Geography MGeogSci

Core modules:

Geographical Skills, Methods and Techniques

Geographers are well-known for having a versatile set of practical and transferable skills. This module teaches students key research methods from across the discipline. Small tutorials, run by academic staff, are used to develop skills in finding, presenting, analysing, and critically evaluating complex information. Lectures introduce students to Geographical Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, questionnaire design, statistics, and in-depth interviewing. Workshops provide the chance to practice skills and get to grips with industry-standard software. Finally, fieldwork experience provides hand-on training in key methods used in the field.

40 credits

Earth, Wind, Ice and Fire

This course is intended to provide an introduction to the general principles of physical geography for students with diverse backgrounds.

Part I will aim to give students an understanding of the origin and history of the Earth. It will include explanations of tectonic, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic activity, the history of crustal processes as well as reviewing the development over geological time of the evolution of the geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere.

Part II will use a systems-based approach to physical geography to examine several other key environmental systems, including the atmosphere, the hydrosphere, and the cryosphere. It will include explanation of key interactions between physical systems and discussion of the impacts and consequences of system perturbation, such as climate change, over time and space.

Part III of the course will introduce concepts of geomorphology as a means to investigate the landforms of the earth; mountains, valleys, slopes, river beds and dunes. It will include explanation of fundamental principles of landscape and landform development considering issues such as temporal and spatial scale, equilibrium and interaction between different landscape processes and components.

20 credits

Living with Environmental Change

This module will introduce students to a wide range of critical environmental issues facing the world today from physical science and social science perspectives. Using a range of environmental problems evident in the Global North and Global South (such as climate change, habit loss, water resources, land-use change, agriculture), the physical and social processes implicated will be examined. Drawing on a range of examples, students will critically explore the causes, consequences, management and solutions to environmental issues and learn how to question assumptions about environmental processes.

20 credits

Why Geography Matters

Geographers actively contribute to intellectual debates across the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, addressing some of the most pressing issues facing the modern world, from climate change to food security, informing policy and practice. The module provides a challenging but accessible insight into the origins of the discipline and how these translate into the cutting edge of contemporary geographical research, and how this helps us understand our changing world. Serving as a bridge between the general introductory modules, and the more specialist modules taught at levels 2 and 3, this module provides an opportunity for students to engage with topical issues in contemporary human and physical geography led by academics actively engaged in cutting edge research on those subjects.

20 credits

Optional modules:

Exploring Human Geographies

The module provides an introduction to human geography including key principles and processes in economic, social and cultural geography. It describes the main elements and issues involved in the global economic system including the process of uneven development and how local economic activities are moulded by global forces. It also provides an introduction to social and cultural geography focusing on a range of concepts, current debates and contemporary issues. Drawing examples from around the world and at a variety of geographical scales, the module highlights the value of a geographical perspective on current economic, social and cultural issues.

20 credits

Cities

The main aim of Cities is to introduce you to our urban condition in a global context. Within this broad aim we will connect you to a range of key issues in contemporary urban studies and help you to understand more about the roots of urban problems and questions of social inequality and social justice within that context. This a general course that aims to develop an understanding of urban social life, economies, political systems, urban order/disorder and a range of other themes in an international context.

10 credits

Housing, Home and Neighbourhood

Housing and the homes and neighbourhoods that we live in are in the news every day. Whether this is over concerns about housing shortages, affordability, housing bubbles, `generation rent', social housing, housing evictions, Covid lockdown, city-centre housing, DIY and `grand designs', or debates about the domestic sphere, `home as a haven', `benefit streets', flooding and shack settlements, housing is often at the centre of social science research. This module aims to introduce students to this broad and diverse subject by drawing on the expertise of staff who research across these multiple themes. The module focuses on contemporary concerns, while maintaining an appreciation of the impact of historical trends (e.g. the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/8). The module will make use of cases from the UK and abroad to illustrate trends, arguments and challenges.

10 credits

Core modules:

Putting Physical and Environmental Geographies into Practice

The ability to design, conduct, analyse and present meaningful findings from fieldwork is an essential part of degree-level Physical Geography and Environmental Science, and enhances employability. This module addresses the philosophical background to, and the process of designing and conducting fieldwork. The module introduces the principles of research design and provides practical experience of international fieldwork to facilitate immersive learning and engagement with earth surface processes. The module is delivered through lectures, small-group teaching, and a residential fieldclass. Assessments provide ongoing feedback linked to the experience of designing, conducting and reflecting upon the research journey, culminating in dissertation proposal.

