Handbook

Human Geography major for the Bachelor of Social Science

This major is for students in the Bachelor of Social Science and assumes separate completion of human geography subjects that are part of the core requirements for that degree.

Human Geography is a social science that focuses on space, place and people. Human Geography examines the interaction of human societies with the biophysical environment. It analyses a diversity of cultural, economic, political and social processes across different geographical scales.

The course explores 6 key themes:

• life in a globalising world;
• the material world;
• environmental knowledge and management;
• rural and regional places;
• urban worlds;
• and thinking spatially.

Geography is crucial to understanding a number of key contemporary concerns including: sustainability, climate change, population movements and social inequalities. Fieldwork is used to explore these themes through the use of case studies; it gives students the opportunity to consider issues of social justice and ethics, and develop transferable work skills. Job opportunities include various research officer positions within corporate, non-governmental agencies and municipal, State and Commonwealth Departments and agencies.