Geography and History

Geography is the study of the Earth and the link between physical and human landscapes, it explores the relationships between people, place and the environment, and how these vary between places; History is the study of the past and investigates the cultural, political, social and economic history of Britain, Europe and the Atlantic World.

Combining these subjects will allow you to fully explore how the world has changed, is changing and how it will change in the future.
Through Geography, you will look at issues such as land use, planning and development, globalisation, climate change, energy, and tourism, in order to examine human relationships with the environment. Through History, you will first follow a broad approach to the study of history from the medieval to the modern period, before examining in-depth particular topics of history, and specific places, periods and themes which utilise the research specialisms of your teaching team.

Geography graduates are among the most employable, with skills developed in presenting ideas in reports and oral presentations, in data collection and analysis, and in the use of specialist mapping and statistical software. Each year, you will also build on your historical analytical and research abilities through a series of skills modules.

Please see our FAQ sheet on our website for further information on this course.

Please note this course is delivered entirely online and available to study from anywhere in the world. Applicants outwith Scotland including International, should apply to the UHI North, West and Hebrides study location.

Module outline

Year 1 - CertHE

You will study the following core modules:

• Introduction to human geography

• Understanding sustainable development

• What is history?

You will also choose one history option module, which may include:

• A Middle Age? Europe c.1100‐1500

• Empire, environment and identity: Scotland, 1600-2000

• People, protest and power: themes in modern British history, 1780-1918

You will also choose two option modules from our range of humanities and social science subjects.

Year 2 - DipHE

You will study the following core modules:

• Atmosphere, weather and climate

• Historians and history

• Introduction to geographical information systems (GIS)

You will also choose one history option module, which may include:

• A curious age: European society and culture

• Court, kirk and burgh in medieval and early modern Scotland

• Themes in American history

You will also choose two further option modules from our range of humanities and social science subjects, which for this programme includes our optional international field trip module, 'Sustainable development approaches in an international context'.

Year 3 - BA

You will choose at least two geography option modules, which may include:

• Climate science

• Community-based economic development

• Globalisation and sustainable development

• Sustainable tourism and the environment

You will also choose at least two history option modules, which may include:

• Conquerors, crusaders and churchmen: the world of the Normans, c.911-c.1204

• Dynastic decline and religious violence: Valois France, 1550-1610

• Jacobites: patriots, rebels or opportunists?

• Land as power: the making of the modern Scottish landscape from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries

• Scots in North America: experience and identity

• Study of things: material culture of medieval and early modern Europe

PLUS

• Advanced social research methods OR

• Public history

You will choose one further module from one of your two subject areas to ensure that you have a total of three modules from each half of your degree.

Year 4 - BA (Hons)

You will complete a dissertation in geography OR history. You will also study one option module from your chosen dissertation subject, plus three option modules from the other subject.

Geography option modules may include:

• Agroecology: regenerative food systems

• Consumerism and the circular economy

• Geo-political development issues

• Social enterprise and the social economy

History options may include:

• Death and destruction: the social impact of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648)

• Deviants, rebels, outcasts and villains: history from the margins in medieval and early modern society

• Empire and ‘others’: the shaping of British imperialism in North America

• Reaching the ‘estate of manhood’ in medieval and early modern Europe

• The empire strikes back: how the British empire shaped Scotland

This outline reflects the modules as currently delivered and is subject to change.

For more information on what you’ll study on your degree, as well as our range of other degree options, please explore our Humanities subject area page on our website.