geography working group teaches basic knowledge of statistics, geodata analysis, GIS and cartography in the Bachelor’s degree programme. In-depth seminars cover both qualitative and quantitative methods as well as current issues at the interface of technology, space and society. In the Master’s programme, students can choose the specialisation “Digital Geography” and develop their own projects and questions in research-based courses.

Bachelor’s degree

We offer two basic lecture modules on statistical methods and on geodata analysis, GIS and cartography in the Bachelor’s degree programme. In the advanced phase of the third semester, we offer methodological and methodological seminars on various qualitative and quantitative methods as well as a wide range of advanced seminars dealing with current issues and challenges in the field of digital geography (and beyond). In these courses we focus on the interrelations between technology, power and spatial productions,

Master

In the Master’s programme, students have the opportunity to focus on ‘digital geography’, including advanced GIS and theoretical and methodological discussions in critical digital geographies. Here we also offer research-based courses that allow students to develop their own research agenda in this area.

Ideally, you will search for, find and develop the topic of your thesis yourself. We are happy to support this process. Please contact one of our lecturers directly. To give you some ideas and inspiration as to which topics are in good hands with us, we have listed some of the titles of theses we have completed.

Selection of former theses (B.Sc and M.Sc)

• Co-constitution of body and space in indoor recreational sports. Investigation of the perception and use of the “bouldering hall” space by FLINTA*
• Digital participation in infrastructure projects – as an opportunity for more citizen participation?
• Crime and social work in Leipzig-Schönefeld
• Critical mapping in the living space as an arena of technologised care work. A methodological contribution to knowledge production in feminist-geographical research
• Digital sovereignty of the EU using the example of platform companies
• The utilisation conflict over the future of Tempelhofer Feld in Berlin
• The influence of Airbnb on the housing market in Berlin.
• Digital geographies of the Covid-19 pandemic. The example of the Corona-Warn-App
• The natural hazard “heavy rain”. GIS-based relief analysis and hazard identification using the example of the city of Halle (Saale).
• The role of Twitter as an opinion-forming tool in the digital space. A mixed-method analysis of climate change risk communication by German federal politicians
• Development of a GIS-based online tool to analyse the 2013 Saale floods in the context of climate change in the Central German drylands Climate scepticism in German climate policy
• GIS analysis of existing land potentials for the implementation of the integrated energy transition in rural areas using the example of the “INTER100” cooperation region
• GIS-based micro-relief analysis: A comparison of a UAV-generated surface model and the official state DGM (laser scanning) for the catchment area of the Röstbach, Burgenlandkreis
• Potentials of neogeography – concepts of participation(s)
• Urban development in Leipzig after reunification – between shrinkage, growth and new challenges. The potential of temporary use as an urban development instrument with reference to Leipzig’s Gründerzeit neighbourhoods
• Really just the green thumb of the invisible hand? The concept of sustainability and neoliberalisation in the Bavarian state development programmes from 1976 to 2013.
• Urban mega-projects in times of neoliberal urban policy. The case of Bonifacio Global City in Metro Manila, Philippines.
• Humanitarian controversies of the EU border regime. The example of the central Mediterranean route in the wake of the Arab unrest
• The institutionalisation of municipal poor relief in Berlin in the 19th century. Discourses on the administration of urban poverty.
• The difficult legacy of National Socialism in Nuremberg: A discursive analysis of the city’s handling of the past using the example of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds
• Mapping gendered invisibilities – collective feminist mapping practices in Bonn
• How cities deal with the conflicting goals of densification and adaptation to climate change using the example of the cities of Bremen and Stuttgart
• Lingering in safety. On the relationship between security architectures and the spatial practices of homeless people