Geography

This course introduces population geography to undergraduate students and focuses on the causes and consequences of population change. It enables students to understand demographic dynamics brought about by birth, death, and mobility. The course examines the tension between how demographic knowledge (and in particular, demographic categories) has been constructed and how such categories are used. The course pays special attention to the spatial mobility of human beings as the increase in human mobility receives increasing attention from both academia and policy-making. 

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. The course focuses on two main topics: summary of fundamentals (deformation, stress and strain, porosity and permeability, brittle and ductile regimes, kinematic and dynamic approach to deformation), and faults and fault-related structures (fault core vs. damage zone; permeability changes along and across fault zones; basic elements of discrete fracture modelling.)

This course provides an overview of the role deformation plays in both the genesis and spatial distribution of ore deposits. This is done by combining traditional class lectures and lab style exercises with seminar-style classes based on reading and student presentations and a few days directly at the outcrop. This combined approach allows students to develop theoretical and practical skills related to asking and assessing scientific questions as well as summarizing and presenting the results of scientific studies dealing with the role exerted by rock deformation and fluid/rock interaction in deformed contexts. The course reviews the concepts, theoretical knowledge and techniques of Structural Geology that are relevant to understanding ore genesis and exploration of ore deposits. It also provides hands-on field work to help strengthen the theoretical knowledge and provide the students with a solid understanding of the involved mechanisms and processes. Students thereby learn the simple principles of “Structural Control” and how to elaborate the best practices for structural data collection and analysis in mineral exploration and mining.

In Spring 2025, there is a 5-day field trip to the Island of Elba and southern Tuscany, which exposes students to outstanding examples of hydrothermal deposits. Fieldwork is used to unravel and constrain the genetic relationships between brittle deformation, fluid ingress, and flow and ore genesis. 

This course introduces students to the social dimensions of climate and climate change. The course takes a critical analysis of the dominant international process to mitigate climate change emissions, comprising of the IPCC, UNFCCC process and the Paris Accord. We will explore the different ways in which climate knowledge is constructed and how climate is represented and articulated in society. Existing discourses of climate change are placed in an historical perspective, and alternative aims for climate change mitigation explored. The course begins with a history of the discovery of climate change and an outline of the global governance regime for climate mitigation, as manifested through the Paris Agreement, UNFCCC process, and the IPCC reports. We will then critically analyse this process, by discussing the assumptions that underpin it, the unintended consequences of action to fight climate change, and alternative measures and outcomes that are not covered within the UNFCCC process.

This course gives an overview of political geography's historical and contemporary treatment of the questions of territoriality, state, and nation. Topics include nations and nationalism, and boundaries and territorial disputes, and students explore how territoriality, nation, and sovereignty are viewed in developing regions of the world. 

This course provides an introduction to the sub-discipline of urban geography. It explores the distinctive contribution that geographers have made to the analysis of cities and urban life. The course outlines the economic and social origins of urban life, exploring the relationship between population density, size, and diversity that characterise cities. The course systematically outlines how contemporary cities can be interpreted as economic spaces, social spaces, and political entities. It also explores the different ways that urban geographers and others have framed their research into cities and urban environments. Given that cities – for all their attractions and strengths – are frequently defined by their dysfunction and inequality, the course examines how such poor outcomes are generated. It also explores the kinds of policy programmes that might be capable of generating more liveable and equitable cities. The course takes a selfconsciously international perspective, encouraging participants to read widely about the diversity of cities that form the focus of urban geographical thinking today.

The course enables students to gain a broad understanding of ten important environmental issues that have emerged during the Anthropocene, the science that underlies them, the various management and mitigation options and technologies, and how this links to policy. Topics include (as representative samples, which may change): deforestation, desertification and agricultural intensification, biodiversity loss, urbanization, pollution, ocean acidification, loss of polar environments, maintaining sustainability and ecosystem services, and understanding ecological systems and resilience.

This course is about the geography of social change in Africa. It is designed to build on the second year course Development Geography, but there are no prerequisites. The course analyzes the different factors that shape spatial differences in development indicators across Africa. The course allows students to explore the diversity of forms that the geography of social change in Africa takes. As such the course investigates the impacts of history, politics, sociology, and economics on spatial patterns of development. The course uses postcolonial theory as an analytical framework. This entails reflecting on the ongoing legacies of colonialism not only in terms of empirical institutions, practices and norms but also in relation to the production of knowledge and ideas. The course relies heavily on wide independent reading, including reading from disciplines beyond geography.

This course examines a range of contemporary environmental challenges in Australia and globally, with particular emphasis on climate change, energy transitions, and the role of resources. Through case studies, students will examine the history and emergence of these issues, the key actors involved, and the dynamics that shape their governance. Special attention will be given to the environmental and social impacts of the problems of resource extraction and climate change, as well as the strategies used to manage these two conjoined problems. The subject covers multiple dimensions (scientific, socio-cultural, economic, political) of environmental challenges and highlights the forms of knowledge and power that mediate human-environment relationships. Students will gain insights into the drivers of environmental conflicts and the mechanisms for their resolution, situating these discussions within broader questions of environmental governance, sustainability, and the global shift toward low-carbon energy systems.

Coastal regions are some of the most dynamic on Earth, not least because human and natural processes act in tight connection to each other. This dynamism poses one of the great societal challenges of the 21st Century. Building upon a basic, foundational knowledge of ocean and coastal processes covered in relevant courses within the first and second year ("Spaceship Earth" and "Physical Geography: Dynamic Earth"), students gain wide ranging theoretical and practical skills required to address those challenges. The lectures and seminars take students on a journey that highlights how the natural processes operating within estuaries and on coasts are a function of external factors (past and present climate, geology, human influences) and feedbacks in which the landforms themselves affect the operation of processes that shape the landforms. Equipped with this knowledge, and several examples from around the world, students put their knowledge into practice. A day field trip and practical exercise challenges students to apply what they have learnt to real-world coastal management problems. 

Students explore the ideas of "rural" and "rurality," how these ideas are constructed, and evaluates different definitions of these terms. It identifies both historical and ongoing processes that shape (and cause conflict) in rural spaces. As part of the European Union, Ireland is subject to a wide range of EU policies that influence agricultural, environmental, economic, and social sustainability. These policies and their impacts are discussed in conjunction with issues and processes that underpin rural decline.