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SFU Geography’s undergraduate program is thriving. In 2024, our classes filled with students studying the full range of geography, from earth system dynamics to hydrology to geographic information systems and spatial analysis to social and environmental geography. We also have some new programs, energetic and engaged students, and people to celebrate.

Perhaps the biggest undergraduate news of 2024 was the inauguration of two new programs.

The first is the Bachelor of Arts in Urban Worlds, which officially opened for registration in September 2024. The new degree is a cross-faculty initiative between the Department of Geography (in the Faculty of Environment) and the Program in Urban Studies (in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, or FASS).

We live in an increasingly urban world. Over half of the planet’s population lives in urban spaces. Cities matter, and they matter more and more, for more and more people, as each year passes because they embody and accelerate most of the dynamics, possibilities, and problems of global society. Planetary pressures like climate change, armed conflict, and mass migration mean that urban spaces must become more resilient and sustainable for society to thrive in a turbulent world. Students in the Bachelor of Arts (BA) Urban Worlds program will gain the knowledge and skills to understand contemporary cities and help shape urban life for better.

Through courses offered at all three SFU campuses, the Urban Worlds degree provides two streams to engage with contemporary cities, cities, how they work and how they change: Urban Change and Urban Studies.

The Urban Change stream is an interdisciplinary program, anchored strongly in Geography and its theories and methods of urban analysis, and is managed by the Department. It focuses on the ways urban environments are constantly changing, a dynamism that simultaneously is essential to our world as we become a global urban society and poses important challenges. In the Urban Change stream, students acquire a deep knowledge of how cities have come to be what they are, how urban change continues to shape social change, and how to shape cities and urban life for a better future.

The Urban Change stream has a place- and land-based emphasis, engaging with the spatial relationships that constitute cities, urban regions, and global interurban relationships. It focuses on the dynamics of urban spaces by exploring the geographies of place, politics, gentrification, crisis, food, community, migration, and other fundamental geographical processes, and it is grounded in constructive and critical professional and civic engagement with the world through urban practice courses.

The second stream in the Urban Worlds BA is the Urban Studies stream, coordinated by the Urban Studies program in FASS. It explores the richness and diversity of human settlement in cities, focusing on their historical, cultural, economic, and political dimensions. If you are interested in learning more about that part of the program, check out Urban Studies.

The second new program in the Department is the completely revamped Bachelor of Science in Geographic Information Systems (or GIS). For many years, Geography coordinated a joint major in GIS in collaboration with the Department of Computing Science, but both departments realized that in light of the dynamism of cutting edge geographic information science, SFU needed to restructure the program to meet students educational and professional interests. This led to the new program moving entirely into Geography’s realm, and our GIS faculty, staff and advisors have designed a brand new degree program that maintains the best of the former join major while embracing much that is new and up-to-date in the field.

GIS is used widely across many sectors, making it a valuable career skills The GIS major focuses on hands-on learning to enable a full exploration of GIS and its possibilities. The program provides students with a foundation in the complete spectrum of GIS, while also enabling them to explore GIS uses in their specific areas of interest, from mapping and remote sensing to spatial modelling and geovisualization. Students absorb the theory, application, and management of geospatial technologies, as well as the ethical and privacy-related questions central to all spatial data and tracking, to addressing both social and environmental challenges.

Of course, it is not just the Department’s staff and faculty who are up to exciting things. The undergraduate students are also making enormous contributions to Geography and the intellectual and social life of the department and the communities of which it is a part.

A huge proportion of all that activity is due to the enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity of the members of the Geography Student Union. The GSU a the hub of activity in the Department, and a creative force in undergraduate student life. A key event in the GSU calendar is its annual springtime Experiential Learning Trip, a multi-day visit to a drive-able destination for learning and fun—in 2024 the GSU went to Victoria; this year they are off to Kelowna for four days—completely organized and run by students.

And beginning in November 2023, the GSU has also added another student-organized and -led event to the calendar: RANGE: A Geography Conference. The second RANGE conference took place on 22 February 2025 on the Burnaby campus, and welcomed over 100 students and guests to a full day of intellectual endeavour with speakers, panels, and more. We really can’t say enough about the ambition, organization, and energy the GSU puts in to all these efforts.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that one of the GSU’s very own, Ajay Minhas, received the 2024 Warren Gill Award. The award, named in honour of the late Warren Gill, a much-beloved member of the Geography and SFU communities, is given every year to a third year student in Human Geography who displays outstanding leadership and/or service to the community. Like many of our students, Ajay joined us as a transfer student, having begun his studies at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and we are very glad he chose SFU, and proud to have him and his GSU colleagues as part of the Department.

Geoff Mann, Chair of Undergraduate Studies

Department of Geography