Bachelor of Arts in Geography - Honours, Major, Minor

About this programme

Are you interested in studying how human activities and behaviours shape physical landscapes and examining why humans create unique spaces and places on the Earth’s surface? Or how natural processes shape the Earth’s surface to create different physical landscapes? A Geography degree is for you! VIU’s Geography program can be taken as a major or minor with options that allow you to specialize in sustainable resource management or urban and social sustainability as well as a general option. Geographers pursue careers in many different fields, including education, planning, business, government agencies and non-profit organizations. Geography is the study of the relationships between people and the planet. It is naturally interdisciplinary, bridging the social and natural sciences and drawing on a wide range of perspectives. As students in the program, you will learn to think critically and holistically about pressing and complex socio-environmental issues that span place, scale, and time: from climate change to biodiversity loss to economic inequality. You will develop skills crucial to this work, including expertise in mapping and GIS technologies. Across courses, you will investigate questions such as: How do land use practices, resource extraction, and urban expansion shape landscapes? How do physical processes like erosion, flooding, and drought interact with social vulnerability? How can data-driven spatial analysis support decision-making in areas like disaster response and conservation? How does inequality shape the distribution of environmental contaminants, econ