Course & registration information

See information about our courses in the UVic Calendar or check the current course timetable.

You can talk with the Undergraduate Advisor to plan a program that works for you or plan your Geography Degree.

Departmental registration guidelines

The Department of Geography has departmental registration guidelines that govern the undergraduate registration process. These guidelines include rules about waitlists, registration in courses with labs and lab registration issues, prerequisite waiver requests, missing prerequisites, increasing the enrollment cap of a course, and auditing. 

Directed Studies

In special cases, with the consent of the department and the individual instructor concerned, a student may be permitted to pursue a course of directed studies. This is an opportunity for students to perform an in-depth exploration of a specific area of research with their instructor. To register for a Directed Studies course, please bring the completed form to the Geography Office.

Special Topics in Geography Courses

Information about current and upcoming special topic courses is made available once provided by the instructor. If information about a particular special topics course you are interested in taking is not yet shown on this page, contact the instructor directly.

FALL 2021 TOPICS COURSES:

GEOG 100 – Geography for Today: Geography of Food. Instructor: Mark Flaherty. This course provides an introduction to the opportunities and challenges facing the global food system. We will consider who produces food, how it is produced, and the links between producers and consumers. This course seeks not only to promote critical thinking about the global food system, but also to inspire ongoing reflection on your personal relationship with food.

GEOG 388 A01 – Regional Studies: Africa. Instructor: Sophia Carodenuto. This regional studies course explores debates surrounding the environmental sustainability and social equity of natural resources development in Africa. Learn about how diversity defines the continent and how human-environment interactions have shaped development outcomes. Topics include globalization, local value creation, Indigenous rights, and land governance.

GEOG 391 A01 – Topics in Geography: Karst Geomorphology. Instructor: Gillian Krezoski. A UVic Geography Field School program.

GEOG 491 A01 - Advanced Topics in Geography: Urban Mobility. Instructor: Ray Straatsma. This course comprises a unique applied learning experience exploring and creatively engaging with a range of urban transportation issues in Canada and in the Victoria area. Topics including public transit, active transportation, road safety, urban design, bicycle planning and urban mobility innovations will be addressed, in part, by guest presentations by local city planners, professionals and community leaders.

GEOG 491 A02 – Advanced Topics in Geography: Community-Based Participatory Research. Instructor: Crystal Tremblay. This course will introduce students to the theory and practice of Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) with a special focus on addressing community-identified research needs linked to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG). The course is part of the Salish Sea Hub, an exciting new initiative linked to the UNESCO Chair in Community-based Research Knowledge 4 Change Global Consortium.

GEOG 491 A03 – Advanced Topics in Geography: Indigenous Environmental Activism. Instructor: Deondre Smiles. Examine diverse expressions of Indigenous activism and resistance in regard to colonialism and environmental issues – historically, in the present, and what these expressions may look like in the future, in an era of climate crisis.