Geography BSc

This module introduces the general principles of physical geography for students with diverse backgrounds. Through a mixture of lectures and lab-work you will be able to develop a holistic understanding of how the Earth functions as a system across a range of spatial scales, focusing in particular on the functioning of key elements of this system - notably the operation of the geosphere, atmosphere, and cryosphere - and how these elements interact to influence the evolution of the system as a whole. Your assessment for this module will develop your skills in communicating and explaining complex scientific concepts.

This module introduces the core academic skills and critical thinking techniques essential for undertaking rigorous scholarship and research at university. Lectures will focus on fundamental concepts and research methodologies using case studies and examples relevant to human geography, physical geography, and environmental science. A key focus will be dedicated to the principles of academic integrity, ethical data handling, and conducting robust, reliable research that meets scholarly standards.

In small group tutorials you will work with discipline experts to understand their cutting-edge research, allowing you to understand how theoretical concepts are applied to real-world geographical and environmental challenges. Alongside a workshop, these tutorials also provide an environment for developing practical skills in academic writing and sourcing and evaluating literature. Assessments include an annotated bibliography and essay to introduce you to academic writing and a quiz covering the fundamentals of research integrity.

Beyond the academic context, this module highlights the transferable professional value of critical inquiry as you gain an understanding of evidence evaluation, logical argumentation, and effective communication.

This module explores the geographies of global challenges and their intricate and complex connections. It goes beyond identifying problems to analyse how different stakeholders are actively developing solutions and driving positive transformation. The wider impact of our research ranges from the local to the global, with benefits for the economy, society, culture, policy, health, the environment and quality of life. From revitalising local communities to reducing risk to life, you will gain insights into how research can help shape more sustainable and equitable futures. This module takes a  case study approach to explore different opportunities for addressing complex global challenges across research and practice.

During seminars, you will work in teams to engage critically with your own experience and non-academic sources (e.g. news articles, social media, blogs, videos) and materials (e.g. physical data, images) to consider how geographers can contribute to addressing global challenges from everyday life to the workplace.

The overall aim of the module is to equip you with theoretical and practical tools to critically engage with a rapidly changing, deeply interconnected world, where understanding difference is essential to promoting inclusive and just futures.

 

Fieldwork and lab-work are an integral part of geographers' and environmental scientists' skillsets. The ability to design and carry out effective field research and to analyse data in a lab setting are useful and transferable skills.

In this module you will undertake fieldwork in the local region beyond campus and lab work. You will be set tasks which will require you to conduct your own fieldwork. This module will teach you the core geographical skills of data design, data collection, data exploration and analysis, and presenting your research outcomes and findings from a field-based project. Through this you will be able to develop your academic writings, analysis and presentation skills.

Geographers and Environmental Scientists are well-known for having a versatile set of practical and transferable skills. This module guides you to develop key research and software methods from across the discipline, in a lecture and practical format. Lectures introduce you to research methods and skills, such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Earth Observation (EO), statistics, and surveys. Practical sessions provide you with the exposure to industry-standard software, enabling you to develop sought after geographical and environmental employability skills.

This module provides an introduction to key principles, relations and processes that contribute to a diverse array of social, cultural, economic and environmental aspects of human geography.  You will have the opportunity to learn about spatial patterns of power, inequality and interdependence produced by processes such as economic and cultural globalisation, how we experience these at the local scale, and how they have changed over time.  Through lectures and seminars you will be guided through key concepts and current debates shaping how human geographers approach these issues. Examples will be drawn from around the world and at a variety of geographical scales, highlighting the value of a geographical perspective to help us understand and navigate the world we live in. Developing skills in critical analysis, you will gain experience of putting these to use in a critical field report.

This interdisciplinary module introduces you to some of the most critical environmental questions facing our world today. Through a combination of physical and social science lectures and workshops, you will acquire a comprehensive understanding of fundamental concepts and the complexities of environmental issues, debates, and potential solutions. 

You will have the opportunity to develop essential academic skills - such as research skills, critical thinking, independent working and interdisciplinary-thinking - that are crucial to understanding and tackling environmental issues. Workshops will enhance your interpersonal skills as you gain experience in effective collaboration.

