Course summary

You won’t just be sat in lectures at Lancaster. Study geography in our outstanding practical facilities; explore our beautiful surroundings; take part in international field trips; and learn from world-renowned lecturers. Geography is a distinctive subject: it studies our world in a vast range of areas. Our Geography degree programme explores the Earth’s landscapes, species, places and environment in a dynamic range of modules that draw from the humanities, social science and physical science subjects. While studying in the Lancaster Environment Centre (LEC), you will have access to new teaching and research labs, computer systems and software and even our very own weather monitoring station. Working in comfortable class sizes, you will have the opportunity to get to know your lecturers personally, enabling you to benefit from their expert knowledge and helpful one-to-one advice. Our location, between the rural settings of the north and the bustling cities of Liverpool and Manchester, enables us to explore some of the UK’s most unique areas of geographic interest. You will gain a wealth of hands-on experience with field trips to places such as the Yorkshire Dales, Cumbrian coast and Lake District, as well as international locations like Switzerland and Croatia. You will develop a fundamental understanding of human, physical and environmental geography in your first year Geography modules. These modules equip you with a well-rounded introduction to some of the key themes of geography, as well as providing you with some of the key skills used by geographers to analyse problems in both the physical and human aspects of the discipline. Specialisation begins in second year, enabling you to choose topics that match your interests. Core modules will focus on practical work, giving you a range of analytical and research project skills. A series of optional modules offer an exciting field trip to Spain. In the third year, you will be offered further optional module choices, and there will be fieldwork opportunities in locations such as Croatia and Switzerland. Topics may include the study of Natural Hazards, Glacial Systems or Water Resource Management, but could also include elements of human geography such as Global Consumption, Urban Infrastructure in a Changing World or Geographies of Health. You will also undertake a dissertation project, guided by your academic supervisor, which offers a chance to perform original geographical research on a topic of your choice. While completing the dissertation, you will use the key research, analytical and academic writing skills you have learnt throughout your degree. Alternatively, you may wish to take advantage of the opportunity to collaborate with a business to complete your dissertation research, allowing you to gain valuable work experience at the same time. Your fourth year of study provides an advanced qualification which will give you a competitive edge in the graduate jobs market by equipping you with the extra experience, knowledge and skills that come with studying Master's-level modules and undertaking a second dissertation. This will enable you to stand out from the crowd in the selection process for graduate roles. In addition to your subject knowledge, you will gain communication and information technology skills and will become familiar with data handling and environmental sampling and analysis. Throughout your degree, considerable weight is placed upon enhancing your employability and such skills are greatly valued by potential employers.