20 credits

GIS and Earth Observation

This unit introduces both Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) – both important tools to aid in our understanding of the earth system. GIS are computer systems for the storage, display and manipulation of geographical data. Remote Sensing (RS) refers to the science of identification of earth surface features and estimation of their geo-biophysical properties through the detection of electromagnetic radiation. The module will cover the main concepts related to handling RS/GIS data on a computer and introduce a range of practical applications of RS/GIS in research, industry and commerce.

10 credits

Analysing Geographical Data

Understanding data collection, analysis and presentation is an integral part of being a well-rounded geographer. Indeed, many problems in physical and human geography, demand the interpretation and interrogation of large datasets, which often necessitates the use of statistical techniques.
The module is designed to provide students with a solid grounding in handling large datasets and the proper application of statistical methods in geographical analysis, and an appreciation of their role in the study of contemporary social and environmental processes. This is achieved through a combination of lectures, practicals and seminars which cover the underlying ideas, provide hands-on experience and give examples of the methods' application in the literature. The module covers hypothesis testing, bivariate inferential methods, and multivariate inferential methods.

10 credits

Optional modules:

Sustainable Development and Global Justice

Development in the Global South is a major issue of international concern in the 21st century. This module explores contemporary development issues and examines the contribution that geographers, and geographical thought, can make towards understanding inequality, poverty and socio-economic change. Definitions of `development’, `poverty’ and `the poor’ shift and are invested with political meaning which reflect specific geographies and ways of seeing the world: students develop critical understandings of such terminology and the power dynamics implicit within them. This module addresses diverse theories, paradigms and contemporary critiques of development, and explores some of the central issues affecting processes of development. Case examples are drawn from Latin America, Africa and South-East Asia.

20 credits

Understanding the Climate System

This module will give students an understanding of the global climate, focusing on the atmospheres, the oceans, and their interaction. The first part of the module will consider the main characteristics of, and processes behind, climate from the global to the local scale. The second part of the module will examine the physical characteristics of the oceans and their geographical variation, and the role of the oceans in the climate system.

20 credits

Culture, Space and Difference

This module builds on the Level 1 module Introduction to Human Geography. It illustrates the diversity and vitality of contemporary social and cultural geography including some of the philosophical concepts and theoretical debates that have shaped the subject. As well as demonstrating the value of a geographical perspective on a range of social and cultural issues, the module will enhance the understanding, critical awareness and interdisciplinary capacities of students. The module aims to deepen and enrich the ways in which students are able to think about geographical issues, through a critical understanding of concepts and approaches that underpin the substance and methods of contemporary human geography. The module is delivered through lectures and engagement with a variety of media.

20 credits

Understanding Dynamic Landscapes

This module on the earth surface processes looks at the relationship between processes and landforms at a variety of scales in space and time. It examines endogenic processes originating within the earth, exogenic processes occurring at the earth/atmosphere/ocean interface and the way they interact to create landforms. The module discusses geomorphological concepts, frameworks and monitoring techniques and will elucidate a range of quantitative modelling approaches, where numerical expressions are introduced. Case studies drawn from staff research (e.g. aeolian/fluvial/volcanic) alongside practical classes and an appreciation of the importance of new measurement techniques to process understanding, will directly support learning.

20 credits

Territory, Power and Policy

The module introduces students to contemporary debates within political geography, addressing political processes at a variety of spatial scales, from international, national, local and community politics through to individual political behaviour. Questions of power, efficacy and conflict are examined at all these scales with particular emphasis on the spatial and place-specific aspects of politics in relation to issues including: geopolitics and international relations; the state and territoriality; the politics of nationalism and citizenship; civic activism; and individual political participation.

20 credits

Who Gets What? Social Justice and the Environment

Environmental issues continue to be a key area of contemporary public concern and current political debate. They raise fundamental questions about the relationship between society and environment, and the politics and equity of that relationship. This module provides a geographical introduction to these issues and debates with examples from a range of scales from the global to the local. It also considers the role of stakeholders and how they benefit or are disadvantaged by policy that seeks to address issues to do with the environment-society relationship. he module then develops these core ideas through inter-related sections covering debates focused on different empirical themes.

