Geography, Geopolitics and Global Affairs

Geography engages with some of the most must fundamental challenges facing the modern world, as well as opening up critical questions about our past, presents and futures. Study Geography at Royal Holloway and you’ll join a leading centre for geographical research and teaching, where academic staff are advancing understanding of the challenges facing contemporary culture, the economy and environment.

BA Geography, Geopolitics and Global Affairs examines the social, political and economic aspects of geography. There has never been a more important time to respond to the world’s challenges as a global society, requiring new thinking that cuts across traditional boundaries, political behaviours and processes.

You’ll benefit from world-class, research-led teaching in a Department ranked 2nd in the UK for research by the Research Excellence Framework 2014. Fieldwork is a key part of the experience of doing Geography at Royal Holloway. As well as being excellent research training, our extensive programme of fieldwork helps bring the department together as a real community. The department offers a substantial and exciting range of field trips in the UK and overseas. Current locations include Cyprus, Spain, Malawi, Sicily, London and New York.

This flexible course gives you the chance to tailor your studies with a range of optional modules in years 2 and 3, to suit your interests and career ambitions. You’ll gain a range of skills and knowledge to take into your future career, making you a highly employable candidate in a number of sectors.

From time to time, we make changes to our courses to improve the student and learning experience, and this is particularly the case as we continue to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. If we make a significant change to your chosen course, we’ll let you know as soon as we can.

Course Modules

Core Modules

Year 1

• The Dynamic Planet: Introduction to Physical Geography

• Introduction to Human Geography

• Global Environmental Crises

• Living Planet: Global Biodiversity and Sustainability Challenges

• Human Geography Research Techniques

• Becoming a Geographer

• Geographical Research and Field Training 1

Year 2

• Geographical Techniques 2

• Field Training in Geopolitics and Global Affairs

• GIS and Geospatial Data Analysis

• Contested Geographies

• Political Geography

• Perspectives on Development

Year 3

• All modules are optional

Optional Modules

Below is a taster of some of the exciting optional modules that students on the course could choose from during this academic year. Please be aware these do change over time, and optional modules may be withdrawn or new ones added.

Year 1

• All modules are core

Year 2

• Environmental Systems: Processes and Sustainability

• Earth Surface Processes and Hazards

• Environmental Change

• Biogeography

• Cities: Economies and Ecologies

• Cultural Geographies of the Modern World

• Sustainability

• Rivers and Coasts

• Humans and Past Environmental Change

• Society and Space: Politics, Identity and Justice

Year 3

• Coast and Estuarine Management

• Savannas

• Global Warming

• Managing River Environments

• Glacial Environments

• Digital Landscapes

• Arid Africa

• Past climates and environments

• Humans and Climate Change

• Mammals in a Changing World

• Volcanoes

• Regeneration and Urban Policy

• Modernity and the City

• Geography of Commodities

• Post-Capitalist Cities

• Geopolitics of Media and Communications

• Images of Earth: From Homer to Google

• Exploration, Science and Making of Geography

• Geography, Museums and Collections

• Geographies of Home

• Gender & Development

• Urbanisation and Climate/Environmental Change

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/undergraduate/geography/geography-geopolitics-and-global-affairs/

The course has a modular structure, whereby students take four course units per year. Some course units are compulsory while others are options thereby offering flexibility and choice. Assessment is by a mixture of coursework and end-of-year examination in varying proportions, depending on the course units you choose to take. In the final year, you will write a 10,000 word dissertation on a topic of your choice which you will research and write with individual guidance from your tutor. The first year is foundational and marks do not count towards your final degree. The second year and final year marks do count, with more importance being given to the final year marks in order to reward progress and achievement.

You will be taught through a combination of lectures and small seminar groups, tutorials and practical workshops. The department has a substantial and varied programme of field training and laboratory work, giving you the opportunity to apply your skills and knowledge in a practical setting. Private study and preparation are essential parts of every course, and you will have access to many online resources including the University’s comprehensive e-learning facility, Moodle, which provides a wide range of supporting materials.

We use a range of assessment models to suit different learning styles, from fieldwork exercises and reports, individual and group presentations to coursework essays and examinations. In your final year, you will have the opportunity to write a research-led dissertation.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• Royal Geographical Society