In our digital world, data are everywhere, so it is important for us to understand how such data are generated, what data we can trust, and how we can analyse and visualise data to understand our changing environment. This module provides you with a theoretical framework and hands-on experience of Earth Observation (EO), Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Data Analysis. You will hone your problem solving skills by, for example, using satellite images to map environmental change, analysing geospatial patterns in GIS, and applying statistical analysis to complex environmental datasets using industry standard software, thus improving your digital fluency and capability.

Earth's landscapes are a unique and dynamic record of landform history from recent decades through to deep geological time. Understanding the processes that sculpt our physical world and how they evolve is a key aspect in environmental management, climate reconstruction, and hazard mitigation. With climate change accelerating surface processes and growing human populations expanding into geomorphologically active terrain, it is imperative that we are able to interpret the landforms around us and forecast future landscape change.

Through lectures and practicals this module focuses on the diverse range of landscapes and landforms we have on our planet. We initially cover core geomorphological concepts such as magnitude and frequency before embarking on a journey through a range of major controlling processes: tectonics, volcanoes, glaciers, fluvial, and aeolian. We will also cover key dating techniques we use to place date ranges on a range of global landforms.

Assessments include a written practical portfolio where you will be tasked with critically interpreting landscapes, alongside an exam. Throughout you will develop core knowledge in key areas of physical geography ahead of future modules and will prepare you for future environmental employment pathways.

In this module we will introduce you to how glaciers and ice sheets work and the connection of many glacial processes to local, regional and global hazards. 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 glacier systems function, covering topics that include the processes of ice flow, the drainage of glacial meltwater, and the behaviour of ice streams and ice shelves. You will develop your skills in examining how glaciers modify the landscape through processes of erosion and sediment transport and deposition. Hazards are explored in relation to each key area of glacier system function, from localised flood events associated with glacier-lake drainages to global sea level changes arising from past and potential future ice sheet instability.

The ability to design, conduct, analyse and present meaningful findings from fieldwork is an essential part of degree-level Physical Geography, and enhances employability. This module builds on your learning from 'Physical Geography and Environmental Science in the Field' in the first year, addressing the philosophical background to, and the process of, designing and conducting fieldwork. You will be able to learn about the principles of research design and develop skills through practical experience of fieldwork. Through this, the module facilitates your immersive learning and engagement with earth surface processes. The module is delivered through lectures, tutorials, problem solving sessions and a residential field-class. Assessments include a group presentation where you receive ongoing feedback linked to the experience of designing, conducting and reflecting upon the research journey, culminating in a dissertation proposal.

Sustainable Development is a major challenge for countries around the globe. This module guides you to explore contemporary development issues their historical trajectories, diverging narratives and their embeddedness in current geopolitics. It examines the contribution that geographers, and geographical thought, can make towards understanding questions of environmental justice, inequality, poverty and socio-cultural change. The module encourages a critical discussion and intercultural dialogue about comment concepts like 'justice', 'nature' and 'development', reflecting on the framing power of words and narratives. In a time of rising nationalism, the module examines the potential and limitations of multi-country collaboration to address global challenges. It explores the roles of various actors, including the United Nations, bilateral donors, NGOs, governments and the private sector. Further, it invites students to reflect on the role of social innovation, digital technologies and co-design practices with marginalised groups in making progress towards sustainable development. This module addresses diverse theories, paradigms, approaches 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.

In order to understand global climate change, we first have to understand how the climate system works. This module will give you a strong understanding of the global climate system, focusing on the atmosphere, 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.

In this module you will learn how to interpret information from a range of sources (e.g. weather charts, weather stations and your own observations) and apply these to real-world problems through a practical write-up and an exam.

The module is taught through a combination of lectures, and practical sessions that consolidate the lecture content and provide an opportunity for feedback on your understanding.

This research-led module introduces you to the cutting edge of Social and Cultural Geography. Through seminars and interactive lectures you will explore how we live with difference in the module world. Difference is framed in terms of diversity, equality and inclusion - and their opposites including prejudice and exclusion. These themes are illustrated through case studies drawn from geographical research in cities and countries around the world. The module aims to deepen and enrich the ways in which you are able to think about geographical issues and conduct geographical research of your own. The module team works with you to help you to develop your own 'photo essay'  - which will bring the ideas of the module to your experiences from everyday life.

