Human Geography is a broad-ranging social science that is concerned with the spatial patterns of human activity and the character of regions and places. It is well placed to explore the complex relationships between society and the natural environment as well as the social and economic problems of human land use and settlement.
Geographers are developing innovative ways to explore multi-faceted connections in everyday life, the importance of place to global movements of people and ideas, new patterns of uneven economic development and new social concerns around the environment, human health and mega-cities.
Geography complements other UTSC programs such as City Studies, Environmental Science, Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, Economics for Management Studies and Development Studies. Geography courses are also listed as options in several UTSC programs including the Co-op Program in International Development.
Areas of Concentration
Our courses are organized into three areas of concentration; Environmental Geography, Social/Cultural Geography, and Urban Geography. Each of these areas focus on a particular set of issues and concepts. Students majoring in Human Geography use these clusters to organize the sequence of required and elective courses, and are encouraged to focus on two areas of concentration.
Program Options
The educational mission of the Department of Human Geography is to prepare students to be thoughtful and knowledgeable local and global citizens and, at the same time, to support them in developing important career skills in research, writing, and evidence-based examination of many of the pressing issues facing communities and the world today. Human Geography and City Studies graduates are well prepared for a wide range of careers, and our alumni have found successful careers in government, business, the non-profit sector, publishing, urban planning and development, community development, teaching, real estate, and policy analysis, among many others.
The department offers Minor, Major and Specialist programs in Human Geography. The distinction between the three program levels are as follows: the Minor encourages students to focus on one area of concentration but does not require methods; Majors are encouraged to select their courses within two concentrations with a solid foundation in GIS or Qualitative research methods; and the Specialist programs will encourage students to gain experience in all three concentrations and will require both GIS and qualitative methods.
SPECIALIST PROGRAM IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY (ARTS)
MAJOR PROGRAM IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY (ARTS)
MAJOR PROGRAM IN PHYSICAL AND HUMAN GEOGRAPHY (ARTS)
MINOR PROGRAM IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY (ARTS)