The Department of Geography is passionate about the world we live in - a world rich in cultural diversity and natural beauty but plagued by various social, economic, and human misery and threatened by environmental challenges. . Geography is an anthropocentric science, which involves both the human and the natural sciences by studying the interaction of all human and physical phenomena on the earth's surface from a spatial and temporal perspective.
Geography is also, amongst others, concerned with the environmental challenges which affect our daily lives, our future existence, our quality of life and the quality of our environment. Geography aims at making a better world for all - a world free of pollution, erosion, poverty and famine.
Geography consists of both physical and human geography. Physical geography is concerned with the earth’s physical processes such as climate, soils, water, hazards, landforms and vegetation. Human geography focuses on the presence of people in places and spaces, for example, the distribution of people across the world, the development of places and spaces, sustainability, urban and regional planning and tourism.
What Makes Us Unique
Geography, as a discipline, uses place-based reasoning to address a variety of problems related to human-environment relations. The result is that Geography can be paired with several natural and human science disciplines, leading to some interesting and unique fields of specialisation. We invite you to go and listen to the inaugural lectures over the past 5 years and discover the exciting research discipline that is Geography:
- Prof David Hedding – Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic Geomorphology
- Prof Ashley Gunter – Economic Geography
- Prof Peter Schmitz – Forensic Geography
- Prof Hennie Smit – Military Geography
Our Programmes
The Department of Geography offers the following programmes at various levels, from undergraduate level to PhD:
- At the Undergraduate level, we offer two programmes: the BA in Environmental Management and the BSc in Environmental Management. The purpose of the Environmental Management degrees, which has Geography as major, is to provide competent professionals for entry level positions in the environmental field, who will be able to make a contribution to address issues relating to the impacts of humans on the environment, to draw up environmental management plans and who have an integrated view of the natural as well as human altered environments.
- At the Postgraduate level, we offer the BSc Honours in Geography. The programme focusses on providing graduates with knowledge, specific skills, applied and theoretical competence in science associated with the interplay between geography, the environment and society. The aim is for graduates to be able to make valuable contributions in society, especially concerning the leadership base with innovative and knowledge-based economic and scholarly activities.
- At master’s level we offer the MSc in Geography. Subject to the approval of the Chair of the Department, the curriculum comprises a proposal and a dissertation on an approved topic within the field of Geography.
- At PhD level we offer the PhD in Geography. Subject to the approval of the Chair of the Department, the curriculum comprises a proposal and a thesis on an approved topic within the field of Geography.
Learning That Goes Beyond the Classroom
Geography students are given opportunities to connect with and learn from industry leaders through a range of public/guest lectures. The geography lecture series is a quarterly lecture series that exposes students to different career and research paths by inviting prominent specialists to showcase their work. We also celebrate the beauty of the world we live in with the annual World Environment Day lecture.
Impact and Relevance
The Department of Geography strives to embody the vision of the university (the African university shaping futures in the service of humanity) through the design of platforms and projects that serve the greater community.
- GeoTerms: In line with the University of South Africa's (Unisa's) transformation and language policy, the department has transferred its multilingual glossary from a paper-based resource to an online platform. It was also expanded from the original 200 terms and their explanations to now include a total of 300 terms. The platform, called Geoterm, intends to assist users with their comprehension and application of geographical terminology in English, isiZulu, Sesotho sa Leboa and Afrikaans.
Click the link to access GeoTerms: https://gama.unisa.ac.za/geoterm/
- Geography Map Library: The Library aims to assist academics, researchers, and students with spatial data via in-house data sets as well as linking to data sets available online. The Library is situated on UNISA Science Campus in Florida, Johannesburg, and forms part of the larger Map Library containing topographic maps covering South Africa from around 1970's and orthophoto maps of only major cities. See the map library page https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Colleges/Agriculture-&-Environmental-Sciences/Schools,-departments,-centres-&-units/School-of-Ecological-and-Human-Sustainability/Department-of-Geography/Geography-Map-Library
- Spatially-Positioned Academic Curriculum Enhancement (SPACE): The SPACE project aligns with UNISA’s Catalytic Niche Area (CNA) of Student Support and Co-Curricula by offering an innovative, scalable approach to curriculum transformation that enhances teaching responsiveness without requiring complete module rewrites. Rooted in the principles of the CNAs, the project bridges the gap between curriculum content and students' lived realities through a two-pronged strategy: a sensitisation framework for academic staff and a spatial analysis of UNISA’s geographically dispersed student population. By mapping student locations and contextual factors—such as access, infrastructure, and socio-economic conditions—SPACE equips lecturers with data-driven insights to adapt their pedagogical approaches and co-curricular content accordingly.
- Water Resource Management Research Group - Critical Assessments, Real-World Solutions and Strategies for Building Water Resilience and Water Security: This research group’s overall goal is to advance water resilience and security through critical assessments of water availability and quality, water demand and supply within urban and rural contexts, establishing effects and risks of climate change, increased climate variability and other water-related risks on water resources, development of real-world solutions and the evaluation of their overall efficacy within various contexts, recommendation of strategic frameworks and prioritisation of actions based on specific scenarios that address current and emerging water challenges and framing future water-realities
Who We Work With / Collaboration & Networks (Optional)
- Regional aspects from South Africa and Brazil (DiTTS): DiTTS is a collaborative project from 2022 to 2025 between Unisa (a dedicated work team from the Department of Geography), the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW, Germany) and the University of Passo Fundo (UPF, Brazil), and it is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). DiTTS aims to build a partnership between Unisa, UPF and HAW Hamburg through the joint development of teaching support materials for the implementation of nine of the SDGs - 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16 and 17 and by conducting associated research. Apart from English, these teaching support materials are also made available in Portuguese and two local South African languages, namely isiZulu and Sesotho sa Leboa. In this way local relevance and the potential use of the materials in Global South contexts is enhanced.
Why Study With Us?
Why Choose the Department of Geography?
- Industry-aligned programmes
- Expert academic staff
- Opportunities for research and innovation
- A vast amount of career opportunities
Call to Action / Learn More
Explore our programmes and see how you can be part of Africa’s next generation of Ge0graphers.
Include links to:
- Qualifications
- Research pages
Water Resource Management Research Group
https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Colleges/Agriculture-&-Environmental-Sciences/Schools,-departments,-centres-&-units/School-of-Ecological-and-Human-Sustainability/Department-of-Geography/Water-Resource-Management
