Geography (B-ARTS_MAJOR_14)

You’re currently viewing the 2017 version of this component

Overview

Geography is the investigation and understanding of the dynamic relationships between societies and environments. The discipline raises and answers questions about why these relationships are the way they are, how and why they are changing, and how and why their characteristics vary over time and space. Geographers study human actions and activities from the local scale to the global scale. Geography is one of the few disciplines that encompasses very different ways of knowing - those of science and those of the humanities and social sciences - in its approach to the world’s urgent problems and injustices. As such it is a globally-minded discipline that seeks to understand the complex connections between people and place in order to work towards a more equitable world.

The BA Major in Geography allows students both breadth and specificity in the study of Geography. Specific pathways within the Major are dedicated to the study of urban geography, cultural geography, development geography, environmental geography (especially focused on climate change issues and debates) and Asia-Pacific geography. Field classes in Australia and overseas (at 200-level and 300-level) offer students the opportunity to explore and examine geographical issues, policy and problems first-hand.

Intended learning outcomes

Students who complete this major will:

Acquire a broad knowledge of geography's major concepts, theoretical perspectives and key debates, past and present;
Understand the dynamic and complex connections between people, place and environments, across a variety of scales;
Develop a capacity for problem solving and research skills to enable the investigation of social and environmental processes and problems;
Appreciate different ways of knowing, and of different ways of doing research;
Raise and answer questions about the dynamic and complex connections between people, place and environments in order to work towards a more equitable world;
Act as informed and critically discerning participants in providing interpretations of, and solutions to, social and environmental problems;
Articulate the relationship between diverse forms of geographical knowledge and the social, historical and cultural contexts that produced them;
Employ knowledge and skills acquired in field classes to their future life and work;
Display professional values and work effectively with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds;
Communicate geographical theories and concepts effectively to professional and lay audiences and in oral and written formats;
Demonstrate the capacity for critical thought, self and peer assessment, and learning and organisational skills in both independent and group work;
Recognise ethical problems and possible solutions in geographical research and professional geographical practice.

Last updated: 30 January 2024

Structure

75 credit points

Geography

Major

The Geography major comprises of 100 points (25 points of core subjects at Level 1, 37.5 points of subjects at Level 2, and 37.5 points of subjects at Level 3 - including one compulsory Capstone subject).

Level 1

Famine: The Geography of Scarcity (12.5 points)

and one Arts Foundation Subject

Level 2

37.5 points

Level 3

37.5 points including 1 compulsory subject from a choice of four.

Minor

The BA minor in Geography comprises 25 points at each of year level one, two and three.

Level 1

Famine: The Geography of Scarcity (12.5 points)

and one Arts Foundation Subject

Level 2
25 points

Level 3
25 points

Subject Options

Level 1

At level one students must complete GEOG10001 Famine:The Geography of Scarcity, plus one Arts Foundation subject if you are completing a major or a minor, a total of 25 points.

Code	Name	Study period	Credit Points
GEOG10001	Famine: The Geography of Scarcity	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG10003	Global Youth	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5

Level 2

At level two students must complete 37.5 points of Level 2 subjects below for the major, or 25 points for the minor:

Code	Name	Study period	Credit Points
GEOG20001	Society and Environments	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG20002	Understanding Global Landforms	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG20003	Environmental Politics and Management	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG20010	China in Transition	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG20012	Post-Conflict Development and Difference	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG20008	Inside the City of Diversity	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG20011	Global Inequalities In The Anthropocene	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG20013	Health Geography	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5

Level 3 Capstone Subjects

At level three students must complete a total of 37.50 points for the major. This must include one of the compulsory Capstone subject from the following. Students completing a minor must complete 25 points of level three subjects.

Code	Name	Study period	Credit Points
GEOG30025	Biogeography and Ecology of Fire	Summer Term (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG30027	Local Sites, Global Connections	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG30007	China Field Class	June (On Campus - Parkville)	25
GEOG30026	East Timor Field Class	March (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5

Level 3 Electives

Code	Name	Study period	Credit Points
GEOG30023	Global Climate Change in Context	February (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG30025	Biogeography and Ecology of Fire	Summer Term (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG30001	Coastal Landforms & Processes	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG30019	Sustainable Development	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG30022	River Ecology & Ecosystem Management	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG30027	Local Sites, Global Connections	Semester 1 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG30007	China Field Class	June (On Campus - Parkville)	25
GEOG30021	The Disaster Resilient City	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG30024	Africa: Environment, Development, People	Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5
GEOG30026	East Timor Field Class	March (On Campus - Parkville)	12.5

Last updated: 30 January 2024

Handbook home

Geography

Contact information

Coordinator