Geography ( L700 )

Each year you are required to take modules totalling 120 credits.

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on this course page for updates.

You are required to take the following modules:

• The Changing Natural Environment I (15 credits)
• Geographical Foundations I: the making of the modern world (15 credits)
• Geographical Foundations II: challenges of the modern world (15 credits)
• Principles of Geographical Inquiry I (30 credits)
• Geography in Action (15 credits) Within this module there is a chance to tailor your subject area interest
• Geography Tutorials: Critical Thinking & Techniques (30 credits)

There are no optional modules offered in the first year, but a variety of required and optional field work activities will be offered to complement and enhance learning.

2nd Year

You are required to take the following modules:

• Field Research in Human & Development Geography (15 credits)
• BA Geography Research Tutorials (15 credits)
• Geographical Research Skills (15 credits)

Please note that second year field research modules will typically have a week of intensive teaching on a residential field trip, as well as preparatory sessions.

You are also required to take sufficient credits to bring your total for the year to 120 credits, from a range of optional modules, some of which fall into thematic areas. The current themes that are highlighted include:

1) Urban and Cultural Geography
2) Physical Geography
3) Society, Environment and Geography
4) Development Geography
5) Geocomputation and Spatial Analysis.

Typical optional modules may include:

• Cities & Citizenship (15 credits)
• Development Geography: Livelihoods & Policy Contexts(15 credits)
• Society, Environment & Geography: The Nature of the Environment (15 credits)
• Urban & Cultural Geography: Space, Society & Culture(15 credits)
• Geocomputation (15 credits)
• Spatial Analysis (15 credits)
• Historical Geographies of Urbanism (15 credits)
• Urban Geography: Exploring the City (15 credits)
• Territory, State & Nation (15 credits)
• Water & Development (15 credits)

The following modules are from the BSc Geography course and may also be taken as

optional modules. They typically include the following:

• Natural Hazards (15 credits)
• Climatic Variablity Change And Society (15 credits)
• Physical Geography: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms (15 credits)
• Global Environmental Issues: Science & Solutions (15 credits)
• Biogeography & Ecology (15 credits)

You will also have the opportunity to study abroad for either the second semester of the second year or for the whole year. Partner institutions currently include:

• University of Auckland
• Hong Kong University
• University of Melbourne
• Monash University (includes study options in South Africa and Malaysia)
• National University of Singapore
• University Brunei Darussalam (second semester only)
• University of California
• University of North Carolina
• University of Toronto (full year only)
• University of British Columbia
• University of Washington (Seattle)
• Australian National University (Canberra)
• University of Wisconsin-Madison

3rd Year

You are required to take the following 15 credit module:

• Pathways to Impact: Geographical Research & Public Policy

You are also required to take the Independent Geographical Study (IGS) 30 credit module (dissertation). This is a piece of individual research, which is supported on a one-to-one basis by a supervisor from within the Geography department.

In addition, students are required to take a total of 75 credits from a wide range of options, which may typically include:

• Social Geography and Critical Development in Latin America (15 credits)
• Health, Lifestyles & Cities (15 credits)
• The Right to the City (15 credits)
• Hollywood & the Post-Industrial City (15 credits)
• Poverty & Welfare in London c.1830-1930 (15 credits)
• Political Economy of Hazardscapes (15 credits)
• Global Political Ecology (15 credits)
• Histories & Geographies of Climate Change (15 credits)
• Environmental Risk, Governance & Society (15 credits)
• Directed Readings in Geography (15 credits)
• Gender and Development in the Global South (15 credits)
• Applied Geocomputation and Spatial Analysis (15 credits)
• Critical Geopolitics (15 credits)

The following optional modules from the BSc Geography course are also available. Typical modules include:

• Global Environmental Change I: Climate Science (15 credits)
• Global Environmental Change II: Earth System Dynamics (15 credits)
• Environmental Remote Sensing II (15 credits)
• Tropical Forests in a Changing Environment (15 credits)
• Desert Environments (15 credits)
• Advanced Issues In Natural And Environmental Hazards (15 credits)