Geography with Global Development with a Placement Year

Geography with global development is a combination that brings together the spatial and environmental analysis of geography with an explicit focus on the inequalities, processes, and challenges of development across the world. Development studies asks why some countries are wealthy and others poor, how international aid, trade, and investment shape outcomes, and what sustainable development means in practice for different communities and ecosystems. Geography provides the tools to understand these questions in their physical, spatial, and cultural contexts.

At the University of East Anglia this four-year full-time programme includes a placement year, which gives you a substantial period of professional experience in a relevant organisation, whether in development, environmental work, policy, or research. You will study human and physical geography alongside development theory, international political economy, global governance, and the sustainability challenges facing developing and developed economies alike. Fieldwork and research methods are central to the degree, and you will develop both quantitative and qualitative skills for investigating geographical and developmental questions.

UEA has a strong research profile in both geography and development studies, and the school of international development is one of the UK's leading centres for this field. The placement year adds professional experience that significantly strengthens your readiness for graduate employment.

Graduates go on to careers in international development organisations, NGOs, government agencies, environmental consultancy, urban and regional planning, humanitarian work, research, and policy. The combination of geographical analysis and development knowledge, reinforced by a placement year, is excellent preparation for postgraduate study in development studies, geography, environmental management, or international policy.