Students visiting the Society courtesy of Nando Machado
In 2022, we welcomed over a thousand students to the Society, including those on geography undergraduate and master’s courses and PGCE groups, from over 25 institutions. We also continued our successful online webinars for students unable to visit in person.
In September and October, we hosted a series of visits by undergraduate geographers at the very beginning of their degree programmes, welcoming students from the University of Reading, Queen Mary, University of London, University College London, and London School of Economics. During these visits, students learnt more about the Society, our work today, and how we can support them during their studies. They also heard about the histories of geography, travel and exploration, the close historic connections between geography and imperialism, and how both are reflected in the Society’s building and Collections.
The most popular activity on each visit was the opportunity for the students to explore the Society’s building and to reflect on how it represents various histories of geography. You can find out more about some of these visits in the recently published commentary Decolonising spaces of geographical knowledge production: ‘Thinking geographically’ with undergraduate geographers in the RGS-IBG at Kensington Gore.
We tailor each visit to the specific course module in which it is situated. With some groups, we draw on the expertise of our Professional and Policy team to deliver focused content on choosing a career within geography and using geographical skills in the workplace, drawing on our bank of online careers resources. With others, we offer hands-on workshops with original Collections materials, such as a workshop on geographical thinkers for Bath Spa students. And for visits from PGCE students, the Society’s Schools team focuses on the support we provide for trainee teachers.
We look forward to continuing the student visit programme in the spring, with visits planned from the universities of Portsmouth, Kent, Winchester, and Bournemouth. If you are interested in bringing your undergraduate or master’s geography students to visit the Society, please contact us at rhed@rgs.org, and see our online resources for more information on what we offer.