Programme Specifications

To develop a broad and deep understanding of geography, its content, methods and philosophy

To provide a structured programme of delivery that is academically rigorous and meets current and future benchmarking requirements

To encourage selected specialist knowledge and understanding through Level 3 optional modules in those areas where the Department has expertise

To produce graduates with a wide range of analytical, critical and technical abilities within geography

To develop powers of critical, analytic thinking and logical argument

To develop competence in a range of subject-specific and transferable skills including literacy, numeracy, computer literacy, graphicacy, problem setting and problem solving, report writing, laboratory and fieldwork skills

To encourage independent study and thought, enquiring minds, and a commitment to personal scholarship of the highest standard

To enhance transferable skills including communication across cultural boundaries, self-management, independence, confidence, adaptability, as well as linguistic skills

Be able to critically evaluate ideas, concepts and approaches across the whole of the subject and within particular branches of Geography

Be able to carry out independent research, applying a range of cartographic, computational, literary and technical skills

Have developed a range of geographical skills and be able to apply them to a variety of geographical issues

Be able to recognize that their learning experience has been positively reinforced by exposure to research

Be able to evaluate their own performance in a range of learning contexts and under different modes of assessment

Be able to work independently, in a team and with a social awareness of the contribution made by scholarship and applied research in their discipline to environmental management and policy

Have the necessary skills and awareness to seek employment in a variety of professional careers or to begin postgraduate research and study.

Have gained invaluable experience of living and studying aboard, gaining personal skills and international experience which is widely valued by employers in a global job market.

A1 Describe the relationships between human activity and the physical environment, including the impact of human activity on landscape form and environmental quality

A2 Describe and account for spatial variations in human phenomena and the makeup of the Earth's physical environments at a variety of spatial and temporal scales

A3 Account for the various ways in which spaces, places, landscapes and environments are constituted and continually remade through a variety of social, economic, political and cultural processes, in a range of contexts from the local to the global

A4 Describe the physical and chemical processes that are responsible for forming the Earth's physical environments

A5 Identify the relationships between process and form in the human and physical world

A6 Critically evaluate the contribution that geographical study makes to an informed concern about the Earth and its people, in academic, practical and policy terms

A7 Evaluate the development of Geography as a distinctive discipline, and discuss the relationships between Geography and other disciplines in the physical and natural sciences, the arts and the social sciences

A8 Synthesise contributions from Human and Physical Geography to address issues of environmental management

A9 Identify the range and nature of data sources available to the geographer and employ and evaluate a substantial range of observational, recording and analytic strategies used in geographical field enquiry and data analysis

A10 Describe the different forms of representation of the human and physical environment – including text, maps, mathematical equations, chemical equations, visual images, and models (including hardware, numerical and conceptual models)

A11 Critically evaluate the range of philosophical and methodological approaches employed by geographers in their analysis and interpretation of the Earth's human and physical environments

A12 Demonstrate understanding of how particular geographical ‘ways of seeing’ are produced, theorised and interpreted, including the representation of places through academic, policy and lay discourses.

A13 Demonstrate a range of transferable skills including autonomy in learning and the ability to live and learn in a different country.

B1 Abstract and synthesise information

B2 Critically judge and evaluate evidence

B3 Critically interpret data and text B4 Make justified decisions

B5 Assess the merits of contrasting theories, explanations and policies

B6 Develop a reasoned argument

B7 Find ways to solve problems

B8 Write in an appropriate academic style in reporting, reviewing and discussing geographical themes

B9 Appropriately and critically synthesise academic literature and correctly cite and reference sources

B10 Take responsibility for their own learning and review and reflect upon that learning.

B11 Adapt to academic life in a foreign country including the ability to communicate across cultural boundaries.

C1 Planning, designing and executing a piece of rigorous geographical research or enquiry, including the production of a final report

C2 Undertaking effective fieldwork (with due regard for safety and risk assessment, research ethics and equality, diversity and inclusion)

C3 Presenting geographical data effectively through the use of appropriate media including maps, diagrams, statistics, models and academic prose

C4 Employing a variety of methods for the collection, analysis and synthesis of information from the human and/or physical world, including field sampling, questionnaire surveys, interviews and quantitative techniques

C5 Combining and interpreting different types of geographical evidence

C6 Devising and employing a variety of technical and laboratory-based methods for the collection and analysis of environmental data

C7 Analysing the geographical implications of current events, policy decisions and social, economic, political and cultural processes

C8 Interrogating and interpreting the production and presentation of policy documents, print and broadcast media, landscape and textual material

C9 Recognising the moral and ethical issues involved in geographical debates and enquiries

C10 A range of transferable skills including communication across cultural boundaries, self-management, independence, confidence, adaptability, as well as linguistic skills.

D1 Working independently

D2 Working as part of a team

D3 Respecting the views, beliefs, opinions and values of others

D4 Listening to, and engaging with, other speakers D5 Effective verbal communication in a range of settings, including group discussions and debates and formal presentations D6 Effective written communication in a variety of forms

D7 Use of information technologies to process, store, present and communicate information, including spreadsheets, databases, word processing, e-mail and the internet

D8 Identifying, retrieving, sorting and handling information from conventional and digital sources.

D9 Time management and self-regulation of work regimes

D10 Research issues and solve problems

D11 Adapting to change

D12 Reading comprehension and interpretation of a range of written material

D13 Observational skills

D14 Collating, processing, interpreting and presenting numerical data

D15 Identifying appropriate career pathways and developing the capacity to compete effectively for employment opportunities.

D16 Communication across cultural boundaries.