Geography: Human Geography

Human Geography covers a wide set of sub-disciplines that share in common the study of the human use and experience of the world. It covers such broad territory as the relations between nature and society, place and human identity, and the spatial basis of economies and societies. Human Geographers make contributions to the private and public sectors in such professional fields as education, physical and social planning, urban development, environmental and resource fields, industrial location, economic development, tourism, regional specialties, cartography, and Geographical Information Science (GIS).

You will explore four main study areas: Culture and places; cities and globalization; nature and society; and research and methods.|The Department of Geography is housed in the Geography Building, a hub for researching, teaching, learning, and community.  The Geography Building includes multiple study spaces, an undergraduate lounge, and two state-of-the art geomatics computer labs, for you to work on Geography laboratory assignments and projects. The Department also houses the Geographic Information Centre (GIC), which is a library, reading room, and research space. Holdings include maps specializing in BC and Canada, atlases, books, and journals with geographical content, videos, course reserves, and BC’s largest aerial photo collection.

The Department of Geography also includes labs and research spaces in the Geography Building, around UBC, and beyond.  The Geography building houses the Lab for Advanced Spatial Analytics, the Surfaces Processes Lab, and the Urban Studies Research Commons, to name a few. As an undergraduate student, you can experience these spaces through your Geography and Geographical Sciences coursework, or even through individual directed studies research projects with Geography faculty.