Geographers study what are among the most pressing questions of our time; how natural and social environments function and the roles that humans play in shaping and defining them. Our work seeks to better understand a vast range of dynamic problems and processes - physical, social, cultural, political, economic, and ecological. Across this exciting breadth, geographers are held together by common fundamental themes; that humans are subject to spatial and ecological forces and systems whose forms we actively shape and contest. Geographers study vital and dynamic relations, at temporal scales that may range from a singular moment to millenial transformations, and at spatial scales that range from the microscopic to the planetary.
Geographers at the University of Toronto are engaged in work that lies at at the centre of many of today’s most challenging issues and processes including but not limited to: climate change; decolonization and environmental justice; human migration, transportation, and mobilities; Geographic Information Science (GISci) and its applications; earth surface processes; housing, urbanization and inequality; nationalism, militarism and security; geographies of health and the body, including disability and sexuality; gender, race and space; food systems and sustainability; and economic development, livelihoods and place-making. Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches, and often working in partnership with communities and government, we see our intellectual diversity and shared commitment to enhance, restore, and preserve our natural and social environments as a strength.
Students in Geography and Planning come from a wide range of backgrounds, and our classrooms offer a breadth and depth of experience that is unparalleled. Geography can take you to careers developing solutions to some of the most pressing issues for modern society, working in communities, government, business and civil society organizations.