Geography

You enjoy learning about places and the relationships between people and their environments. You have an interest in people, societies, economies, cultures and the environment. You are curious about how different cultures interact with the natural environment and the way that locations and places can have an impact on people. You are interested in how the world works, and want to understand where things are found, why they are there and how they develop and change over time. You are keen to learn and develop a wide range of new skills in finding, collecting, analysing and communicating information about people and places.

Geography is concerned with both the natural and the cultural environments created on the earth’s surface and with the inter-relationships between them. It has links with a wide range of other disciplines, and is a subject with enormous contemporary relevance in a world facing challenges such as globalisation, inequality, natural resource depletion, environmental degradation, climate change, and large-scale international migration and refugee flows. As it is inherently interdisciplinary, Geography helps to develop a wide range of talents. It fosters an ability to synthesise knowledge, and to think critically about complex processes. In addition, students taking Geography acquire specialist skills that are increasingly in demand in our knowledge society, including skills in surveying, data analysis and mapping.

The Geography programme includes modules in both physical and human geography. In physical geography, we aim to provide students with a sound understanding of the processes at work in the natural world, and of environmental changes in both past and present times. The human geography programme includes modules on historical, economic, political and social geography, and deals with contemporary issues that range in scale from the global to the local, including globalisation and its geographical impacts, geo-political conflict, economic restructuring and dislocation, urbanisation, and the challenges of sustainable development.

A balanced approach to instruction and assessment is adopted. As well as lecture courses, learning is fostered through laboratory work (part of which is computer-based), tutorials, seminars, and group work. There is a strong emphasis on fieldwork, and you will have an opportunity to participate in short field-trips to local destinations, as well as an extended residential field-trip which may be in Ireland or abroad. Students wishing to be registered with the Teaching Council as post-primary geography teachers are advised to discuss module selection with their academic advisor.

Graduates find work in a wide range of careers including:

• Urban and regional planning
• Tourism
• Heritage organisations
• Environmental research and consultancy
• Environmental management
• Economic and social research and consultancy
• Local development organisations
• Geomatics and surveying
• Teaching (Professional Master of Education required)
• Civil Service
• Academic Research

• MA/PhD Research