Environmental issues continue to be a key area of contemporary public concern and current political debate. They raise fundamental ethical 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. You will be able to understand and critique core ideas, further developing comprehension through inter-related explorations covering debates focused on  different real world themes and their potential solutions. Alongside an essay, a creative assessment will develop skills in visual presentation and communication through the creation of a zine for a public audience.

From international conflicts to power dynamics in the home, the field of political geography analyses how political ideas, processes, and conflicts are inherently spatial and operate across diverse scales from the global to the hyper-local. In this module, core ideas of power, territory, and policy are used to explore the dynamics of state governance, collective movements, and individual political views and behaviour. Substantive lecture topics include: geopolitics and the spatialities of international relations; the construction of statehood and territoriality; immigration and the politics of nationalism; the role of civic activism and dissent; and the geography of political participation. Case studies analysed in seminars respond to real-life events and have included student protests and activism, populism, eco-fascism, and ongoing international conflicts.

Crucially, this module encourages self-reflection, prompting you to connect theoretical concepts to your own ideologies, political values, and beliefs regarding ideas of justice in real-world contexts. Furthermore, the complex question of how political ideas are communicated, learned about, and taught is placed at the forefront of the module. Writing an essay and a commentary piece give you the opportunity to develop your communication skills for academic and general audiences. These assessments grapple with this question of power and knowledge when we learn about political geography, as well as using theoretical understanding to critically evaluate political events.

Cities are sites of social conflict and cultural production.  The links between these two facets of modern urban experience have long fascinated scholars seeking to understand the cultural history of the urban imagination.  In this module you will be able to explore different ways artists, intellectuals, political activists, ordinary people and other thinkers have sought to understand and explain various experiences of and conflicts over urban life.  You will gain skills in how to situate the 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 urban culture they occasioned, contemporary responses to those changes, and the theoretical debates they inspired.  Key topics will include conflicts over social inequality, cultural difference, production and expression, representational practices and bodily experiences, and how they are situated in changing urban form and architecture.

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. You will learn about methods and techniques to investigate past environmental changes, and these are illustrated using a variety of proxy data and records of the past.  You will also look at how environments have responded to past climate changes, thereby putting a context for present day climate changes and predicting future changes. Through the module you will be able to develop your academic writing, study, numeracy and data handling skills. It will also help you to be able to critically evaluate issues and problems as well as think about sustainability.

In this module you will be able to gain experience in leading and managing your own independent research project. You will be expected to prepare, organise, research and report a piece of original work under guidance through regular meetings with an academic supervisor. Building on your research proposal in second year, you will shape 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. The management and completion of this project will develop your skills in academic analysis as well as crucial professional skills related to time-management and organisation.

This module works with critical debates and approaches in Environmental Geographies to help understand a range of environmental crises (such as climate change, sustainability, waste and pollution, consumption, extinction) in front of us. You will be able to examine histories, causes and solutions for these environmental crises while drawing connections between global South and North.

The module will cover a range of scales and actors from individual behaviours to community actions, analysing case studies of local bodies and global organisations and their negotiations. The module will leverage conceptual and political tools provided by environmental geographies and enable you to consider ways to tackle these multiple and co-constituted crises in socially just ways. A creative assessment builds on communication and analytical skills through the production of a Manifesto for Praxis and Action.

This module enables you to consolidate and apply the skills gained through your Geography degree to real-world challenges. These challenges, usually based around themes of sustainability and social justice, will be identified by stakeholders within the University or among local organisations. You will work as a team to: scope the issues; identify solutions, and communicate them to the stakeholders. As well as consolidating your subject skills, through lectures, seminars, and tutorials this module gives you the opportunity to further develop key employability skills in collaboration, project planning, problem solving and communication. Through reflection and employability-related exercises embedded throughout the module you will also be able to improve your self-awareness, identify your skills and attributes, and be able to confidently articulate these to employers and further study providers. The skills taught and practiced in this module aim to put you in a strong position for work in various sectors including the public, policy, private and charitable realms.