20 credits

Unlocking Past Environmental Changes

The landscape we live in is a dynamic place and has been in the past as well. Huge changes at a global, regional and local scale have occurred in the last 2.6 million years of the earth's history (Quaternary period). These changes are ongoing with implications for both present and future environments. Methods and techniques to investigate past environmental changes from proxy data are outlined and illustrated. The module also looks at how palaeoenvironments have responded to past climate changes thereby putting a context for present day climate changes and predicting future changes.

20 credits

Glacial Processes and Hazards

This module examines glaciers and ice sheets of the World focussing on how they are believed to function and with some consideration of their historic and future changes.

We examine how glaciers and ice sheets come into existence through an understanding of climate and the concept of glacier mass balance. We then consider how glaciers work including on topics such as ice flow, hydrological drainage, ice streams, ice shelves, glacial lakes, and icebergs. Hazards to humankind are also explored. How glaciers modify the underlying landscape is dealt with via a section on glacial geomorphological processes and landforms, and we consider how landscapes evolve under the influence of ice.

20 credits

Urban Culture and Conflict: The Making of Modern Cities

The links between social conflict and cultural production in the history of modern cities have long fascinated scholars exploring the cultural history of the capitalist urban imagination. They have sought to understand the way artists, intellectuals, political activists, ordinary people and other thinkers sought to understand and explain the varied experiences of, and relationships between, sensory perceptions, aesthetic judgments and power relations in their own place and time. This module will draw from historical, cultural, social, and political geographies as well as other disciplines to engage with the shifting nature and spatiality of these relationships through case studies of selected cities, the particular changes in capitalist urban culture they occasioned, contemporary responses to those changes, and the theoretical debates they inspired. Key topics will include urban form and architecture, cultural difference and social inequality, representational practices and bodily experiences, and the overall consciousness of change in modern capitalist cities.

20 credits

Environmental Pollution and Quality

This module aims to introduce the students to the origins, pathways and consequences of pollutants in the environment, their control and remediation. Pollutants are released into the environment through anthropogenic activities that include domestic, leisure and industrial practices. These pollutants are potentially harmful to the ecosystem and human health. Therefore, an understanding of the physical, chemical and biological processes involved during the contamination of water and soil is essential to protect the environment. This module provides an introduction on how to assess and quantify pollutants by using laboratory techniques for the determination of contamination in water and soil.

20 credits

Core modules:

Dissertation for Geography & Environmental Science

This module requires the student to prepare, organise, research and report a piece of original work on a geographical topic under guidance by a staff mentor. The student will decide on the topic and will either be expected to collect original material in order to investigate it, or to perform secondary analysis on information drawn from existing sources. The finished product is presented in the style, and at the length, associated with academic journal articles.

40 credits

Optional modules:

Advanced Geospatial Analysis

This module will give students the opportunity to extend their knowledge of geospatial systems and software through detailed instruction and targeted case studies. The course will be taught in three parts, and will involve a mixture of lab-work and lectures. The three key themes are: (a) Digital Terrain Models (DTM) from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Structure from Motion (SfM) Photogrammetry, (b) Mapping of glacial bedforms from DTM data. Lab sessions will enhance software, coding and quantitative skills. Where possible, lab-work sessions will include student-led components and formative peer-peer assessment elements which will provide the opportunity to develop a range of generic analytical skills.

20 credits

Decolonising Geographies

This module examines Indigenous geographies through Indigenous storytelling and film as a way to understand the need to decolonise geography. It examines how race, racism, Indigenous rights, settler colonialism, settler responsibility, white supremacy, land rights, dispossession and genocide shape geographies of place, space and landscape. Topics covered include geographies of identity, emotions, memory, racism, colonialism, gender, landscape, and visual representation. The aim of this module is to centre Indigenous narratives, voices and knowledge to understand geography differently while simultaneously critiquing the current whiteness of academic geographical discourse. Trigger warning – this module engages with potentially distressing and challenging themes of rape, murder, abuse, loss and violence.

