Geographical Sciences study guide 2024/25
What you can study
At Bristol, you can study with world-leading experts in the fields of human and physical geography. Our teaching emphasises a multidisciplinary approach to the natural environment, and equips students with key theories and methodologies for the study of cultural, economic and social geography.
You will find units on:
- climate change, sustainability and conservation
- glaciology, hydrology, oceans and waterways
- qualitative and quantitative methodologies
- diverse regions, including: Asia, Africa, rural and urban
- inequality, politics, and philosophy
Pre-requisites
At UK universities, students specialise from their first year and rarely take units outside their degree subject. This means that:
- Year 1 units are suitable for all students.
- Year 2 units require some university study in the discipline.
- Year 3 units require a strong background in the discipline.
Subject pathway students
If you have been nominated to Bristol on the Study Abroad (Geographical Sciences pathway), you must take the majority of your credits from this guide.
Year 1
Pre-requisites: suitable for all students
Teaching Block 1
- Convincing stories? Numbers as evidence in the social sciences - GEOG10005
- Geography: Past, Present and Future - GEOG10007
- World in Crisis? - GEOG16001
Teaching Block 2
Teaching Block 4 (full year)
Year 2
Pre-requisites: some university study in the discipline.
Teaching Block 1
- Fundamentals of Modern Glaciology - GEOG20004
- Geographies of Nature - GEOG20029
- The Earth System - GEOG20003
- Urban Geography - a Focus on Africa - GEOG20033
Teaching Block 2
- Floods and Flows in River Basins - GEOG20027
- Geographies of Work and Employment - GEOG20034
- Oceans in a Changing World - GEOG20021
- Philosophy, Social Theory and Geography - GEOG25110
- Study and Field Skills for Geographers - GEOG20035. This unit involves a field trip and can only be requested when applying and not later.
Teaching Block 4 (full year)
Year 3
Pre-requisites: strong background of study in the discipline.
Teaching Block 1
- Data Science for Geographers - GEOG30045
- Evolutionary Biogeography - GEOG30037
- Ice and Ocean in the Global Carbon Cycle - GEOG30014
- Life, Sex and Death in an Age of Capitalism - GEOG30035
- Rural Asia - GEOG30031
- Sea Level: Past, Present and Future - GEOG30043
- Urban Inequality - GEOG30044
Teaching Block 2
- Climate Forensics: Greenhouse Gases in the Atmosphere - GEOG30033
- Drylands in a Changing World - GEOG30039
- Energy Geographies - GEOG30038
- Environmental Risks and Disaster Risk Reduction - GEOG30041
- Future Climates - GEOG30016
- Geographies of the Bioeconomy - GEOG30030
- Migration and Development - GEOG30018
Application queries
Contact the Centre for Study Abroad inbound team if you have any queries about the application process for the study abroad programmes:
Phone: +44 117 39 40207
Email: cfsa-inbound@bristol.ac.uk