Undergraduate study 2013 prospectus

General information

The Single Honours Geography degree course is popular and accounts for over half our undergraduate students. The degree develops four main themes: globalization, geographies of identity, earth surface processes and environmental systems.

Skills acquisition and assessment are becoming increasingly important for employment prospects and these are given prominence throughout the course. Careers in almost any field are open to geographers. 

Our graduates have been appointed to posts in administration, finance, management, the armed forces, computing, industry, international aid, development and environmental agencies, and education.

Almost all of our graduates are in employment within a few months of graduating, or progress to postgraduate study.

Course structure

Geography modules on the Single, Joint and Combined Honours courses (in any one year, some modules may be unavailable):

Year 1

Compulsory modules for Single Honours (some modules may be optional for Joint and Combined Honours):

• Cartography and Digital Mapping
• Earth System Science
• Environmental
• Hazards: from mitigation to management
• Geographies of Identity
• Geographies of Global Economic Change
• Global Environmental Change at Local Scale
• Practising Geography Residential Fieldcourse
• Quantitative Methods in Geography
• Tutorials

Year 2

Compulsory modules for Single Honours (optional for Joint and Combined Honours):

• Geographical Research: Concepts and Designs
• Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems

Core modules – Group A:

Single Honours choose 3 out of 4 (Joint and Combined Honours choose fewer core modules depending on whether or not a dissertation is planned for their final year):

• Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
• Environmental Systems and Resource Management
• Geographies of Social Difference
• Globalization

Core modules – Group B:

Single Honours choose 1 out of 2 (optional for Joint and Combined Honours):

• Researching Human Geographies
• Research Techniques in Physical Geography

Optional modules:

• Exploring the Ice Ages
• Forest Ecology
• Geographies of Modern Europe
• Global Migration
• Human Geography Fieldcourse (overseas residential)
• Lake System Dynamics
• Physical Geography Fieldcourse (UK residential)
• River Ecology
• Sustainable Urban Geographies

Final Year

Compulsory module for Single Honours (optional for Joint and Combined Honours):

• Dissertation

Optional modules:

• Aeolian Processes and Landforms
• Alpine Studies Fieldcourse (overseas residential)
• Central America: Dependency and Development
• Climate and Society
• Conservation: Principles and Practice
• Environmental Change and Ecological Response
• Geographical Information
• Geographies of Children and Youth
• Geographies of Home
• Geographies of Palestine-Israel
• Global Cities Fieldcourse (overseas residential)
• Independent Geographical Essay (Joint and Combined Honours only)
• Mediterranean Rural Spaces Fieldcourse (overseas residential)
• Quaternary Environments
• Regional Geography of the UK
• River Dynamics and the Environment
• Snow, Ice, Environment and Landscape
• Systems and Flood Management
• Urbanisation in the Global South

Modules are assessed either by examination, a combination of coursework and examination or entirely by coursework. Fieldwork, report writing and group presentations play an important part in some modules in each year.

Study options and entry requirements

Here you will find information about the various study options available for this course and the entry requirements for each option.

SQA = Scottish Qualifications Authority IB = International Baccalaureate