Geography at Newcastle: the fieldwork experience
Throughout its long history, fieldwork has been a key element of research and teaching in Geography at Newcastle.
We consider fieldwork to be a central pillar for:
- experiential learning ('learning by doing')
- exploring, testing and ‘bringing to life’ key concepts and theories
- developing key analytical and research skills
- building on the long tradition of student based fieldwork at Newcastle
Fieldwork is embedded throughout the degree programme, including:
- Stage 1: Residential fieldtrips to the Lake District
- Stage 2: Fieldtrip options including:
- Physical Geography: American South West, Iceland, Ireland, Morocco
- Human Geography: Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, New York
- Stage 3: Fieldtrip opportunities including:
- North East England, Greenland, New Zealand
Students are also encouraged to consider a wide array of fieldwork opportunities and approaches as part of their Dissertation research in Stage 3, involving:
- preparatory modules in Stages 1 and 2 to help develop the research techniques and methods needed for dissertation research
- financial support and guidance available for expeditions (recent examples include: Antarctica, Bosnia, Canada, California, Greenland, Caribbean, South Africa)
- access to specialist fieldwork equipment, laboratory infrastructure and analytical software
"one of the main things I like about the Geography department is that there are lots of field trips to go on; I have been on one every year and last year I got to go to Iceland which was great."
Cecily : Stage 3 student 2011-12
"For me, one of the best parts of the course has been the fieldtrip in the Second Year - I went to Krakow for a week with 30 fellow students and had the opportunity to visit a number of large companies including Google and Motorola, an experience which some of my friends at other universities haven’t had the chance to do."
Abi: Stage 3 student 2011-12