Geography and Middle East Studies

Geography and Middle East Studies brings together two disciplines that are each, in their own right, concerned with how human societies shape and are shaped by the world around them. Geography asks you to think across scales, from the movement of water and soil to the forces of globalisation and urban change, developing analytical skills that connect natural systems with human ones. Middle East Studies asks equally demanding questions about culture, history, politics, religion and language in one of the world's most consequential regions.

Studied together, the combination encourages you to think critically and creatively about place, people and power in ways that neither subject could achieve alone.

Over four years of full-time study you will move between physical and human geography, exploring environmental processes, migration, geopolitics and spatial inequality alongside the history, literature, societies and contemporary politics of the Middle East and North Africa. You will develop the ability to read landscapes and texts with equal care, to weigh evidence drawn from fieldwork, archives and first-hand accounts, and to present complex arguments clearly in writing and discussion. A year abroad is built into the programme, giving you the opportunity to develop languages or regional expertise through immersive study, and to see the disciplines you are studying from a different vantage point entirely.

Graduates combine strong analytical and communication skills with genuine depth in both a global science and a regionally specific humanities tradition, which opens doors in international development, diplomacy, journalism, environmental consultancy, public policy, humanitarian work and academia. Many go on to postgraduate research or professional qualifications that deepen their regional or environmental expertise further.