The Undergraduate Studies Program of the Department of Geography of the University of the Aegean aspires to respond to the challenge of the modern, interdisciplinary and synthetic approach of Geography, offering a broad spectrum of knowledge and skills. The undergraduate studies in the Department of Geography seek to achieve the three following principal goals:
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The education of geographers with a solid and diverse background, so that they are able to pursue a career in either academic or applied geographical research.
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The education of qualified professionals knowledgeable in the modern trends and techniques of Geography and capable in fulfilling the increasing demand of specialised scientific personnel in the public and the private sectors in Greece and abroad.
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The education of qualified professional Geography teachers for the primary and secondary schools of Greece.
These three goals constitute the main axes that structure the Undergraduate Studies Program, which is updated annually for the purpose of refining it and keeping it in line with on-going scientific, technological and socio-economic developments.
The undergraduate studies last 8 semesters (4 years) and lead to a Bachelor’s in Geography. The principal requirements to obtain this degree are the students’ successful completion of a number of courses and of a bachelor’s thesis. The courses offered are distinguished into required, required elective (RE) and elective. Required courses offer basic knowledge in the main thematic areas of Geography and in the basic methodological tools which are necessary for the comprehensive education of a geographer, irrespective of field of specialization. Required elective courses offer more specialized knowledge in four selected thematic groups of Geography; namely, Physical Geography and Environment, Human Geography, Spatial Development and Planning and GeoInformatics. Finally, elective courses cover more specialized topics, methods and tools. A limited number of courses have been characterized as Prerequisites for certain courses offered in higher semesters. Finally, the students participate in a required field trip.
At the first stage of their studies, all students attend the required courses. At the beginning in the fourth semester of their studies, students choose two out of the four thematic groups of Geography, in order to focus on subjects in which they have a special interest. Of the two groups chosen, the first one is referred to as ‘main’ and the second one as ‘secondary’. Finally, students attend a number of elective courses, which can be chosen either from the category of elective courses or from the required courses of all groups. It is noted that the number of elective courses changes over time as new courses are added and existing courses are revised.
An additional group of courses available for the students, the Special Topics in Geography, includes the required course “Bachelor’s thesis” and the elective courses “Lecture”, “Practical Training” and “Naxos Summer School”.
