Study

Geography as a scientific subject of study deals with questions that spring from both the social and the natural sciences. Geographers describe and analyse the influence of humankind on the environment and, for this purpose, they examine spatial structures and processes.

The study of geography begins with an introduction to topic-specific contents and theories from the fields of human geography and physical geography, and includes the explanation and practical application of methods used to analyse geographical data and to extract information and knowledge from this data.

Human geography is concerned with understanding how people, societies and cultures create spatial structures and what consequences this may have. It includes subjects such as economic, urban, demographic and social geography. The fields covered by physical geography are geomorphology, climatic geography, biogeography and hydrogeography. These two fundamental directions are linked in ecology and environmental research.

The field of geoinformation processing involves the digital capture, visualisation and analysis of spatially referenced data, which is then consolidated into models. The methodological spheres of cartography, statistics, geographic information systems and remote sensing are used for this purpose.

Training teachers to teach the subject of “Geography and Economics” at secondary level in Austrian schools as well as research on the subject-specific didactics of geography constitute the fourth area of focus at the Department of Geography and Regional Research.

Courses held by adjunct lecturers and covering a broad range of disciplines relevant to geography complete the department’s strong portfolio of research-led teaching. This is mirrored in a wealth of electives that allow students to pursue a multifaceted geography degree programme in Klagenfurt.