Program Overview

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Course summary

BSc (Honours) Geography with Foundation Year

This course introduces you to a wide range of topics, before allowing you to tailor the course to your interests. You’ll begin on an identical course structure in the first year of human and physical geography. You’ll then specialise in human or physical geography, or a combination of both, in your second and final years.

Key themes

• Quantitative revolution
• Humanistic geography
• Cultural turn
• Critical geographies
• Geographies of gender, sexuality, ‘race’ and ethnicity
• Geographies of empire
• Decolonial / postcolonial geographies

Course support

• Access to specialist support services to help with your personal, academic and career development
• Access to our Skills Centre with one-to-ones, webinars and online resources, where you can get help with planning and structuring your assignments
• Free access to office and studio space, expert workshops, freelance opportunities and a vast business network ready for you to tap into
• Find out more about our course, facilities and student community on the SHU Geography and Environment website

How you learn

• Fieldwork
• Lectures and seminars
• Tutorials and workshops
• Work experience and professional placements
• Laboratory classes
• IT sessions
• Residential field trips
• Group debates
• Case studies

Modules

Year 1

Compulsory modules

• Contemporary Issues In Social Science 1 (60 credits)
  • This module examines a number of contemporary themes and issues relevant to the study of psychology, sociology, social policy, politics and international relations, geography, and sustainable environmental management.
• Contemporary Issues In Social Science 2 (60 credits)
  • This module examines a number of contemporary themes and issues relevant to the study of psychology, sociology, social policy, politics and international relations, geography and sustainable environmental management.

Year 2

Compulsory modules

• Approaches To Human Geography (20 credits)
  • This module explores the contested nature of the origins and development of human geography from the historical to the contemporary period, and how the discipline’s various approaches to knowing and understanding the world addresses societal change and problems.
• Climate Change And Sustainability For Geographers (20 credits)
  • To introduce you to approaches to sustainability in the complex and dynamic interactions between societies and environments.
• Planet Earth (20 credits)
  • To explore a wide range of physical processes, how they have shaped, and continue to shape, landscapes and environments across the world, as well as the interactions between humans and the landscape.
• Professional Geographer (60 credits)
  • This module will enable you to develop geographical techniques and professional skills which build a foundation for your future studies and career.

Year 3

Compulsory modules

• Fieldwork And Gis For Global Challenges (40 credits)
  • To use fieldwork and spatial research toolkits to explore a range of global challenges in distinct geographical contexts.
• Geographical Research And Practice (40 credits)
  • This module equips you with the insight and ability to design and undertake independent research and professional experience.
• Geographies For A Just Future (20 credits)
  • To develop inclusive and interdisciplinary understandings of the physical and human dimensions of both small-scale energy and water management approaches and the social and political geography of access to energy and water at local and global scales.

Year 4

Compulsory modules

• Placement (no credits)
  • The aim of this module is to enhance students’ professional development through the completion of and reflection on meaningful work placement(s).

Final year

Compulsory modules

• Dissertation, Employability, And Communication (60 credits)
  • This module will enable you to further develop your research skills and apply these in both academic and professional contexts.

Elective modules

• Contemporary Debates In Human Geography (20 credits)
  • This module explores some of the most recent debates at the very forefront of the discipline, with critical deliberation of the consequences of these debates to understanding and changing the world.
• Development And The Global South (20 credits)
  • To develop geographically informed knowledge and understanding of the contested nature of discourses, processes, and practices of development within world regions that can be identified as being part of the ‘Global South.’
• Geographies Of Everyday Life And Gis (20 credits)
  • This module advances knowledge and understanding of the geographies of everyday life and its relevance to socio-spatial identities and relations, and to social, cultural and political change in the world.
• Glaciology And Gis (20 credits)
  • This module will develop a knowledge of key topics related to the cryosphere, including past, present and future human-environment linkages, and related transferable digital skills.
• Living With Hazard And Risk (20 credits)
  • This module aims to provide a holistic and global understanding of the interconnected natural and social elements of Disaster Risk Reduction, by examining a range of climate-related, geophysical, hydrological, and industrial hazards.
• Nature And Society (20 credits)
  • In this module you will develop your understanding of approaches to designing, communicating and evaluating evidence-based solutions to current environmental challenges through case studies from across the world.
• Planning Sustainable Cities (20 credits)
  • The module introduces key concepts and practices for sustainable urban planning and is designed to equip students with a range of knowledge and skills to understand, plan and manage sustainable cities.

Future careers

This course prepares you for a wide range of career choices in the fields of:

• Education and teaching
• Planning and housing
• Environmental and ecological consultancies
• Water, energy and other utility companies
• Logistics
• Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
• Data analysis
• Local and national government
• Non-governmental organisations
• Finance and accountancy
• Market research
• Travel, tourism and retail
• Further study and research

Equipment and facilities

We’ve invested over £100m in new facilities to help you study how and when you want. This means 24-hour libraries and study spaces designed by our students.

On this course you will have access to:

• Various cutting-edge industry-standard software packages and technology, including Geographical Information Systems (GIS)
• A bespoke resources room
• A wide range of technical laboratory equipment supported by our team of technicians
• A range of field equipment – from those related to photography and film production to those used in activities like surveying, soil analysis and hydrological studies – including differential GPS, total stations, drones, ground penetrating radar, water velocity meters, water quality testing equipment, coring equipment and magnetometers

Where will I study?

You study at City Campus through a structured mix of lectures, seminars and practical sessions as well as access to digital and online resources to support your learning.

Entry requirements

• UCAS points: 64
• GCSE: English Language at grade C or 4 or equivalent, Maths at grade C or 4 or equivalent
• ACCESS: Access to HE Diploma, with at least 45 level 3 credits

Fees and funding

• Home students: £5,760 for the foundation year and £9,535 per year for the degree (capped at a maximum of 20% of this during your placement year)
• International students: £17,155 per year (capped at a maximum of 20% of this during your placement year)