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Geography

Geography is an interesting and varied topic to study at degree level. As a geography student you'll study some of the most important issues facing the world!

From Royalty to Royalties!

Q: What do Prince William and Michael Jordan have in common?
A: It may seem like they're worlds apart, but in fact they both studied Geography at University!

Geography is a popular subject because it involves the study of so many different topics directly affecting the world we live in! Subjects such as volcanoes and earthquakes, cities and communities, to mapping, weather and globalisation.

There are different areas of Geography that you can study at University; you can do a specific course or one that is more general. A course could include one or more of these areas:

• Physical Geography
  If you want to study about climate, soils, rivers, coasts, ecosystems and natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis, then this is the course for you! These are issues which have a huge impact on the world we live in, and physical geographers play an important role in understanding and dealing with them.
• Human Geography
  As the name suggests, this looks at the impact of humans on our world. The study of cities, town planning, communities and societies are all part of human geography. Looking at how North American cities have developed, the changing patterns of trade in European countries, and the processes of Globalisation and 'McDonaldisation'- the impact of companies such as McDonalds on our society- are all examples of topics that form human geography.
• Geographical Information Science (GIS)
  This area is for you if you're interested in making maps! Governments and companies use GIS to map areas, for example retailers deciding where to put a new store will use GIS to see which site would be most suitable. This is a fairly new field of geography that uses specialist equipment. At Portsmouth we have some of the best GIS facilities of any university in Britain, including some specialist equipment available in no other British geography department!

Fieldwork is an essential part of geography courses, this means that you not only get to study about something, but see it for yourself as well! This always helps you to understand the place you are studying, and at the same time work closely with others on your course, gaining teamwork and organisation skills.

What could I do afterwards?

Further Studies. Many graduates go on to study other courses such as:

• PGCE: a teaching qualification that enables you to become a geography teacher.
• MSc: Further study - Specific subjects usually relating to Physical Geography or GIS. Examples include Land Management, Pollution and Climatology (looking at weather).
• MA: Further study - Specific subjects relating to Human Geography. Such as Town Planning and Cultural Geography.

Work

Geography has one of the best graduate employment records in the country. Geographers go into a wide range of fields including:

• Advertising
• Climatology - the study and prediction of weather, you could be the next weather presenter in front of that big map!
• Education
• Environmental agencies
• Finance
• Land management
• Law
• Marketing
• Sales
• Social/Health services
• Tourism
• Town & Transport planning

For more information on studying geography see the website of the Royal Geographical Society:

• www.rgs.org/

For more information about courses and research at the Department of Geography at the University of Portsmouth:

• www.port.ac.uk/geography/