Master Courses

Master’s Programme in Human Geography

Scope and pace: 120 ECTS, full time

Location: Department of Human Geography, Geocenter I, Lund

Aims and directions

The Master’s Programme in Human Geography aims to provide students with:

• knowledge of the development of theories in human geography and their relations to theories in other social and environmental sciences;
• understanding of the spatial dimensions of social, economic, cultural and environmental processes and their importance for welfare and living conditions in various geographical contexts;
• skills in methods and the use of advanced tools to analyse the complex relations between development processes on local, regional, national and global scales; and
• competence to carry out scientific investigations, analyses and advanced planning related to political, economic, social and environmental issues in an increasingly complex world.

The programme is structured as follows:

The main directions of study included in the programme are social and cultural geography, economic geography and environmental studies. Each of the two core courses in human geography will contain elements of these three directions, and will integrate gender aspects. The two core courses are complemented with faculty courses in theory of science for the social sciences, methods in social science, courses on GIS (Geographic Information Systems) in social science, and a host of optional courses offered by the faculty. Three optional courses will also be available at the Lund School of Economics (courses in the Master’s Programme of Economic Growth and Innovation in Time and Space offered through collaboration between Department of Economic History, Department of Business Administration and Department of Human Geography).

The master’s programme is interdisciplinary in scope and thus appropriate for students from a diverse range of backgrounds. The programme is expected to attract students with undergraduate degrees in the social sciences — such as human geography, political science and international relations, economics, sociology and anthropology — as well as other disciplinary and professional backgrounds. By offering students considerable flexibility in their choice of modules, the programme seeks to accommodate individual interests and needs.

Human geography plays an important role in modern society due to its special approach which is characterized by contextually maintaining connections in time and space, and thereby relations between aspects of reality other disciplines focus on in isolation: economic, political, social, cultural and environmental conditions. Human geography, furthermore, captures complex connections between different spatial scales. These characteristics make Human geography especially suited to grasp problems facing society today, problems rooted in the intricate interplay among various aspects and between local and global scales.

Leaning on voices of authority, the aims of the programme may also be expressed as:

• to convey a framework for synthesis and integration of knowledge  [‘The revival of the science of geography . . . should create that unity of knowledge without which all learning remains only piece-work.’ Immanuel Kant];
• to provide competence to understand current events at all scales  [‘Without a knowledge of geography gentlemen could not understand a newspaper.’  John Locke]; and,
• to cultivate understanding and appreciation of our relations with the world around us  [‘For me, geography is the summit of human existence. … Geography is the material reality from which everything else derives.’  Wole Soyinka].

Research based education

The Master’s Program in Human Geography is based at a research intensive department with considerable external funding. The research profile of the department consists of four core areas: cultural and social geography, economic geography, development studies and environmental studies. Principal Fields of research competence are:

• Social and cultural geography: interplay between processes of globalization, social geographic transformation and urban politics; cultural landscapes and settlement histories from a social historical perspective; European urban geography, urban dystopia, contradictory urbanisms and new urban landscapes; gender, urban planning and spaces of fear and security; transportation infrastructure, time-geography and everyday life; residential mobility, gentrification and the political economy of space; identity dynamics, multiculturalism and boundary construction; modernity, place and the production of space; place, health and ontological security; island studies.
• Economic geography: regional innovation systems and policy; technology shifts and regional development; innovation, research and competence in the learning economy; economic transformation in time and space; creativity in urban and regional development; economic integration in the Öresund region; flexible specialization, industrial districts and learning regions in a globalized world economy; role of universities for national competitiveness and regional development; cross-border regions as arenas for growth and innovation; labour marker mobility.
• Environmental studies: crisis management and social vulnerability analyses; risk landscapes and the social construction of vulnerability; political ecology and the political geography of hazards; new integrated tools for assessing sustainability; systems analysis and socio-economic parameters of sustainability; regional sustainability assessment; empowerment and the politics of sustainability discourses.
• Development studies: demographic, social and environmental consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic; structural transformations of agricultural systems; agricultural diversification; food provision and crises; environmental and socio-economic consequences of agricultural change; co-operatives, local organizations and NGOs in rural and agricultural development.

Development studies are the primary focus of another master’s program at Lund University, as well as other courses at the advanced level. For this reason, the Master’s Programme in Human Geography will build on the three pillars of social and cultural geography, economic geography and environmental studies.

Labour market
The labour market for human geographers has expanded during the last few decades, and continues to grow as awareness of the need for contextual approaches to complex problems increases. Human geographers constitute a valuable resource on the labour market, with competence to provide thematic and integrated knowledge and to contribute contextual and comprehensive perspectives on challenging practical issues.

The curriculum of the master’s programme is of relevance to a wide range of challenges currently facing decision makers, planners and analysts in responsible public authorities, non-governmental organizations and private enterprises. Students engage in a cutting-edge education preparing them for pursuing careers on the growing labour market for strategic investigators, analysts and planners. Equipped with advanced methodological skills and contextual understanding of contemporary societal and environmental issues, geographers are commonly employed as researchers, planners, analysts and operational managers within international, national, regional, and local governmental bodies, NGOs and firms. Employment specialties include: urban and regional planning and development; environmental and land-use analysis; transportation planning and time-space logistics; conservation and heritage planning; localization and spatial analysis of competitiveness, markets, costs and revenues; and cartography and GIS-analysis. Another field of employment is education, both in schools and in governmental and non-governmental organisations. The labour market for Masters of Human Geography also includes research, both in academia and in specialized research institutions. Some advanced students will continue to PhD programs, largely financed by external research grants.