Geography: Human at the University of Toronto Scarborough

Learn at the cutting edge of explorations into the spatiality of human activity and social inequalities. You’ll get first-hand experience through fieldwork, and the strong foundational skills needed to both engage in empirical studies and examine the factors that shape societies, economies, regions and cities. We focus on investigating the spatial patterns of human activity and the character of regions and places, and you’ll explore the complex relationships between society and the natural environment, along with the social and economic problems of human land use and settlement.  

Our courses are organized into three areas of concentration: 

• Environmental geography: These courses explore how politics, the economy, history and culture interact with the physical environment, and you’ll examine some of the most pressing issues around the environment. 
• Social and cultural geography: You'll be challenged to think about how social difference is spatialized, and engage in innovative thinking using surveys, ethnographies, archives, interviews, films, literature, music and pop culture. 
• Urban geography: Discover the urban dimensions of many of today’s most pressing questions around environmental sustainability, economic stability and social justice. 

In our major program you’ll choose courses in two concentrations and establish a solid foundation in GIS or qualitative research methods. You’ll gain the skills to understand contemporary social science thought in the context of communities, societies and economies, and the ways location, landscape and spatial context shape (and are shaped by) social structures, functioning and behaviour. 

In our specialist program, you’ll gain experience in all three concentrations and both GIS and qualitative methods. This in-depth program is a richer, more intensive exploration of human geography, and you’ll gain the enhanced methods and skills training needed for graduate studies and to thrive in employment markets. The minor in GIS and the minor in City Studies are insightful pairs for this option.  

The minor program is designed to give you a general introduction to human geography, and you can choose from our wide range of geography courses to explore the concepts that interest you most. The minor encourages you to focus on one area of concentration and doesn’t require you to take courses on research methods.