Geography

Programme Structure & Content

First Year

Two core courses: Global Worlds, Global Challenges and Scotland: Global Worlds, Local Challenges. Each considers key themes of environment and development, and the linkages between them, but from different perspectives.

• Global Worlds, Global Challenges introduces students to key global issues such as climate change, natural hazards, poverty and sustainable development.
• Scotland: Global Worlds, Local Challenges examines natural and cultural landscape change at the regional scale. The course includes study of Scotland's prehistoric environments and the physical processes of landscape development, Scotland's natural resource base and contemporary issues associated with Scotland's changing cities, industries, politics and national identity.

Second Year

Five courses are offered:

• Environmental Systems
• Space, Economy and Society
• Mapping and Monitoring the Environment
• Environment and Society
• Skills and Techniques in Geosciences

Intending Honours students attend a residential field trip as part of the Skills course. Decisions about Honours entry are made at the end of second year.

Third & Fourth Year (Honours)

Core courses on Approaches to Geography, Research Design & Methods and Geographical Issues examine the subject's history, its key perspectives and techniques and its contemporary relevance. In addition, students can choose from over thirty option courses, including overseas field trips to locations such the Alps, Portugal, Russia and the western USA. Honours students complete a dissertation - an advanced, independent research project on a geographical topic of their choice. This provides a challenging and rewarding experience that is highly valued by prospective employers.

Teaching & Assessment

Courses are taught by a combination of lectures, tutorials and practical work tailored to the subject matter. For instance, lectures on research methods and group project planning meetings prepare students for field trips; workshops on advanced research techniques and one-on-one discussions with staff help students to design and carry out their dissertation. All core courses, and most option courses, are supported by course websites. The assessment for most courses combines exams with coursework, such as one or more of an essay, an oral presentation, a project report or a ‘real-world' simulation exercise.