Human Geography
Human geography examines how human beings interact with, shape and are shaped by the environments they inhabit, focusing on the social, cultural, economic and political dimensions of the relationship between people and place. Where physical geography studies natural processes, human geography asks how societies are spatially organised, how migration and urbanisation transform places, how economic development and inequality are distributed across the globe, how cultures construct and contest identity in relation to territory, and how geopolitical power shapes the world map. The discipline is empirically grounded, theoretically ambitious and deeply engaged with the major social and environmental challenges of the present.
At Royal Holloway, University of London you will study for three years full-time, exploring topics including culture, economics and geopolitics and developing an advanced understanding of the relationship between human society and the planet. The programme includes a sandwich year in professional practice and a year abroad, giving you extended professional and international experience that enriches both your academic work and your career prospects. Fieldwork is a central part of geography at Royal Holloway, taking you out of the classroom and into the real environments where the issues you study are lived and contested.
Human geography graduates work across an exceptionally wide range of careers, including urban planning, development, environmental policy, international development, public health, NGOs, the civil service, consultancy, journalism, charities, research and education. The combination of empirical research skills, spatial reasoning, cultural awareness and theoretical understanding that geography develops is valued by a wide range of employers. Many graduates also pursue postgraduate study in geography, urban planning, development studies, environmental policy or related fields, building more specialist expertise on the broad foundations the undergraduate degree provides.