Towards Your Degree
Here you'll find out how to build a degree in geography at the University of Canterbury, and how a geography degree prepares you for a wide range of possible career opportunities.
Quickset Leveling, Geog211 Fieldtrip to Cass, NZ
Geography today
Geography is a distinctive discipline and one with a special place in the university. This is because it encourages students to take a holistic view of the world and their place in it: it's about putting knowledge together, rather than taking it apart. It focuses on the relationships between people, their places and their environments, and the ways in which these can be made more sustainable for the future.
Have a look at the course descriptions and the staff profiles on this website and you'll get a good idea of how we interpret this brief at Canterbury.
Our three first year courses take some of the 'big' themes in geography and explore them in some depth. GEOG 106: Global Environmental Change examines the connections between physical and human processes at the global scale, such as population change and environment degradation, and the enhanced greenhouse effect. It examines how these are linked to change at regional and local scales.
Most people in the developed world, and soon most people in the developing world too, live in cities and urban areas. Indeed it's from cities that most of the atmospheric emissions implicated in global warming originate. GEOG 107: Sustainable Cities: Environmental and social perspectives on global urbanisation explores the dynamics of urban growth, and what this means for management and sustainability of continually evolving urban systems.
Resource use is fundamental to human futures, and the ways in which this is understood in different cultural contexts is one of the central points of GEOG 108: Resources and Sustainability. This takes a regional approach, focusing on the South Pacific and Australasia, to examine how different cultures manage the use of resources as varied as biodiversity, water, minerals, coastlines and forests.
Having got a good grounding at first year level, you can develop your geographical training in the second and third years in this integrated approach, or by specialising in physical or human geography, or by mixing these with regional courses, and research/methods learning in areas such as GIS.
Building a degree
Geography at Canterbury is classed as both a Science and an Arts subject: in other words you can 'major' in Geography for either a B.Sc. or B.A. It is also a popular subject for students doing B.Com., B.Mus., B.Ed. and Ll.B. degrees, as well as being suitable for some courses of study towards the B.E. (Hons) and B.For.Sc.
From 2006 a new system of credit points will be in place. The number of credit points associated with a particular course varies according to the level of the course (100, 200 or 300) and the number of contact hours. Geography 100-level courses are worth 18 points; 200-level courses are 15 points; 300-level "full" courses (Geog305, Geog309, Geog320, and Geog322) are 30 points and the 300-level "half" courses (Geog310, Geog311, Geog312, Geog313, Geog323, Geog324, Geog340, Geog341) are 15 points.
To complete a BSc or BA degree, you have to pass a total of 360 points - 254 of those points must be from the same College as the degree. Furthermore, there are requirements with regard to the number of points required at particular levels. For both BA and BSc degrees, the student must have at least 216 points above 100 level and at least 84 of those points must be at 300 level with at least 56 points at 300-level from one subject (e.g. Geography).
The minimum requirement for a student intending to complete a BA or BSc degree majoring in Geography is: 36 points in 100-level Geography plus 44 points in 200-level Geography plus 56 points in 300-level Geography.
Students intending to continue to 400-level in Geography (BA(Hons), BSc(Hons), MA or MSc) must have EITHER 84 points from Geography 300-level papers including Geog309 OR 112 points in 300-level subjects of which 56 must be in Geography and 56 in subjects approved by the Head of Department. You'll need 400 points, however, if you're doing the B.Sc. (Hons) degree. B.Sc. (Hons) is select entry and you need good grades (see the Head of Department for further information).
First-year students studying full-time should take between 108 and 144 points - the stronger your school record, the higher the appropriate load. You should design your course package so that you have courses in at least two subjects that enable you to advance to 200 level.
Non-advancing courses, by definition, don't allow this. In order to complete a degree in Geography, you must pass 44 points at 100 level in the subject, i.e. at least two of GEOG 106, 107 and 108.
All Geography courses are semesterised and it is possible, with the right prerequisites, to take 200 level courses in the second semester of one's first year at university, or to be studying some 300 level papers in your second year.
For both B.A. and B.Sc. degrees, you must complete 216 points above 100 level, of which 56 must be in your majoring subject at 300 level. To meet the 300 level prerequisites, you will have to take 44 points of 200 level Geography. Should you wish to proceed to graduate study, you will normally be expected either to have achieved 84 points at 300 level
Geography (including GEOG 309) or to have completed 112 points at 300 level of which 56 are in Geography and 56 in other subjects which have the approval of the Head of Department.
Other subjects to take
Think carefully about the other courses you take. Consider whether you may want to specialise in a particular branch of Geography or whether you want to be an all-round geographer, and think about courses which would support that line of study. If you are uncertain about what to take, then the following points may help. You're certainly not required to take up any of them, but if you are really interested in a particular branch of Geography you should consider them. If you would like any further guidance on courses to take to enhance your Geography degree, come and talk to us.
- If you are not already computer literate, consider taking the non-advancing introductory Computer Science paper, COSC110.
- Statistics is useful for all geographers, and we suggest that you seriously consider taking a Stats course at some stage.
- Some branches of Geography use mathematics, and if you have interest/ability in this area you should develop it.
- Courses in other field sciences and an understanding of physics and chemistry laws are useful if you’re going to specialise in physical geography. Statistics and mathematics would be useful. You must be prepared for some heavy lab and field commitments.
- Likewise, an understanding of fundamental physical and chemical laws will be helpful, especially for those interested in atmospheric or land surface processes.
- Many fields of human geography are usefully supported by courses in such subjects as history, political science, economics, statistics, psychology and sociology.
- Knowledge of the history or language of a region is useful in studies of regional geography. The subjects listed for human geography (above) would also be useful.
- In environmental geography other field sciences would be useful, eg. ecology and environmental law, as well as GIS and COSC110.
- If research/GIS is your interest, then you should consider courses like COSC110 or other statistics or mathematics papers.
That being said, the most important feature of your degree is that you should enjoy it. So don’t enrol for courses in subjects that you hate. One of the attractive features of Geography is that almost any combination of subjects can be made to work. If you want to improve your written expression and ability to develop an argument, consider taking a free Learning Skills Centre course.
Using a Geography degree
The ability to think in holistic and integrated ways is sought after in the workplace. Our graduates often tell us how they have benefited from being able to synthesise apparently disparate bodies of information that nonetheless all come to bear on specific problems. This is characteristic of what Geography graduates can do, and is becoming even more valued as knowledge shifts and jobs are no longer jobs for life. When you need a training that prepares you for the flexibility required in the contemporary workplace, Geography is it!
Climate station for PhD work,Lake Tekapo,NZ
Being adaptable is reinforced by the emphasis that a training in Geography at Canterbury places on 'transferable skills', such as oral and written communication and self-driven learning. At the same time, you will acquire the important 'disciplinary skills', like a scientific approach to analysis of environmental variables, the ability to bring these together, and means of appreciating the crucial human element in the relations between people, place and environment.
Geographers at work
Geographers work in a wide variety of contexts, and you can obtain information from level 5 of the department or from the Careers in Geography website, that lists many examples of successful graduates in particular work roles. Resource management is a major avenue of employment, in local and regional councils, as well as in private sector consultancy firms. Many geography graduates are employed in other fields in local and central government, in policy development and analysis, in planning jobs, in agencies as diverse as Treasury, the State Services Commission, ACC, Social Welfare and Education. Many also work in the private sector, for instance using their Geographic Information Systems training. Teaching in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors remains popular, but is only one career option amongst many these days.