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Auth: S Steele, ITS Web and Internet Facilities
Copyright © Monash University 1999 - All Rights Reserved - Caution
The School of Geography and Environmental Science offers geography sequences
in the faculties of Arts and Science. The school also offers a sequence
permitting undergraduate specialisation in environmental science for the BA and
BSc degrees and in atmospheric science for the BSc degree. At postgraduate
level, MA, MSc, MEnvSc and PhD degrees are offered, and there is an active
involvement in other postgraduate programs.
The program has been adapted to suit local educational and vocational demands,
but is otherwise fully representative of geography's international profile. Its
goal is to develop a mature understanding of the following:
The contexts addressed encompass an array of cultures
and environments in both hemispheres, and make frequent reference to Australian
examples. Students are thereby encouraged to see that individual and collective
responsibility for the environment can be expressed through an informed
engagement with local, regional and global issues. The school contributes to
interdisciplinary programs in Asian studies, Australian studies, development
studies, environmental engineering, environmental science, atmospheric science
and women's studies.
The term 'environment' is employed at every level in the geography curriculum.
It subsumes the following:
Students are therefore expected to come to an
appreciation of internal variations of landscape and activity within each of
these categories. The material and concepts studied require critical evaluation
across various spatial scales.
Geography requires students to develop the following useful capabilities:
An appreciation of the importance of field and
laboratory-based observations is required at all levels, especially in physical
geography options. Computer techniques are considered highly relevant, from a
minimum expectation of basic keyboarding to the integration of sophisticated
analytical methods in later segments of the program.
Students may major in either the physical or human branches of geography, in a
combination of the two, or in environmental science. Physical geography shares
with other branches of the natural sciences an interest in the earth's
atmosphere, vegetation cover and terrain. Human geography shares with other
branches of the humanities and social sciences an interest in the ways in which
human communities occupy, use and modify the earth's surface. It is recommended
that students pursue studies in both branches, to take advantage of geography's
invaluable role as a link between the arts and sciences.
Allowance is made throughout for the selection of individual courses which
service broader campus programs, and for the formation of recognised sequences
in geography and environmental science.
Those proceeding into the fourth or honours year have the further opportunity
to consolidate their understanding of an area (or areas) of specialisation,
while pursuing a research topic under expert supervision.
Students
seeking advice on their course programs or other academic matters are invited
to approach the appropriate year coordinator. Year coordinators for 2000 will
be:
First year: Dr Stephen Legg
Second year: Ms. Meredith Orr
Third year: Associate Professor Nigel Tapper
Fourth year: Associate Professor David Mercer
Specific
prerequisites for each of the second and third-year options are noted in the
individual subject descriptions. A first-year-level sequence followed by 12
points at second-year level forms a minor sequence. To convert a minor to a
major sequence, a student must complete third-year-level subjects to the value
of 24 points.
Students specialising in human geography are advised to consider including in
their degrees, subjects in anthropology, economics, history, mathematics,
philosophy, politics, sociology and physical geography. Students proposing to
specialise in physical geography should consider including subjects in botany,
earth sciences, computer science, mathematics, zoology and human geography.
Coordinator:
Dr Stephen Legg
The primary objective of the first-year syllabus is to explore human impacts on
the environment and to introduce key concepts in physical and human geography.
No prior experience of geographical education is required to begin first-year
study.
A
first-year sequence in geography consists of two one-semester subjects. In
first semester, students enrol in GES1000 (Natural environment and human
impact). In second semester, they may choose either GES1020 (Australian
physical environments: evolution, status and management) or GES1050 (The global
challenge). Students planning a comprehensive introduction to geography may
take all three subjects.
Students not wishing to complete a first-year sequence may take the
first-semester subject, or one or both of the second-semester subjects.
In addition, students who have undertaken the first-year subjects BME1111 (Science, culture and the concept of race, human origins and development) and BME1122 (Human affairs, health, illness and sexual difference) may be admitted to second-year geography, subject to permission of the head of school.
Coordinator:
Ms Meredith Orr
The second-year syllabus permits students to select from a variety of
systematic subdisciplines. The satisfactory completion of a full minor sequence
in geography (a first-year sequence plus 16 points at second year) equips
students with an appreciation of the nature of the subject as a whole and with
a knowledge of the fundamental contents and approaches contained within one or
both of its human and physical branches.
Students who are undertaking an arts degree and second-year subjects in 2000
must enrol in eight-point subjects using the following subject codes and
names:
Students who are undertaking a science degree and second-year subjects in 2000 must enrol in six-point subjects using the following subject codes and names:
Coordinator:
Associate Professor Nigel Tapper
At third-year level, majoring students elect to enrol in one or more of the
main systematic fields which are intended to challenge them with appropriate
advanced material and to intensify their familiarity with the purpose and
practice of original research work.
Coordinator:
Associate Professor David Mercer
See the entry for Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree for details regarding
standard entry requirements, course structure, combined honours and
disciplines.
Mid-year entry is offered by this school, subject to available places. The due
date for the submission of final coursework and the thesis is the last day of
the final semester of the honours program (Friday 2 June in first semester
2000 and Friday 20 October in second semester 2000).
There are three different parts of the honours-year course:
For
students who wish to enrol for further study, MA, MSc and PhD degrees in
geography are offered. Facilities are available for supervision of students in
the following broad areas: landscape evolution, biogeography, palaeoecology,
climate and climate change, process geomorphology, land degradation, urban and
regional studies, resources and environmental management, historical geography,
and third world development. For further details, see the graduate studies
handbook.
Students with a BA (Honours) degree in any discipline may apply for masters
programs in environmental science. Students with H2B may enrol in the MEnvSc by
coursework and students with H2A may enrol in either the MEnvSc by coursework
or the MEnvSc by research combined with coursework.
wwwdev@monash.edu.au
Thu May 25 16:42:33 EST 2000