Program Overview

Geography BSc (Hons)

Overview

The Geography BSc (Hons) course at Edge Hill University is designed to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of the Earth's physical environment, landscapes, and environmental processes. The program focuses on developing skills in geographical research, data analysis, and fieldwork, as well as exploring pressing environmental issues.

Course Features

• Fieldwork opportunities in the UK and abroad
• Use of industry-standard software, including Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing
• Accreditation by the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
• Opportunities for work-based learning and employability activities
• Specialization in Physical Geography, with options to study Human Geography modules

What You'll Study

Year 1

• Contemporary Geographical Research: Introduction to geographical research, including methodologies, map and cartographical skills, statistical analysis, and fieldwork.
• Contemporary Geographical Skills: Development of skills in collecting, handling, analyzing, and presenting geographical data and information.
• Earth, Climate and Environment: Overview of physical geography, examining basic concepts and their development.
• Space, Place and Time: Introduction to human geography, identifying and exploring key inter-relationships between people, places, and environments.
• Environmental Issues: Awareness and understanding of environmental issues facing the world today.
• Geographical Curiosity: Exploration of the multidisciplinary nature of geography.
• Language 1: Optional language module, ideal for students who want to learn a new language or further develop their current language skills.

Year 2

• Digital Geography: Development of knowledge and skills in remote sensing and GIS.
• GeoScience Field Research: Extension of knowledge and understanding of physical and human environments in an overseas field setting.
• Geoscience Techniques: Investigation of the research process, enhancing and developing essential Geoscience techniques.
• Biogeography: Examination of spatial and temporal patterns of living organisms over the Earth's surface.
• Climate and Environmental Change: Detailed understanding of climate and environment systems.
• Cultural Representations and the Media: Analysis of cultural and ideological constructions associated with representation.
• Field Botany: Field-based module, providing an opportunity to conduct a detailed study of a particular group of organisms.
• Landscape Dynamics: Development of knowledge and understanding of geomorphology of the Earth's surface.
• Political Geography: Deeper understanding of various ways in which power produces, and is produced by, spaces and places.
• Work-based learning and Employability: Development of a critical understanding of the changing context of work and of social, economic, and political factors shaping the labor market.

Year 3

• Dissertation in Physical Geography: Development and application of a range of research and transferable skills in the planning, execution, and reporting of an individual research project.
• Applied GIS: Recognition of GIS as an increasingly specialized and growing field, providing spatial data management and analysis.
• Childhood and Sexuality: Exploration of the tensions between contradictory constructions of youth sexuality.
• Coastal Processes and Management: Critical awareness of coastal processes and an appreciation of current issues, conflicts, and debates in coastal management.
• Critical Autism Studies: Adoption of a critical approach to understanding autism, seeking to challenge the dominant medical model of neurological deficit.
• Critical Migration Studies: Factual knowledge and conceptual skills to understand migration processes, migration consequences, and migration governance.
• Critical Terrorism Studies: Recognition of terrorism and political violence as pressing contemporary issues, employing and developing understanding of critical sociological theories.
• Field to Fork: Detailed analysis of alternative approaches to industrialized food production, based on scientific, economic, and other criteria.
• Flood Hazard and Management: Examination of the processes involved in flood generation and their controls in the context of the catchment hydrological cycle.
• Natural Hazards: Identification of the character of natural hazards and the relationships between hazards and risk to people.
• Plants and People: Comprehensive understanding of the importance of plants to human well-being in economic and broader cultural settings.
• Quaternary Environmental Change: Development of knowledge and understanding of the nature of environmental change throughout Earth's history.
• Rivers: Past, Present and Future: Focus on the dynamic nature of river systems, developing understanding of the ways in which river systems have responded to environmental changes.
• Sociology of the Body and the Emotions: Introduction to different ways of understanding 'the body' and its significance in past and contemporary societies.
• Geoenvironmental Engineering: Application of earth science principles to the engineering geological characterization of soils and rock and their interaction with groundwater.
• Geoenvironmental Management: Focus on real-world environmental problems faced by environmental specialists relating to mineral planning issues.
• Knowledge, Learning and Understanding: Study of the thinkers and ideas currently existing at the forefront of the philosophy of education.
• A Is For Activism: Knowledge of global politics and the role that mediated activism has to play in it.

How You'll Study

• Teaching through laboratory and workshop practical activities, lectures, and seminars
• Directed independent study, dissertation supervision, tutorials, and fieldwork
• Emphasis on building employment potential through the acquisition of subject-specific, key, and career management skills

How You'll Be Assessed

• Methods of assessment display knowledge and understanding and develop and demonstrate competence in subject-specific and key skills
• All modules are assessed by either coursework only or a mixture of coursework and examination
• Coursework typically includes practical portfolios, essays, project reports, field notebooks, individual and group oral presentations, and poster presentations

Who Will Be Teaching You

• Experienced and knowledgeable staff who take pride in the quality of their teaching
• Research-active staff who keep up-to-date with current developments in their areas of interest and pass this knowledge on

Entry Criteria

• Typical offer: 112 UCAS Tariff points, including Geography, Environmental Science, or a related subject
• GCSE Mathematics at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or Adult Numeracy at Level 2 or above, or equivalent
• International students require IELTS 6.0, with a score no lower than 5.5 in each individual component, or an equivalent English language qualification

How to Apply

• Apply online through UCAS
• International students can apply directly to Edge Hill University

Facilities

• The department of History, Geography, and Social Sciences is based in the Geosciences building
• Contemporary facilities combine with a friendly and supportive learning environment

Finance

• Tuition fees: £9,535 (UK full-time), £17,000 (International)
• Financial support available for eligible students

Your Future Career

• Graduates have found employment in various organizations, including the Environment Agency, JBA Consulting, Highways England, Natural England, and United Utilities
• Job titles include senior GIS analyst, graduate transport planner, and air quality consultant
• Opportunities for postgraduate study in environment and climate change, conservation management, town planning, GIS, and teaching.