20 credits

Applied Volcanology

Volcanoes are an enigmatic force of nature. Understanding the way they behave and how they are monitored is a key aspect in hazard assessment. The module will cover a range of topics related to volcano monitoring, underpinned by an overview of the current state-of-the-art in volcanic science. In particular, the module will combine a theoretical basis of understanding for ground-based and satellite-based volcano monitoring capabilities with practical applications. Via lectures, lab practicals, and field-based activities, students will benefit from hands-on operation of monitoring equipment through to processing and interpretation.

20 credits

Landscape Evolution

The complex distribution and form of Earth’s topography is the product of both surface and tectonic processes, including interactions with climate at local, regional and global scales. Geomorphological processes and rates are influenced by interactions between these factors, as are the geological and geomorphological hazards in different regions. Informed by on-going research by department staff, this module will deepen understanding of (i) the nature and geomorphological implications of global physical processes that has been developed at levels 1 to 2, (ii) the chronological processes used to constrain contemporary and past landscape evolution, and (iii) the landscape development over a range of timescales and hazard implications of these processes. The module will involve consideration of a range of landscapes and the key controls on their evolution and development.

20 credits

Confronting the Anthropocene

This module explores the critical, contested and controversial debates about environmental and ecological issues. Using a range of examples of research undertaken by staff in the department from the Global North and Global South this module develops a critical geographical approach to understanding environmental controversies. Examples will be drawn from a range of issues including agriculture, water, energy, food, climate change and housing.

20 credits

Consumption and Sustainability

The ways in which we buy and use stuff and services are inextricable from the shaping of both our everyday lives and of contemporary societies. From constructions of identity and models of human well-being to issues of social equality and environmental sustainability, debates around consumption illuminate critical perspectives on contemporary societies and cultures. This module explores key contemporary geographical perspectives on consumption, linking critical insights and theoretical perspectives to our own practices and experiences.

20 credits

Geoscientific Data Analysis using MATLAB

Matlab® is a computing environment and programming language with over one million users worldwide. Matlab® also has many less scientific uses; it can be used to edit digital photos and listen to online music. This module will introduce students to Matlab® by way of specific real-world examples taken from Geoscience topics using freely-available data. Initially the module will gently introduce students to the basics of using Matlab® before focussing on five broad topics relevant to Geoscience. At each stage, theory will be accompanied by easy to understand practical examples, with the code used for the examples made available to students. Assessment will comprise computer practicals and a research project; the focus of which will be chosen by each student, but which must use Matlab® to analyse and present data. This module will equip students with a valuable transferable skill – the ability to use a programming language to obtain/generate, analyse and present geoscientific data.

20 credits

Urban Transformations

From the industrial-era modern cities of the Global North such as Manchester and Chicago to the fragmented, sprawling mega-cities of the contemporary Global South such as Lagos and Delhi, urban theorists have sought to understand the interplay of power, everyday practice, and social, political, economic, and cultural processes that both transform and are transformed by urban space. Pulling together critical social science and humanities-informed perspectives, the module draws from interdisciplinary theory and research to engage with urban transformations in both the Global North and the Global South. Topics may include transformations in urban theory, urban uprisings, urban infrastructure, and the role of film and literature in documenting and anticipating urban change.

20 credits

Urban Exploration

This module offers students a chance to explore urban geographies from new angles, which emphasise creative, experimental and subversive ways of seeing and doing geography. Through readings and seminars, students will be exposed to experimental fieldwork such as: Bradley Garrett’s Explore Everything (Verson, 2012); George Perec’s Attempt to Exhaust a Place in Paris (1975, English Translation 2012); place and psycho-geographical writing by authors such as Iain Sinclair, Karl Whitney and Joanna Walsh; playful fieldwork associated with the Geography Collective and Keri Smith (e.g. Mission:Explore, 2010) and curiosity-led fieldwork (by Richard Phillips and others). This module will include a series of fieldwork activities in Sheffield followed by 4 days’ fieldwork in Liverpool, during which time students will conduct individual fieldwork projects, whilst also engaging with fieldwork collectively.

