Learn at the cutting edge of explorations into the spatiality of human activity and social inequalities. You’ll get first-hand experience through fieldwork, and the strong foundational skills needed to both engage in empirical studies and examine the factors that shape societies, economies, regions and cities. We focus on investigating the spatial patterns of human activity and the character of regions and places, and you’ll explore the complex relationships between society and the natural environment, along with the social and economic problems of human land use and settlement.In our major program you’ll choose courses in two concentrations and establish a solid foundation in GIS or qualitative research methods. You’ll gain the skills to understand contemporary social science thought in the context of communities, societies and economies, and the ways location, landscape and spatial context shape (and are shaped by) social structures, functioning and behaviour. In our specialist program, you’ll gain experience in all three concentrations and both GIS and qualitative methods. This in-depth program is a richer, more intensive exploration of human geography, and you’ll gain the enhanced methods and skills training needed for graduate studies and to thrive in employment markets. The minor in GIS and the minor in City Studies are insightful pairs for this option. The minor program is designed to give you a general introduction to human geography, and you can choose from our wide range of geography courses to explore the concepts that interest you most. The minor encourages you to focus on one area of concentration and doesn’t require you to take courses on research methods.Cultural geographers approach culture including religion, tourism, language, arts, and consumption as a spatial process of change and contestation in which people are actively engaged. It exposes students to the ways that cultural practices shape and are shaped by space and place. It challenges students to think about how social difference is spatialized, and engages students in innovative thinking using surveys, ethnographies, archives, interviews, films, literature, music and pop culture. Socialcultural geographers at UTSC teach courses that address issues of globalization, multiraciality, health inequalities, mobility, religion, and gender.