Geography and Environmental Studies

Literally, the word geography translates from the Greek words Ge and Graphein as “to write the earth”. Geography is, essentially, about the study of the earth, people's relations with their environments and their relations with each other. It is about place and people and the variation in human and physical processes and patterns across space and time. Environmental Studies is the interdisciplinary study of the environment and the changing nature of human's relationship with it.

At the University of Newcastle, the Discipline of Geography and Environmental Studies includes human geography, development studies, and environmental studies and the staff undertake teaching and research across these fields. Physical geography is taught through the Discipline of Earth Sciences.

We provide majors in the Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Environmental Science and Management (Social Systems major), Bachelor of Development Studies, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Social Science, and our courses can be taken as part of a Bachelor of Teaching/ Bachelor of Arts. More information about all these options is provided from the Student Hub.

What will I study?

In Geography and Environmental Studies you will focus on how culture, society, economy and environment are shaped in and through spaces and places. Your studies will focus on understanding the processes and patterns, operating at many scales, that produce and transform spaces, places and environments including:

As the world transforms and we face new social, political, cultural and environmental challenges, Geography and Environmental Studies will provide you with a unique synthesis of understandings and skills necessary to grapple with contemporary challenges, to understand their impacts on the spaces, places and environments we live in, and to contribute to addressing these impacts.