Programme overview
BA Geography at Cornwall focuses on the social and cultural processes underpinning human understandings of environment and landscape. The programme will deepen your practical knowledge through applied coursework in areas such as the heritage, agriculture and business sectors. It will appeal to you if you have an interest in the humanities and/or arts.
The programme will provide you with a broad understanding of geographical aspects of human society and the physical environment, and their complex interrelationships. It provides you the opportunity to develop your interests in the discipline and gain a more detailed appreciation of a variety of specific aspects of geography in which the School specialises. Through fieldwork in human geography and other forms of experiential learning, the programme aims to promote curiosity about social and cultural environments and enable you to develop a range of skills specific to the human geographer, including key skills in social science and humanities research methods such as interviewing, textual analysis and ethnography. In addition you will develop a series of cognitive, generic and transferable skills and improved self confidence.
In contrast to our BSc Geography, the BA programmes offer the opportunity for you to undertake human geography research methods, participate in a human geography field trip, and carry out a human geography dissertation. The first year of the programme provides a grounding in both human and physical geography, in preparation for greater flexibility and specialisation in the second and final years. You can choose from a diverse set of optional modules and design a programme to suit your developing interests. Human geography optional modules include subjects as diverse as: Landscape; Visual Geographies; Cultures of Empire; Society and Space; Technonatures.
From 2012 the new Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI) will play a key role in the study experience for all students on the Cornwall Campus. The ESI will give you the opportunity to develop your knowledge about the causes and consequences of environmental change and how to manage its effects, and to work with internationally acclaimed experts who are at the forefront of research in this area.
Why study Geography at our Cornwall Campus?
- 8th in the UK for world leading research in Geography and Environmental Studies1, our expertise feeds into our research-led teachiing so you will study and learn with leading academics who are shaping the field of study
- 12th for Geography in The Times Good University Guide 2010
- Flexible degree structures allowing you to tailor your study to suit your developing interests
- Choice of exciting field courses in the UK and abroad
- Our programmes treat Cornwall as a 'natural laboratory', taking learning into the field to explore the incredible diversity of cultural, natural and ecological landscapes in the region
- Opportunities to use specialist equipment including GIS, remote sensing and digital mapping software
- Opportunities to develop vocational skills highly sought by employers
- Innovative teaching techniques including a virtual field trip, video-conferencing, web-casting and scenario-based project work that grounds learning in the real world
- Excellent facilities at the £100 million Cornwall Campus near Falmouth
- Tutorial-based teaching system enabling you to have regular contact with tutors
1 RAE 2008 based on percentage of research classified as 4*
