Geography and Politics

Geography and politics is a combination that draws on two disciplines well suited to each other: geography provides a framework for understanding how physical and human processes interact across space and place, while politics examines how power is organised, contested, and exercised within and between societies. Together, they offer tools for understanding some of the most pressing questions of our time, including climate change and its unequal impacts, urbanisation and regional inequality, border politics and migration, and the role of territory in shaping political identity and conflict.

This four-year full-time programme at the University of Dundee includes a year abroad, giving you direct experience of studying in a different country and developing a genuinely comparative perspective on the political and geographical questions you study. Dundee has strong social sciences faculties and a research culture engaged with Scottish, UK, and international questions, and the programme benefits from this intellectual environment. You will study physical and human geography, political theory, comparative politics, geopolitics, environmental politics, and the research methods used in both disciplines, including GIS, fieldwork, quantitative analysis, and qualitative approaches.

Graduates from geography and politics programmes pursue careers in the civil service, international organisations, journalism, environmental agencies, planning, development, NGOs, and consultancy. The combination of spatial thinking and political analysis is particularly valuable for roles concerned with planning policy, regional development, environmental governance, and international affairs. The year abroad adds intercultural experience that is valued by employers in internationally oriented roles.

Postgraduate options include geography, political science, international relations, environmental policy, and development studies, and the programme provides a strong academic foundation for any of these routes.