The School of Social and Environmental Enquiry Geography

Geography

 

What is Geography?

Geography is an area of study relevant to anyone who is concerned with the relationship between society and the environment. Geographers study and analyse the relationships between human activities and the natural and built environment. Thus, Geography is a discipline that combines both the physical and the social sciences and provides students with the skills and conceptual frameworks needed to understand the complex processes shaping the world around us.

Geography deals with a wide range of problems, scales and places. It covers a range of approaches to society and the environment and includes the study of natural systems, political economy, and cultural politics. Most importantly, Geography is a discipline that seeks to contribute to the creation of just societies and sustainable environments.

 

Geography is for people who are interested in exploring questions such as:

  • Have we mismanaged the Australian landscape?
  • Why is stream flow more variable in Australia than elsewhere?
  • Why is biodiversity higher in some places than in others, and why is conservation of biodiversity important to us?
  • Are famines made by drought or by people?
  • Are we responsible for the ‘have nots’ of the world?
  • Who has the power to make the urban landscape and why?
  • How are women and migrants exploited in urban social spaces?
  • What is cultural heritage and whose interests does it serve?
  • Can Aboriginal land rights be resolved?
  • Can developmental and environmental concerns co-exist?

    •  

    Why study Geography?

    Geographers study and analyse the relationship between human activities and the natural and build environment. Study in the interdisciplinary field of Geography provides students with the information and skills relevant to examining this relationship between society and the environment. Few would doubt the contemporary relevance of this issue. Environmental considerations are an important and necessary component of doing business for almost all sectors of industry and government. Students who are skilled in this area are well equipped to enter the workforce.

     

    How to take Geography at the University of Melbourne

    Geography can be taken as an undergraduate major in the Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BSc), or the combined Arts/Science programs, fourth-year Honours, as a postgraduate coursework program or a higher degree by research.

     

    Key staff in Geography

    Tutor application form for semester 1, 2007

    Undergraduate major course structure (Link to official University Handbook) and undergraduate information

    Honours (Link to official University Handbook) and honours information

    Postgraduate programs

    Fieldwork

    Careers and job opportunities

    Websites of relevance to geographers

    Contact details

     

    top of page