Mestrado Interuniversitário em Geografia e Ciências do Território

Course organisation and Pathways

In the first year, the degree includes courses aimed at acquiring an in-depth knowledge of physical and human geography: students will attend classes that are fundamental for understanding the environmental, socio-cultural and political phenomena connected to the main processes of global change. At the same time, students will learn to use the main IT tools for spatial representation, analysis and management.

In the second year, students can refine their skills, following their study interests and professional goals by choosing one of three different Pathways. One of them is entirely in English: Urban and Political Geography.

The master's degree also offers Pathways in Italian: Geomorphological Hazards and Climate Change; Landscape Protection and Enhancement. Faculty members acting as tutors will help students to choose their Pathway and the related teaching activities.

Urban and Political Geography

Many of the most urgent challenges facing contemporary societies refer to urban issues: that is, they concern cities and the life that takes place within and around them. Indeed, it is often the urban level, given its demographic and economic centrality, that is the first to be confronted with the most concrete, immediate, and radical effects of the economic, social, and political crises of our time.

The Pathway in Urban and Political Geography analyses the political, economic, social, and institutional processes that operate at different spatial levels and that significantly shape the urban domain. The course traverses multiple crucial topics (including migration, housing issues, urban economies, spatial development, geopolitics, planetary urbanisation, and the growth of inequality and poverty) that are approached through the lens of different disciplines dealing with the urban and political domain, including geography, economics, and political science. During the two years of coursework, students will have the opportunity both to deepen their understanding of the main theories and interpretative lines on and relating to the urban, and to acquire a methodological background suitable for understanding the various issues of urban and political geography. The aim of the course of study is to train experts in the social, economic, and political processes that govern territorial systems at all spatial scales.

A lista de cursos inclui: Geografia, teoria e prática; Ecologia política urbana; Estudos Urbanos; História, espaços e teorias do capitalismo; Habitação, propriedade e luta; SIG avançado; Geomorfologia e conservação do solo; Desenvolvimento Urbano e Regional; Estudos críticos de migração; Cidades racializadas e de género; Urbanismo meridional; Laboratório “A geopolítica do conflito israelo-palestiniano”; Laboratório “Urbanismo Chinês”; Laboratório “A cidade verde e justa”.

Graduates from the Master’s Programme in Geography and Territorial Sciences have strong theoretical and practical skills as well as a broad understanding of current social and environmental issues. Our students, integrating the study of physical and human systems, are in equal parts natural and social scientists and have specialized knowledge in geographical information science techniques. As such, they have been very successful in the job market after completing the programme both independently and as members of multi-professional teams.

Em geral, os egressos do nosso programa de mestrado podem trabalhar em centros de pesquisa públicos e privados; agências de desenvolvimento, empresas profissionais e empresas que operam no domínio das políticas espaciais e do desenvolvimento sustentável; repartições públicas nas áreas de proteção e gestão ambiental e paisagística, preservação de recursos histórico-culturais, políticas urbanas e regionais; agências internacionais e nacionais. Após a conclusão do mestrado, também é possível prosseguir com os estudos de pós-graduação.

Overall, students will leave the master’s degree in Geography and Territorial Sciences with the geography skills needed for jobs in natural resource management, research, sustainability, development and policy.