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.

GEOG 388 A01 – Regional Studies: Africa. Instructor: Sophia Carodenuto

Africa has often been sidelined from reaping the benefits of its own natural resources. From oil to minerals, forests, and land for agriculture, Africa has many of the world’s ‘resource-richest’ countries. However, many countries on the African continent have been described as having a ‘resource curse,’ where the more natural resources a country is endowed with, the less likely that country is to experience stable democracy and socioeconomic development. In this course, we will unpack this paradox to better appreciate the opportunities and challenges facing people living on the African continent.

GEOG 391 A01 – Topics in Geography: Indigenous Geographies. Instructor: Deondre Smiles

There has been no shortage of research and writings in Geography done on Indigenous communities and nations in the history of the discipline. However, in recent years, there has been growth in scholarship in Geography written by Indigenous peoples and communities themselves, which has led to a reassessment of how Geography as a discipline engages with Indigenous peoples. In this course, we will take a deep dive into the wealth of geographic scholarship written by Indigenous scholars, and by doing so, get a closer look at the ways in which geographic thinking and Indigenous worldviews are not only compatible, but provide a way forward for Indigenous thought and the resurgence of Indigenous peoples/communities.

GEOG 491 A01 – Advanced Topics in Geography: Urban Mobility. Instructor: Ray Straatsma

Urban Mobility: Cities and Transportation provides a unique applied learning experience for students to explore and creatively engage with a range of urban transportation issues in Canada and in the Victoria area specifically. Public transit, active transportation, road safety, bicycle planning and design and related urban mobility innovations will be addressed in the planning, policy and geographic of Victoria & the Capital Region, with comparative looks at cities around the world. The course will feature several guest presentations from local area city planners, professionals and community leaders. Special presentations and discussion groups as well as walk and bicycle tours will also take place during class or designated times.

GEOG 491 A02 – Advanced Topics in Geography: Geographies of Waste. Instructor: Jutta Gutberlet

Greater attention has been given to waste, reframing it as a critical, highly complex and transversal topic, pervading everyday life in unprecedented ways. Studying waste allows us to draw connections to key societal issues ranging from environmental degradation and climate change to poverty, policy or the SDGs. Applying a Social Sciences lens to waste allows for cross examination of geographic, cultural, social, economic, political and environmental aspects and processes related to generation, discard, management and avoidance of waste. In this course we study significant differences and similarities in waste management among cities and regions throughout the globe. We examine the spatial, technical, and social aspects of the garbage problem in a geographic context. International development perspectives are compared and contrasted throughout the course. Waste issues due to perceived and real environmental impacts of waste technologies, especially incineration and sanitary landfill will be examined. We will gain a better understanding of the challenges and solutions attached to waste and learn about the social significance of waste. Basic concepts such as waste systems, waste streams and waste regimes will be introduced and applied to a geographic lens. This course provides hands-on learning and is highly relevant to contentious urban planning and governance issues, to sustainability as well as livelihoods and climate change questions.