The Stockholm University Department of Human Geography offers courses in three different main fields of study – Human Geography, Urban and Regional Planning, and Geography – and at three different levels – First Cycle (under-graduate, 3 years), Second Cycle (graduate or master, 2 years), and Third Cycle (doctorial, 4 years). You can as a student in our department either study separate courses (5–20 weeks) or a programme (2–4 years). Many of our courses and programmes are organized in co-operation with other departments at the University. Courses in other disiplines can be included in our programmes. Our courses are designed in close connection with research and include applications and field modules. At this web site we introduce our courses and programmes in Human Geography, Urban and Regional Planning, and Geography.
Human Geography
”Human” in “Human Geography” refers to civilization and society, while “geography” refers to relations of proximity and distance and spatial patterns. Human geography is thus about societies and their spatial patterns and relations. The geographical dimensions may involve local as well as global relations and patterns. The societal issues in human geography concern social, political and economical issues; currently and in an historical perspective. This means that Human Geography is a broad subject with a number of different areas of specialization.
Urban and Regional Planning
Urban and Regional Planning is about shaping and structuring the future of society. Planners affect the structure of cities and urban life, the countryside and regional development, the economic situation and the environment, culture and population from social, economic and ecological perspectives. The problems on which planners work require composite analyses. The problems are increasingly concerned with balancing different, sometimes contradictory, interests into functional and sustainable suggestions and proposals.
Geography
Geographers are involved in community planning in aspects concerned with climatic change, flood risk and storm damage, as well as with developmental issues such as innovations in farming, city expansion, health matters and refugees. Geographers contribute to planning future communities and are key participants in the creation of a sustainable future for people on the regional, national and global planes. The discipline Geography encompasses environmental and social questions that are linked to world’s diversity of municipal and rural environments, populations, and living conditions.
