Teaching

In most of my teaching, I attempt to introduce my research interests and findings into my teaching. I have taught on the subjects of Otherness, gender, institutional geographies, embodiment, representations and qualitative methodology. At the Master level, the course ‘Representing Places’ introduces a hands-on approach to visual methodologies including theory as well as photography and film-making.

 

I try to actively involve students in teaching and seek out collaborations with external partners to enhance the learning experience. In the past (2007), I collaborated with student researchers in making a documentary on the human-nature conflict in British Columbia, Canada (funded by the Gratama foundation). This documentary still receives local, national and international interest and is currently updated and re-edited for distribution in North America. This academic year (2009-10), we collaborated with the VPRO programme Tegenlicht when exploring regional identities, as well as the municipality of Groningen in exploring older people’s place attachment.

 

In the past years, I have been able to offer students the opportunity to work with me on ongoing research projects and thus gain deeper insights into the everyday practicalities of research including its problems and excitement. This has resulted in several (peer) reviewed publications with Master students (van Hoven and Jager, 2001; van Duinen and van Hoven, 2003; van Hoven and Poelman, 2003; Meijering and van Hoven, 2003; Poelman and van Hoven, 2003; van Hoven and Meijering, 2005; Elzinga and van Hoven, 2006; van Hoven and Elzinga, 2009).

 

Herta Macht Dissertation Prize

In 2005, I founded the Herta Macht Dissertation Prize to help stimulate talented young student researchers (see Ellenbroek, 2004; Hendrison, 2006).  

Information about background here [PDF]  [PDF]  [PDF]

Information about regulations and submission  here

Article about the first winner in Universiteitskrant 32 of May 11th 2006 (‘ Ik vond het zelf meer een zevenenhalf’ ) and the second winner in UK 27 of March 29th 2007 ( 'Een tweede plek om de gestorvene te bezoeken' )

Report about the second winner in 'Adams Appel' here

 

Innovative teaching and learning: Representing Places

This course is roughly divided in a part on analysing representations and one on producing representations. The 'analysis' part is largely based on Gillian Rose's Visual Methodologies thus providing a sound theoretical basis. It further comprises exercises, for example, on tourism representations and the role of power in representations (using a video lecture by Stuart Hall (Power, Media and Representations) and the documentaries 'Beyond Good and Evil' and 'Mickey Mouse Monopoly'. (All documentaries were obtained from the Media Education Foundation, their website have free transcripts of several documentaries). (In 2007-08 I taught the first part of the course from British Columbia using videoconferencing facilities at the University of Victoria, BC. See an article in 'Pictogram'  [PDF]here).

There are several workshops on place representations, i.e. using photography (by photographer Reyer Boxem), journalistic writing (by Ronald Kranenburg, editor-in-chief of the Dutch journal Geografie ), policy writing (by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality), art in public spaces (by the Centre for Arts in Groningen) and video (by myself). For the video workshop, students first get introductions into narrative and editing aspects of video production (see on editing choices in 'A forest for the Future' part 1 (from the 2009-10 instruction). To see the documentary referred to, click here).

Following the instruction, students practise by making a short film about the role of nature based on peer-led (mini) oral history interviews. Some of the products from the year 2009-2010 can be viewed here:

http://vimeo.com/12169190

http://www.youtube.com/user/CultGeoMark#p/u/0/egph-SkryZg