1. Handbook
  2. Bachelor of Arts
  3. Majors, Minors and Specialisations
  4. Geography

Geography

Bachelor of ArtsMajorYear: 2023

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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

On completion of this major, students should be able to:

  • 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: 3 May 2024