20 credits

Lake District Fieldclass

The ability to apply knowledge of physical processes and research approaches to understand a particular environment is a key geographical skill. This module will provide experience in process interpretation, focusing on the physical processes that have shaped the environment. The module will comprise a 5-day UK residential field class to the Lake District National Park and will cover a range of topics that complement and extend knowledge acquired on the BSc Physical Geography programme, including glaciology, climatology, landscape dynamics and environmental science. Evening lectures during the field-trip will provide relevant background. Small group follow-up sessions will be used to support the presentation of research findings in a science piece.

20 credits

Challenging Development

The aim of this module is to critically examine the development process within a global context, drawing on examples from developed and developing nations. Attention is given to the different ways in which we in the West understand 'development', and how we can reflect more critically on our position, and the power relations within this process. Drawing on debates within development geography, and other disciplines, the course is structured around three themes: the development industry, the poverty agenda and the local-global nexus. Topics covered may include: neoliberalism and state governance, humanitarian intervention, gender and empowerment, protests and social movements, corporate social responsibility, participation and empowerment, local forms of resistance, environmental action and change.

20 credits

The Planets

This module introduces the student to the fascinating discipline of planetary geoscience and exploration. By using the principles of Physical Geography to study unfamiliar environments, we will explore problems that touch upon themes from climate, tectonics, geomorphology, hydrology, and life. The module begins with the Solar System but soon focuses on planetary-scale matters, using the terrestrial planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars) as main examples because of an explosion of knowledge gathered from their observation. We will consider the new perspectives that such knowledge offers on the Earth's dynamic systems.

20 credits

Democracy and Citizenship: Dilemmas and Tensions

This module explores how a geographical approach helps us to analyse events such as controversial election results, divisive immigration policies, and contentious social activism. The two key concepts of democracy and citizenship are used to engage with contemporary debates and theories to draw out the links between geography, policy and society, and the ways in which these are responded to by citizens, communities, civil society, and political parties. Particular attention is paid to the ways in which these interactions are played out across and through multiple scales, from the global to our everyday lives.

20 credits

Our Frozen Planet

This research-led module will examine glacial environments in their broadest sense including both their contemporary and former states. Typical themes include:
1) Glaciology (processes and phenomena of current glaciers)
2) Ice sheet and glacial modelling (understanding of how numerical models are used in glaciology)
3) Palaeoglaciology (reconstructions of former glaciers)
4) Periglacial environments (cold region processes often close to glacierised regions)
5) Specialist guest research contributions (lectures/seminars on topical cryospheric research).

20 credits

Contemporary Geographical Research (L3)

This module requires the student to prepare, research and write up a piece of work based on a geographical topic of their choice. After meeting with a staff member a proposal will be produced (500 words, 10%) that will be marked to give the student feedback before they embark on the essay. An extended essay will then be conducted independently with limited staff support, synthesising and developing a critique on the existing literature available in the Sheffield libraries.

20 credits

Creative Geographies: Media, Imaginaries and Politics

Place, in all its forms, has long inspired radically new thought and perception. This module will explore the work of several historical and contemporary philosophers and artists in situ—why did their work arise where it did? What difference does that place (or places) make to their thought and expression? This module will guide students through the intricate relationship between philosophy, art (across various media) and geography with emphasis on specific types of place as sites of intellectual thought and creative practice. These may range from the large scale such as nation and heimat, to the urban scale, to the intimate such as the village and even the body. Core themes will include identity, place and displacement, historical imaginary and the built environment, and creativity and social/spatial transformation.

20 credits

Professional Skills for Environmental Science

Environmental science graduates require an appreciation of the needs of professional statutory and regulatory bodies (PSRBs). Employers appreciate the study and research skills developed at university but want graduates that understand the tools in use by environmental science practitioners. This course describes those tools and guides students through the production of their own environmental consultancy report. The module uses lectures, seminars, problem solving sessions, and independent learning to provide professional skills/knowledge. These skills are applied to field visits and laboratory analyses with particular emphasis is given to risk assessment, environmental impact assessment, environmental management and field skills.

20 credits

Core modules:

Research Project

Students will undertake an original piece of research on a topic of their choice. The aims of the module are to:
(i) provide students with an insight into current scientific issues within their subject area through the medium of research presentations and discussion.
(ii) foster and develop research skills including the acquisition, processing and presentation of information.
(iii) expose students to a range of presentational techniques of current research material.
(iv) develop students’ ability to synthesise oral information.
(v) to develop skills in written and oral communication.