Glaciers and ice sheets are shrinking in our warming world, posing two major societal challenges: (i) rising sea levels that threaten coastal communities and ecosystems, and (ii) the loss of mountain water resources vital for agriculture, hydropower, and livelihoods. In this research-led module, you will develop a detailed understanding of the physical processes driving glacier and ice sheet change, the methods used to monitor and project their future evolution, and the wider environmental and societal implications of their retreat. You will also explore current scientific debates and policy discussions around mitigating and adapting to these changes.

Key themes include:

- The mechanisms behind, and ways of monitoring, mass loss from glaciers and ice sheets

- Methods for projecting future ice loss and sea level rise

- The consequences of glacier retreat for mountain hydrology and water security

- Adapting to, managing, and communicating glacier change in different contexts

Teaching is delivered through a series of interactive seminars and hands-on practical classes, where you will work with real-world data from satellite observations, numerical models, and field studies. You will develop skills in analysing and visualising spatial datasets, interpreting scientific evidence, and presenting findings in written and oral formats.

Throughout the module, you will strengthen employable skills in data analysis, geospatial and remote sensing techniques, scientific communication, teamwork, and problem-solving. These transferable skills are highly valued across sectors including environmental research, consultancy, policy, science communication, and sustainable development. Assessment is through an essay and a press release that critically utilises AI. By the end of the module, you will be equipped to critically engage with contemporary issues surrounding glacier and ice sheet change and their role in the global climate system.

Matlab® is a computing environment and programming language with over one million users worldwide. It is used to process, analyse and visualise geoscientific data, and is more widely used across science (e.g. in engineering, physics, economics). In lectures and computer classes this module introduces you to Matlab® by way of specific real-world examples taken from Geoscience topics using freely-available data. Initially the module will introduce you to the basics of using Matlab® before focussing on topics important to Geoscience (spatial data, image processing, textual analysis, statistics, and time series analysis). At each stage, theory is illustrated by easy to understand practical problem-solving examples, with the code used for the examples made available. Assessment focuses on computer practicals and on a data analysis project, the focus of which will be chosen by you from a range of topics, but which must use Matlab® to analyse and present data. This module gives you the opportunity to develop a valuable transferable skill - the ability to use a programming language to obtain/generate, analyse and present geoscientific data, thus improving your digital fluency and capability.

This module will give you the opportunity to extend your knowledge of geospatial systems and software through detailed instruction and targeted case studies. The module is taught in three parts, (theory, practice and independent work), and will involve a mixture of lab-work and lectures. The two key work areas explored in this module are: (a) The generation of Digital Surface Models (DSM) from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and Structure from Motion (SfM) Photogrammetry, (b) Mapping of glacial bedforms from DSM data. Lab sessions will enhance software, coding and quantitative skills. Where possible, sessions will include student-led components and formative peer-peer assessment elements.

In taking this module you will be able to further develop your problem solving skills and develop further resilience through tackling a specific practical application of geospatial analysis that is relevant to research and industry, assessed via a report.

Climate change and global warming are accelerating at unprecedented rates. This affects different aspects of human lives, livelihoods, and the built and natural environment, posing significant challenges to global sustainable development. In this research-led module, you will gain understanding of how climate change is not just manifesting through rising temperatures, but also how it is changing global circulations in complex ways with far-reaching impacts. You will explore important themes, such as:

- Fundamentals of the changing climate including the Earth's energy balance, causes of climate change and the greenhouse effect.

- How the global circulation works to form the climate as we experience on earth.

- How climate change has changed, and is projected to change these important circulations and the impacts on regional climate over key geographical regions.

This module will provide you with the opportunity to develop a strong understanding of current and likely future global and regional changes to the climate system. You will also be introduced to the tools and data used by scientists to understand and project these changes.

You will develop research skills through the process of analysing and interpreting information from diverse sources (lecture contents, literature , research-based articles and videos), and using the information to present arguments (through presentation and essay assessments and during practical sessions).

This module will be taught through a combination of lectures and practical sessions.  The practical sessions will consolidate your learning from the lecture content and provide an opportunity for you to ask questions and to gain feedback on your understanding.

This module explores how a geographical approach helps us to analyse issues such as controversial election results, divisive immigration policies, and contentious social activism. You will be able to learn how the two key concepts of democracy and citizenship can be 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 shaped and responded to by citizens, communities, civil society, and political parties. The module emphasises the critical appraisal and interpretation of a variety of perspectives - including your own. 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.

