Geography

Course summary

Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks to understand the world: – its human and physical features – through an understanding of place and location. Geographers study where things are and how they got there as well as the interaction between people and the world in which they live. Geography is considered ‘the bridge between the human and physical sciences’ and ‘the mother of all sciences’. It looks at the spatial connection between people, places, and the earth, which makes it an excellent linking subject between the Sciences and Arts. This course is designed to help students develop their knowledge of locations, places, processes and environments, at all geographical scales from local to global. Students will recognise and analyse the complexity of people-environment interactions, and appreciate how these underpin their understanding of some of the key issues facing the world today. Also they will develop as critical and reflective learners, able to articulate opinions, suggest relevant new ideas and provide evidenced arguments in a range of situations. This course addresses the more modern elements of geographical thinking and is rooted in researching and monitoring the events, patterns and phenomena affecting the world as we know it. Topics include glacial systems and landscapes, global systems and governance, geographical hazards and threats, plate tectonics, weather and climate, development and globalisation and contemporary conflict and change. Our fieldwork requires students to undertake real life geographical research and will reward students with skills in presenting data and drawing logical, principled and scientific conclusions.