Geography Field Schools

Destination  TBD

Trip destinations vary according to faculty interests and collaborative opportunities that arise.  Twice previously, the destination for this field school was the Magdalen Islands (Iles de la Madeleine), Québec [above].

Term  TBD

Instructor  Faculty member(s) in Geography and Environmental Studies

Number of credit hours  6

Course description  The physical and human geography of a selected Canadian region will be studied primarily in the field in this experiential learning course. An integrative regional geography perspective will be taken. Students will be required to attend orientation and preparation classes before the trip, and to complete assigned course work after the trip.

Prerequisite  27 credit hours, including GEOG 1100 or GEOG 1200, and permission of the instructor

Further details about upcoming offering  To be posted when information becomes available.

Destination  Sites around the Bay of Fundy

Term  TBD

Instructor  Dr. Danika van Proosdij  dvanproo@smu.ca

Dr. van Proosdij is a coastal geomorphologist, Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.  As a coastal geomorphologist, she merges field studies and geomatics to understand how coastal ecosystems respond to natural and anthropogenic drivers of change, and how these responses can be leveraged to foster ecosystem resilience while assisting communities adapt to climate change.  This includes coastal vulnerability assessments and the use of nature-based adaptation to manage flooding and erosion hazards in and outside of Canada.  She is the co-founder and Director of TransCoastal Adaptations: Centre for Nature Based Solutions and has fostered a long-term partnership with CBWES Inc. and the Province of NS over the last 20 years, applying innovative and proven techniques to restore over 400 Ha of tidal wetland habitat in Nova Scotia.  She has served as a scientific advisor for provincial, federal governments, international agencies and NGOs in assessing coastal erosion and flood risk.

Number of credit hours  6

Course description  In this interdisciplinary field course students examine physical, biological and human environments, processes and issues in the Bay of Fundy region from both a historical and a contemporary view. Topics include physical and biological processes such as tides and biological productivity, ecosystems such as tidal flats and salt marshes, settlement patterns, and resource use. Emphasis is placed on current issues and solutions.

Prerequisite  27 credit hours, including GEOG 1100 or GEOG 1200, and permission of the instructor

Further details about upcoming offering  To be posted when information becomes available.

Destination  The Gambia, West Africa

Term  Winter 2025

Instructor  Dr. Cathy Conrad  cconrad@smu.ca

Dr. Conrad is a scholar of West African migration and has been working and studying in The Gambia for over a decade. Students will engage in a diversity of learning experiences, an opportunity that many former participants have noted as a highlight of their SMU experience.

Number of credit hours  6

Course description  Students study the physical and human geography of selected international regions primarily in the field in this experiential learning course. Trip destinations may vary in different years according to faculty interests and collaborative opportunities that may arise. Student take an integrative regional geography perspective. Students are required to attend orientation and preparation classes before the trip, and to complete assigned course work after the trip.

Prerequisite  27 credit hours, including GEOG 1100 or GEOG 1200, and permission of the instructor

Further details about upcoming offering  Please contact the instructor.

Funding is available!  Consider applying for a Global Learning Award. For more information see Funding - Studio for Teaching and Learning.  

Destination  South Korea

Term  Winter 2026 (tentative - subject to curriculum approval)

Instructor  Dr. Min-Jung Kwak  Min-Jung.Kwak@smu.ca

Dr. Kwak's research interests are located at the intersection of economic, urban and social geography, with a regional focus on Canada and the Asia-Pacific Region. Four substantive areas of her research are: Globalization and transnational migration; International education industry; Immigrant entrepreneurship; and Immigrant health care services. She has investigated the social implications and local impacts of global economic processes paying particular attention to the everyday lives of (im)migrants. This also includes an interest in public policy making around migration and settlement issues.

Number of credit hours  6

Course description  This experiential learning course provides an opportunity to study the dynamic geography of South Korea (Republic of Korea). Through engaging in-class seminars and an enriching field trip to the country, students delve into diverse aspects of South Korea's physical and cultural landscape. The main themes of the course may change over the years with faculty interests and collaborative opportunities, ensuring relevance and dynamism. By adopting an integrative regional geography perspective, students gain insights into the past, present, and future of South Korea, fostering a comprehensive understanding of this vibrant nation.

Prerequisite  27 credit hours, including GEOG 1100 or GEOG 1200, and permission of the instructor

Further details about upcoming offering  Please contact the instructor.

Main entrance, Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum, Oranienburg, Germany

Destination  Paris, France, and Berlin, Germany

Term  Fall 2024

Instructor  Dr. Jason Grek Martin  Jason.GrekMartin@smu.ca  and Dr. Kirrily Freeman (Department of History)  Kirrily.Freeman@smu.ca

Dr. Grek Martin is a cultural and historical geographer and his research analyzes the rich and multi-faceted concept of place— particularly the dynamic and power-laden processes by which places are constructed, contested, and imbued with complex meanings by individuals and communities. His current research explores place-making primarily in the context of travel and tourism to sites of difficult heritage and contested memoryscapes, drawing on a robust interdisciplinary scholarship developing at the intersection of heritage tourism, media tourism, and geographies of memory. In addition, he has ongoing research interests in the historical and contemporary intersections between culture, nature and place, particularly in relation to the ‘cultures of nature’ associated with parks within and around Halifax.

Dr. Freeman’s research focuses on the cultural history of Western Europe in the Twentieth Century. Her first book, Bronzes to Bullets tells the story of French statues and monuments that were melted down and shipped to Nazi munitions factories during the Second World War. Her most recent book, The Town of Vichy and the Politics of Identity, deals with the post-war history of the French town of Vichy and how it has managed the stigma of collaboration.

Number of credit hours  6

Course description  In this seminar class, students will explore Western European heritage sites associated with the Third Reich and the Second World War in the classroom and in a field study to Paris and Berlin. Course material and discussions will focus on how the experiences of victims, bystanders, resisters, collaborators and perpetrators have been commemorated and contested in material memoryscapes.

Prerequisite  60 credit hours, and permission of the instructors

Further details about upcoming offering  Please contact the instructors.