Geography with Archaeology BSc(Hons)

Course structure

On this integrated course you combine studies in geography and archaeology. 

You’ll study both human and physical geography, and as you move through the course you can specialise in one over the other. You also have opportunities to take optional modules in associated sciences and geology.

Alongside this you’ll develop skills for archaeological investigation and environmental reconstructions through a range of modules that investigate human impacts and reactions to changing climates through time.

You have the option to enrol on this course part-time, giving you more flexibility in the way you choose to study.

Year 1

The first year introduces key themes in human, physical and environmental geography, with core modules that cover the impact of socially divergent views of the world, the human modification of environmental processes and the physical forces of landscape change. Interwoven through these core modules are perspectives and examples from the archaeological record, showing how the two subject disciplines complement each other. 

Modules

Core modules

• Fundamentals of Physical Geography

  This module provides a theoretical and practical introduction to azonal (tectonic, climatic, hydrological, fluvial, coastal, slope, aeolian, and biogeographical) and zonal (glacial and periglacial) physical geographical systems. You will examine the ways in which these systems interact with and influence human activities, both at the present day and over archaeological timescales.

• Global Environmental Issues

  This module introduces pressing global environmental issues which you'll explore through natural science and social science case studies. The module focuses on scientific, social, economic and political aspects of current and past environmental issues and examines how some of the issues may be addressed through interdisciplinary management and mitigation.

• Human Geography

  This module provides a critical introduction to key themes in human geography. You will develop an appreciation of geographical concepts such as nature, space, place and scale through consideration of geographies of global political-economic change, past and contemporary cultural geographies and geographical imaginations, and social geographies of everyday life.

• Academic Learning and Field Skills

  This module will introduce you to academic study skills, fieldwork skills and transferable skills for geography and environmental sciences. The module will support you in how to learn at university, and in particular, with learning independently. You'll also take part in a residential field course where you will learn field data collection and analysis techniques, methodology design and how to present research findings.

• Statistical and Spatial Data Analysis

  This module will introduce you to a variety of techniques utilised in both the academic and professional world for the analysis of geographical and environmental data. Emphasis is placed on developing skills and abilities to graphically/visually display data and assess patterns/relationships through statistical testing, and geospatial display and analysis. The module will introduce you to and allow you to become a competent user of statistical software.

Options*

• Urban Geography

  This module will introduce you to key concepts, debates and issues in the sub-discipline of urban geography. It aims to provide you with detailed knowledge of the character and history of selected cities and urban settlements, drawn from both the Global North and the Global South, and their place within wider systems. Case studies of cities, towns and urban settlements seen as exemplifying social, cultural, economic and political processes of urban change and patterns of urbanisation will be explored.

• The Earth and Ocean System

  In this module you will explore and discuss the four ‘spheres’ of the Earth system: the lithosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, and how they interact to produce the stratigraphic record of Earth history.

• Introduction to Ecology and Conservation

  This module will introduce you to key concepts and principles in both ecology and conservation science – illustrated with case studies. The links between ecology and conservation and also between theory and applied research are emphasised

• Past Landscapes and People

  This module introduces key concepts surrounding past societies and the way they viewed, interacted with, and changed their environment. You will explore the techniques and theories that archaeologists use to engage with the past, and how the subject of archaeology interacts with physical and human geography. You will explore human impacts on past environments and put how the modern landscape has been created through the human activities into context. 

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Year 2

Year 2 advances your understanding of physical and human geography as well as introducing you to more specialised archaeological modules. 

Fieldwork includes a trip to Sicily. 

Modules

• Professional Practice
• Research Design and Analysis with Dissertation Planning
• Geography Fieldwork, Sicily

Options*

• Human Origins and Evolution
• Prehistoric and Ancient Societies
• Earth Surface Processes
• Ice Age Earth
• Environmental Pollution
• Climate Change
• Sustainable Futures
• Community Engagement
• Social and Cultural Geography
• GIS and Remote Sensing: Principles and Practice
• Palaeoenvironments

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Placement year

A placement year offers you a great opportunity to:

• build knowledge of real-world businesses and organisations
• develop existing skills and discover new ones
• make contacts in industry and commerce
• increase your confidence
• improve your time management.

In recent years, our students have been successful in competing for nationally advertised positions with the Department for Energy and Climate Change, Transport for London and the Field Studies Council.

Other students have secured placements with environmental firms and consultancies, a multi-national telecommunications company and a renewable energy research centre in Spain.

Final year

The focus for your final year is your independent dissertation. Working closely with one of our researchers you will investigate a topic of your choice, applying the research methods and analytical skills you have developed. Option modules enable you to tailor your studies to support your dissertation and your career aspirations.

You'll also have the opportunity of fieldwork in Brazil.

Modules

• Dissertation

Options*

• Tectonic Morphology
• Rivers, Coasts and Wetlands: Assessment and Management
• Humans of Ice Age Britain
• Dynamic Landscapes
• Environmental Impact Assessment
• The Frozen Planet
• Water, Sanitation and Health
• Atmospheric Environment
• Waste Management and the Circular Economy
• Gender, Sex and the Body
• Political Ecology: Contested Environments
• Coloniality, Territory and Security
• Community Engagement
• Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing 
• Research Field Skills Course, Brazil

*Option modules are indicative and may change, depending on timetabling and staff availability.

Meet the team

International requirements and visas

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visas and immigration advice

Course fees

If you choose to take the professional placement (sandwich) year offered on this course you will pay a reduced fee during this year. Our fee for the professional placement year is £1,370 for UK students and £2,120 for international students. This fee may be subject to small increases, in line with inflation.

Info

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2022–23.

Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee.

You can find out more about our fees in the university's student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full-time or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.

Campus where this course is taught

Accommodation

Local area

Maps

Sport at Brighton