Bachelor of Arts (BA)

BA Geography with International Study

Join one of the top ten Geography departments in the UK (QS World University Rankings by Subject 2024).

  • Duration: 4 years
  • Year of entry: 2025
  • UCAS course code: LF78 / Institution code: M20
  • Key features:
  • Study abroad
  • Scholarships available
  • Field trips

Full entry requirementsHow to apply

Fees and funding

Fees

Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £31,000 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.

Additional expenses

Overseas fieldwork is subsidised by the University but, depending on the location, you may need to contribute to the cost of the trip.

Policy on additional costs

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

Scholarships/sponsorships

We are committed to attracting and supporting the very best students from all backgrounds to study this course.  

You could be eligible for cash bursaries of up to £2,500 to support your studies. 

Find out about our funding opportunities

Course unit details:
Transport Geographies

Course unit fact file
Unit code GEOG20541
Credit rating 20
Unit level Level 2
Teaching period(s) Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit? Yes

Overview

The key modes of transportation chosen for consideration in this course are waterborne shipping, passenger railways, aeroplanes and private automobiles (there is limited coverage of buses, bikes or pedestrianism). The course will involve examination of the permanent way of the canals, the railways tracks, the tarmac road surface, runways and the invisible air routes. The focus will be on personal mobility, the mass of passengers, the means of moving human bodies. It will look critically at the spatial and social form of many key sites of transportation including: docks, airport terminals and train stations. The course will make extensive use Manchester and the wider region as a ‘living laboratory’ to explore the histories of these key modes of transportation, and their major sites and iconic facilities.

Aims

  • To build an empirical understanding of the infrastructures that are necessary to support key modes of transportation;
  • To think about the relations between large-scale transportation systems and the structure of urban space, within the context of cultural change, political power, economics and everyday social practices;
  • To discuss the relevance of historical approaches to study the ways cities have evolved since the industrial revolution through transport developments, exploiting Manchester as the primary case study.

Teaching and learning methods

Transport Geographies will be taught over twelve weeks via a structured sequence of two-hour lectures and weekly series of one-hour seminars. The lecture sessions will be themed and include a variety of topics and case studies, illustrated with a range of media, supported by many key readings on Blackboard. Sessions will draw upon academic research and a range of reliable information resources, including maps, documentary videos, and statistical data from official documents. The seminars will provide space for student-led presentations and discussion around prescribed topics. A significant level of participation will be expected from all students throughout the course.

 

 

 

Knowledge and understanding

  • Critical thinking, reflection and self-awareness of our own dependence on infrastructure;
  • Improved information handling skills, online researching and the synthesis of different kinds of evidence from a range of secondary sources;

Intellectual skills

  • An ability to develop and articulate logical written and oral arguments;

Practical skills

  • Capacity and confidence to structure and present ideas in a professionally formatted report;

Transferable skills and personal qualities

  • Personal responsibility for organising research tasks and self-directed learning.

Assessment methods

Method Weight
Written exam 67%
Written assignment (inc essay) 33%

Feedback methods

Feedback will be provided in the following ways during this course unit:

  • extensive verbal feedback through Q&A, discussion and activities within lectures and seminars;
  • feedback on any course unit issue through face-to-face meeting in consultation hours and via email;
  • detailed written feedback on the coursework assignment.

Recommended reading

  • Rodrigue J-P, with Comtois C, Slack B, 2016, The Geography of Transport Systems, Fourtt Edition (Routledge, London); see also https://transportgeography.org/
  • Knowles R, Shaw J, Docherty I (eds.), 2008, Transport Geographies: Mobilities, Flows and Spaces (Blackwell Publishing, Oxford)
  • Bowen J, 2010, The Economic Geography of Air Transportation: Space, Time, and the Freedom of the Sky (Routledge, London)

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures 20
Seminars 10
Independent study hours
Independent study 170

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Martin Dodge Unit coordinator

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