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Studying
Geography
There are
at least four good reasons for studying geography at university:
- You enjoy
it and wish to live in the UK for three years
- You want
to learn more about societies, environments, landscapes
and places of our world
- You want
to have knowledge and understanding as the basis for informed
concern about the earth and its peoples
- You are
keen to learn and develop a wide range of skills for future
employment.
 Undergraduates
come to study Geography in the UK because of its world-wide
first class reputation in the discipline. There are excellent
teachers and researchers at the 92 Higher Education Institutions
where Geography is studied by approximately 25,000 undergraduates
at any one time.
Geography is
an integrated study of the earth’s places, societies,
environments and landscapes. It is unique in bridging the
social sciences and humanities (human geography) with its
understanding of the dynamics of societies, cultures and
behaviour, and the earth sciences (physical geography) in
the understanding of physical landscapes and the dynamics
of environmental processes acting on the surface of the
earth. Geography puts this understanding of social and physical
processes within the essential context of places and regions
- recognising the great differences in cultures, political
systems, economies, landscapes and environments across the
world, and the links between them. Geographical knowledge
and understanding is the basis for informed concern about
the earth and its people. The understanding of the relationships
and impacts between people and the environment and its resources
is one of the areas that lies at the heart of Geography,
and is essential to the understanding and management of
the world today.
By the time you
complete a degree programme in this discipline you should
have knowledge and understanding of:
-
The world as an integrated system
-
Why our human and physical environments and landscapes
appear as they are, how they operate and form, and how
they inter-relate at various scales
-
Differences
and inequality within the human world; especially the
economic, social and political causes of inequality and
economic development
-
How and why patterns of human and physical features differ
from place to place across the earth
-
The way in which particular places and regions have evolved
to be distinctive and why
-
The importance of different spatial scales - global to
local – and time scales for physical and human processes
together with their interactions and interdependence
-
Change and stability in human and physical worlds, including
the causes, rates and patterns of change and the prediction
of change to the foreseeable future
-
How to observe, analyse, represent, interpret and report
information about the world.
Geography includes
both conceptual and data-based (empirical) studies. It involves
IT, field and laboratory analytical approaches including
techniques such as Geographical Information Systems, computer-based
modelling and remote sensing from satellite imagery. Fieldwork
is an integral part of most courses.
What skills
will your Geography degree course provide?
On
completion of a degree you should have a wide range of skills
in preparation for work. These are an integral part of your
training and should include:
- Intellectual
skills, such as critically assessing theories and judging
evidence in order to make informed decisions and to develop
reasoned arguments
- Geography-specific
skills, such as undertaking a piece of research, using
a range of technical methods for the collection and analysis
of spatial and environmental information, and undertaking
fieldwork
- Key transferable
skills, such as communication, verbal presentation, numerical
analysis, teamwork, and many IT skills
- Personal
attributes, such as self-management, awareness of responsibility,
motivation, flexibility and creativity.
- What type
of assessment will there be?
In
general, the assessment of Geography programmes include coursework
as well as examinations; the extent of coursework will vary
between University courses. Most courses also have a third
year individual project or dissertation which may be either
optional or compulsory.
The specific courses through which the knowledge and skills
are taught and learned vary from University to University
according to the special interests of the staff. Thus some
programmes of study will place more emphasis on, for example,
particular parts of the world, or environments, or certain
aspects of human geography. The extent of choice in each year
of study also varies. It is important therefore that you take
care to examine a range of Universities and select those with
programmes that suit your interests and learning abilities,
and that these are carefully balanced with your locational
and other preferences.
What about the
title of the degree?
 Most
‘Geography’ degrees, no matter whether designated
BSc or BA offer combinations of individual human, physical
and environmental Geography courses in each year of study.
There is usually the ability to plan, with your advisor, a
coherent set of course choices that suit your special interests
and career plans as they evolve over time. It is often the
case that some students chose to specialise in either Human
Geography or Physical Geography; others may wish to retain
a broader combination of the two.
However, there
are a small number of Universities that offer specialist degree
programmes specifically in ‘Physical Geography’
or ‘Human Geography’, and in which case course choice
is usually more limited. Please study the details carefully
- most are readily obtained from printed or electronic prospectuses,
or from the Directory of University Geography Courses published
by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).
What it is possible
to do with a Geography degree?
You will have three
broad choices:
• To use the
knowledge you have gained in a career directly related to
Geography. A first degree in Geography is an entry point to
many careers, in the UK and elsewhere for example town and
transport planning, chartered surveying, land and water management,
environmental consultancy, development, tourism, conservation,
demography, housing and social welfare. Further training at
Masters level may be desirable or essential for entry to some
of these careers.
• To use the wide range of skills you have learned in
a more generalist career. Many Geographers choose careers
in information technology, administration and management,
the financial sector, and marketing. In all these areas, the
skills portfolio together with an interest in the world and
people about you are highly relevant.
• To engage in further full-time specialist study and
training so as to develop a career in teaching or research,
or to gain advanced technical (masters level) qualifications
for entry into some professions.
Please read more here.
Authors: Lorraine
Craig / Rita Gardner
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)
email: rhed@rgs.org
www.rgs.org
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