Applying to Read Geography
Fieldwork and Practicals
First year students are introduced to the key elements of geographical techniques through lecture and classroom based teaching on the 'Earth Observation', 'Quantitative Methods' and 'Qualitative Techniques' components of the 'Geographical Techniques' course. These skills are then further developed through day and half-day field exercises in Oxford and the surrounding area.
The teaching of techniques in physical geography makes use of the University field station at Wytham Woods, which is an important climate research centre and home to the University's Wildlife Conservation Unit. Other sites may be used, including Port Meadow - an area of ancient grazing common land, now designated a site of Special Scientific Interest.
Qualitative and quantitative techniques in human geography are developed through field exercises in Oxford that explore the city's ethnic and economic diversity and aspects of its historical geography.
In their second year all students attend a week-long overseas field trip during the Easter vacation. There is a choice of field trips depending on which of the three foundational courses a student has chosen. Fieldtrips are associated with the 'Space, Place and Society' and 'Earth Systems Dynamics' foundational courses. Each of these fieldtrips links the theoretical material covered in the foundational course with empirical examples and opportunities to practice appropriate field techniques. The students complete a fieldwork report which is assessed as part of the Final Honour School examination.
Second year students also attend advanced techniques workshops in preparation for their own dissertation research. These workshops are led by academic and research staff who currently use these techniques in their research. The workshops in human geography will address topics such as ethnographic research, interviews and focus groups, surveys, and practice-based methods including filming and photography. Physical geography topics include fieldwork skills, laboratory methods within the School's geomorphology, luminescence, and palaeoecology laboratories, climate modeling, basic programming and data handling, and multivariate statistics. The dissertation is an important part of the undergraduate degree course and allows students to develop their own research interests through first hand research in the field, laboratory, or archive. Oxford undergraduate dissertations regularly win national prizes.