60 credits

Research Design in Physical Geography and Environmental Science

This module aims to provide an introduction to conducting research in physical geography and environmental science. The objectives are: (a) to provide an understanding of the sources of research problems and how specific student research topics fit into broader agendas; (b) to provide an understanding of scientific method and its different components, including the roles of fieldwork, laboratory experiments and modelling; (c) to provide an introduction to planning a research project, including literature search, fieldwork, laboratory work, data analysis, error analysis and written and graphical presentation; (d) to prepare students for writing a research proposal. These aims will be realised through a mix of lectures, student investigation and presentation of academic staff research, and preparation of a draft proposal.

15 credits

Optional modules:

Current Issues in Geography and Environmental Science

This module provides students with knowledge, insight and awareness into specific current issues in either Geography or Environmental Science. This is achieved through the medium of attendance at research presentations by experts in appropriate fields and discussion of cutting-edge research topics and papers.

15 credits

Quantitative Analysis

This module introduces students to powerful and commonly used statistical methods in the social sciences. It assumes no prior statistical knowledge and focuses on the practical research priorities of selecting, conducting and interpreting the most appropriate test with an eye to, rather than an obsession with, the underpinning statistical foundations. The module uses weekly seminar sessions and SPSS practicals to build practical software skills alongside conceptual understanding.

15 credits

Critical Digital Geography in Practice

Digital geographies of GIS, spatial analysis methods and cartography are now widely used in a large variety of academic and professional settings, from urban planning and architecture to health care and social research. This module is focused on helping students understand the critical and conceptual considerations of GIS, cartography, and critical data studies in exploring the relationship between digital and social, political and economic geographies. The module is taught through a combination of case-study-based lectures and seminars.

15 credits

Theory and Debates in Food Security and Food Justice

Food Security and Food Justice are areas of increasing importance at local, national, transnational and global scales. While various political and non-political agents at various scales have recognised that Global Hunger and Food Security (of which Food Justice is a primary component) is a key challenge requiring urgent interdisciplinary investigation and problem solving, there remains limited agreement as to how best to approach these issues and at what scale. This unit provides students with a background to the problems encompassed within the food security/food justice nexus by drawing on academic and policy debates that focus on both the macro as well as the micro grassroots impacts. By drawing on country case studies, the unit also critically evaluates different strategies for mitigating the impacts of food insecurity and injustice.

15 credits

The Science of Environmental Change

This module gives students a critical understanding of the science behind historical and recent environmental change. The module covers the core debates in environmental change, the science behind these changes, methods for detecting environmental change, and the impacts of these changes.

15 credits

Contemporary Geographical Research (L4)

This module requires the student to prepare research and write up a piece of work based on a geographical topic of their choice. After meeting with a staff member a proposal will be produced (500 words, 10%) that will be marked to give the student feedback before they embark on the essay. An extended essay (3,000-words, 90%) will then be conducted independently with limited staff support, synthesising and developing a critique on the existing literature available in the Sheffield libraries.

15 credits

Environment, Society and Development: Key Issues, Debates and Concepts

This module engages critically with the key theoretical debates that shape the environment, society and international development. By looking at current questions in development theory and their relationship to development practice in the context of environmental change, it encourages students to think critically about the ways in which interdisciplinary approaches define issues and problems, and the theoretical viewpoints that inform their actions. The unit is taught primarily through seminars: these structure students’ learning, and provide an environment in which they can develop their skills in researching, presenting and debating arguments drawn from the academic literature on international development.

15 credits

Managing Climate Change

This module aims to engender a detailed understanding of the development of ideas and theories of climate change, integrating the core social and physical science behind our understandings of climate change with a critical analysis of how this is interpreted and communicated. This understanding is then applied to consider the challenge of living with climate change in the Global South. The module is taught through seminars and lectures. Lectures introduce and impart factual knowledge while seminars allow discussion and an emphasis on applying key concepts to practical situations. Together these structure students' learning, and provide an environment in which they can develop their skills in researching, presenting and debating arguments drawn from the wide ranging literature on climate change.

15 credits