Through lectures and workshops this module aims to provide you with substantive knowledge, understanding, and critical skills to assess political events. It will enable you to enhance your research and communication ability through creative assessments that develop skills in writing a commentary piece for a general audience and using audio-visual materials to present your arguments.

Volcanoes are an enigmatic force of nature and an exciting topic to study. Understanding the way global volcanic systems behave and how they are monitored is a key aspect in hazard assessment and eruption forecasting. With almost a billion people living at risk of volcanic hazards it is imperative that we are able to provide effective warning of impending eruptions. This module uses diverse teaching methods to supplement lectures: including virtual reality, lab practicals, scientific movie reviews, card games, and an interactive volcano challenge week simulating a fictitious volcanic crisis.

Content is structured into three broad areas: volcanic science, volcano monitoring, and crisis response. In volcanic science we will cover underpinning core concepts from creating a magma, where and how it is stored, and the crucial role of gas in generating a wide range of explosive activity styles. We then progress into how we monitor volcanoes including ground deformation, seismicity, and a particular focus on our specialty at Sheffield that of gas release. The module finishes by considering the more social aspects of volcanology, asking the question; what happens when unrest is detected?

Assessment is through the production of a science communication piece where students demonstrate their ability to communicate complex scientific topics to a general audience with a particular focus on visual and creative media. The second assessment is a professional risk report, the culmination of the volcano challenge week, which balances data interpretation with efficient written communication to assess and communicate potential hazards to decision makers.

Throughout you will strengthen key employment skills in data analysis, science communication, and real-world problem solving. At the end of the module you will be well versed in what makes volcanoes tick, and will be able to critically appraise volcanic unrest around the world.

The aim of this module is to strengthen your skills in critically examining the development process within a global context, drawing on examples from developed and developing nations, to understand the local-global nexus. You will be able to learn about the different ways in which 'sustainable development' is defined, and how we can decolonise development, reflecting more critically on our position and the power relations within this process. Drawing on debates within development geography and other disciplines, the module is structured around two themes: current global crises and how these affect us all but differently across the globe; and development interventions which aim to tackle global crises globally and locally. Topics covered may include: neoliberalism and its relation to the financial crises, the environmental crises and its root causes, populism and the rise of inequalities, sustainable development and the sustainable development goals, alternatives to development, and the pros and cons of the use of technology. A group presentation will strengthen your ability and experience working as part of a team to examine and communicate complex debates.

Coasts are settings in which natural processes and human activities are dynamically linked. Whilst they only represent a small fraction of the physical space on our planet, they are exceptionally important places due to so much societal activity being associated with them. This module explores a variety of coastal environments and associated uses of coastal space. We will focus on processes occurring within coastal environments both off-shore and on-shore and how they have and are responding to climate change. Through this, you will be able to explore how coastal change is affecting coastal societies as well as how these same societies are impacting on coastlines in terms of their processes, resilience and sustainability. We will cover debates surrounding coastal flood protection, coastal management and coastal energy production and its security, highlighting often diverse perspectives from individuals, communities, local authorities and national and global organisations. The module will be taught by a mixture of lectures, hands-on practicals (data and/or field-based) and discursive seminars. In taking this module you will further develop your problem solving skills, how you apply knowledge and communicate it to different audiences. It will also help further develop your team working and interpersonal skills.

The Lake District has a rich and exciting history, from the laying down of its geology, including from some of the most explosive volcanic eruptions on this planet that occurred hundreds of millions of years ago, through to the more recent alterations posed by glaciation. We use the dynamic and diverse landscape of the Lake District to apply our knowledge of physical processes and research approaches to understand the formation and controls on our landscape, a key geographical skill. The module will comprise a 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, geology, landscape dynamics and environmental change. You will be given the opportunity to develop field and research abilities, including in research design, problem solving, field data collection and interpretation and science communication. The fieldwork will also help you to develop autonomy, resilience, and to work effectively with others.

All taught content will be conducted during the field class, supplemented by evening lectures and activities. Assessment is via a field notebook produced during the course of the field class where strong emphasis is placed upon independent observations of the landscape and also a piece of science communication where you get to develop and demonstrate your ability to communicate complex topics to a general audience.