The Geography Department at the Open University has a distinguished record of producing innovative, high quality and engaging courses on human and environmental geography. Our achievements are reflected by an Excellent rating in the most recent Teaching Assessment Exercise.

How do we produce our courses?

The courses we produce aim to break new ground, rather than to repackage existing material. Approximately three years before a course is launched we assemble a course team of experts from the Geography discipline and from other disciplines across the Open University. A course team is a lively and vibrant forum in which the latest ideas and developments are exchanged and discussed between course team members. Leading experts from outside the University are invited to serve on our course teams and to contribute teaching material. In this way our courses reflect not only the research strengths of Open University geographers – which were recognised in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise with the award of a maximum 5* rating – but those of noted geographers from other universities.

What are our courses like?

The end result for our students is teaching material that is original, topical and up to date. The textbooks are widely used in geography teaching across the country and internationally. We pride ourselves on producing courses that are cutting edge, yet also accessible to those with no previous knowledge of geography. We have a shared commitment to conveying complex ideas in clearly presented teaching material that excites the interest and imagination of our students. We use a wide range of media, including printed materials, DVD/video, radio/audio materials and web-based learning packages.

Level 1 Courses

The following courses are not necessarily shown in the recommended order of study for an OU qualification.

Introducing the social sciences (DD101)

Undergraduate Courses

The following courses are not necessarily shown in the recommended order of study for an OU qualification.

Environment (U216)

Living in a globalised world (DD205)

Earth in crisis: environmental policy in an international context (DU311)

Related Undergraduate Courses

The following courses are not necessarily shown in the recommended order of study for an OU qualification.

The environmental web (U316)

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