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Disciplinary Major / Minor
in Geography
Objective
Geography is a diverse discipline that involves both natural and social sciences with a focus on the major issues facing societies in a rapidly changing world. The Geography undergraduate programme aims to provide students with an understanding of the geographical aspects of the relationships between people and the natural environment; how these relationships have changed with space and over time; and the role of geography in the investigation and analysis of the issues and problems facing people, places and society. The programme also seeks to give students the opportunity to explore key elements of the knowledge and understanding embodied in the geography discipline; study aspects of geography that stimulate their intellectual interests; and acquire discipline-specific and generic skills to enable them to pursue their chosen career or continue onto higher education.
Programme Learning Outcomes
(PLOs)
In order to meet the demands and challenges in this dynamic and ever-changing world, the Department has designed a series of well-structured and contemporary courses to cater to the different interests of students. It’s courses are designed to align with the University’s educational aims which hope to nurture future generations not only with a critical and intellectual mindset, but also with a passion to contribute to society in general.
After completing the programme, “Geography Major” students should be able to:
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critically analyze the geographical aspects of the relationship between people and the environment;
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demonstrate and develop an understanding of how these relationships have changed with space and over time;
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identify, collect and utilize primary and secondary data to investigate and analyze the issues and problems facing people, places and society;
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integrate, evaluate and communicate information from a variety of geographical and other sources;
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participate in promoting social, economic and environmental sustainability at the local, regional and global scales; and
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effectively apply a range of transferable skills in academic, professional and social settings.
Programme Structure *4-year Cohort
The Geography curriculum is structured to permit students to explore the geography discipline, through studying a range of courses, in pursuit of their academic interests and future career development.
Disciplinary Major (single or double) or Minor in Geography (For new 4-year cohort of students admitted)
No. of Credits
Component
(a) Introductory courses (Level 100)
(i) Disciplinary
(ii) Pre-requisites*#
(b) Advanced courses (Level 200 or above)
(i) Disciplinary method course(s)
(ii) Disciplinary electives^
(iii)Capstone experience
Major
6
12
6
36-42
6-12
24
Minor
6
-
-
30
-
-
(iv)Social innovation and global citizenship~
96
36
*
Geography Major students are encouraged to take more number of credits beyond the minimum requirement.
#
Candidates who opt to declare two major programmes offered by the Faculty of Social Sciences should avoid selecting overlapping pre-requisites.
^
Geography Major students must take at least 18 credits of Level 300 or above disciplinary courses (excluding GEOG4001 Overseas field trip)
~
Candidates who opt to declare double majors in Geography, Politics and Public Administration, Psychology, Sociology and Social Work and Social Administration are allowed to undertake 24 credits of free electives, to fulfil the Faculty off-campus learning courses for the second major.
Candidates who wish to MAJOR (96 credits) or MINOR (36 credits) in Geography must complete:
(a) Introductory courses
(18 credits for major; 6 credits for minor) - to be taken in Years 1-2
(i) One disciplinary course (6 credits) from the following list:
(Applicable to 2018-19 intake and thereafter)
(ii) Two pre-requisite courses from the following 5 units, but not more than one from a single unit (12 credits):
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Faculty of Social Sciences
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Politics and Public Administration
-
Psychology
-
Social Work and Social Administration
-
Sociology
(b) Advanced courses
(78 credits for major; 30 credits for minor) consist of the following components to be taken in Years 2-4.
Disciplinary method courses (a minimum of 6 credits for major)
Geography majors should take one (or preferably two) of the following core methods-related courses:
Applicable to 2016-17 intake and thereafter
Geography majors, once having met the 6 credits of core requirement, can take another course from the above list to fulfill the disciplinary elective requirement.
The above list of core courses is available to Geography minors or other students as electives.
(ii) Disciplinary electives (from 36 to 42 credits for major; 30 credits for minor)
These advanced elective courses are offered as Level 200, 300 and 400 courses to provide students with academic progression. Students are advised to take at least 18 credits of Level 200 courses (excluding 6 credits of core methods-related course) for their declared major.
(iii) Capstone experience (6 - 12 credits for major only, to be taken in Year 4)
Applicable to 2018-19 intake and thereafter
*
The GEOG4001 course is a compulsory capstone experience course that all Geography majors must take to fulfill the programme requirement. In the event that this compulsory field trip needs to be cancelled due to travel restrictions and/or other unforeseen circumstances, the Department would inform students and they would be allowed to take one of the other capstone experience (CE) courses including “GEOG4002 Directed project in geography” (6 credits) or “GEOG4003 Honours dissertation” (12 credits) to fulfil the CE requirements for graduation.
#
In the event of time conflict with other required academic activities, the candidate can apply for deferring the overseas field trip participation towards the end of Year 4 of study before graduation (see the GEOG4001 course description for details).
^
For students who are double major in both Geography and Urban Governance, they have the following four options to fulfil the capstone experience (CE) requirements for both declared majors:
Option 1 - Take ‘GEOG4001 Overseas field trip’ (6 credits) to meet the CE requirement for the declared Geography major, and take ‘GEOG4004 Directed project in urban governance’ (6 credits) to meet the CE requirement for the declared Urban Governance major.
Option 2 - Take ‘GEOG4001 Overseas field trip’ (6 credits) to meet the CE requirement for the declared Urban Governance major, and take either ‘GEOG4002 Directed project in geography’ (6 credits) or ‘GEOG4003 Honours dissertation’ (12 credits) to meet the CE requirement for the declared Geography major.
Option 3 – (Applicable only to the event that “GEOG4001 Overseas filed trip’ has to be cancelled in an academic year due to travel restrictions and/or other unforeseen circumstances). Take ‘GEOG4003 Honours dissertation’ (12 credits) to meet the CE requirements for both the declared Geography and Urban Governance major.
Option 4 –(Applicable only to the event that “GEOG4001 Overseas filed trip’ has to be cancelled in an academic year due to travel restrictions and/or other unforeseen circumstances). Take ‘GEOG4002 Directed project in geography’ to meet the CE requirement for the declared Geography major, and take ‘GEOG4004 Directed project in urban governance” to meet the CE requirement for the declared Urban Governance major.
iv) Social Innovation and Global Citizenship (24 credits)
For BSocSc students (Faculty off-campus learning courses)
Students are required to undertake 24 credits of off-campus learning under the twin themes Social Innovation and Global Citizenship as a condition of graduation. To fulfil the Social Innovation requirement, candidates must complete FOSS2018. To fulfil the Global Citizenship requirement, candidates must either complete FOSS2019 or a combination of two 6-credit endorsed experiential learning courses, or undertake 12 credits of advanced courses on exchange studies or on an overseas summer programme approved by the Faculty. Candidates may complete a maximum of 30 credits of experiential learning (internship) during their studies.
For non-BSocSc students
Students can take any advanced-level courses to fulfil the SIGC requirements.