Geography
Department of Geography
Faculty of Science
Established in 1952 under Professor Dr. Manick B. Pithawala, the Department of Geography is one of the pioneer departments of the University of Karachi and the only Pakistani department to have hosted an International Geography Union (IGU) Conference.
Geo-Spatial Sciences
Training in GIS and spatial analysis for planning and infrastructure.
Physical & Human Geography
Six decades of teaching and research across the discipline.
Applied Geography
Strong industry links with oil, mining and development organizations.
More than twenty professors have served the department as chairpersons over its history, which has been shaped by leading Pakistani geographers educated in the USA, UK, Germany and India. The department maintains an excellent academic history and qualified faculty of professors, assistant professors and visiting faculty.
CareersCareer Opportunities
Geography graduates find roles in education, administration and private organizations, including cellular companies, K-Electric, SSGC, the Archaeological Department and provincial planning departments, as well as national bodies such as WAPDA, OGDC, PPL and the Geological Survey of Pakistan, which value geographers' geo-spatial skills.
Introduction
Chairman: Prof. Dr. Shamshad Akhtar.
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Department of Geography is one of the pioneer departments of University of Karachi. It was established in 1952 under the chairmanship of Professor Dr. Manick B. Pithawala. Professor Oscar Schmider was one of the leading German Geographers who served as Chairman in the department. Department has been providing teaching and research in various fields of Geography for the last sixty years. Department has been served by leading Pakistani Geographers who were educated in USA, UK, Germany, India etc. The Department has an excellent academic history. The Department of Geography is the only Department among Universities of Pakistan which hosted International Geography Union (IGU) Conference. More than twenty Professors have served the Department as Chairpersons. Presently Prof. Dr. Sheeba Afsar is Chairperson. The Department has qualified academic staff which includes Professors, Assistant Professors and Visiting Faculty.
Career Opportunities
Geography graduates with Master's degree generally find useful employment in some major fields, i.e. education, administration, and private organizatio& other cellular companies, K-Electric, SSGC, Archeological Department, Planning Commission, and provincial departments of planning and development have employed geographers for their Geo-Spatial skills. Private firms, and Non-Governmental Organizations i.e. ECIL Consulting Services, Cabernet, Fiber optics, (NGOs) also utilize the expertise of geographers. There are various fields of application in Pakistan where geographer can explore job opportunities successfully to survive and Empowering Communities.
Industrial Link
National and Multinational Organizations where the Graduates of the Department occupy key positions.- Geological Survey of Pakistan (GSP)
- Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA)
- Geoscience Lab
- Natural History Museum
- Saindak Metal Mines Ltd.
- Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC)
- Pakistan Steels
- Ministry of Petroleum (Petroleum Cell)
- Private Sectors
- Civil Services of Pakistan
- Defense Science & Technology Organization
- Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission
- PASMINICO
- Minerals International Exploration Inc. (BHP)
- Allen Mor
- Karachi Development Authority (KDA)
- Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan
- HUB CO Power Project
- Balochistan Development Authority (BDA)
- Pakland Cement Ltd.
- Ceramic Industries
- Universities of Pakistan, USA, Canada, Middle East, Singapore, Malaysia etc.
- Oil and Services Companies
- Baker Hughes Inteq (BHI)
- Oil & Gas Development Corporation (OGDC)
- Union Texas Pakistan Incorporated (UTP)
- Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. (PPL)
- LASMO Oil Pakistan Ltd. (LASMO)
- Occidental of Pakistan Inc. (OPI)
- United Mineral Corporation (UMC)
- Pakistan Oil Field Ltd. (POL)
- Associated Mineral Industry (AMI)
- Spyerry-Sun
- BHP
- Geoservices
DIAMOND JUBILEE CELEBRATION
Department of Geography, University of Karachi is celebrated its Diamond Jubilee from 6th to 8th November 2012, in the Department/University as per deliberations of members of the Organizing Committee and Alumni :: Read More | Ad | Portfolio
Faculty
Professors
Dr. Shamshad Akhtar Profile
Dr. Sheeba Afsar Profile
Associate Professors
Dr. Imran Ahmed Khan Profile
Dr. Salman Zubair Profile
Dr. Saima Shaikh Profile
Assistant Professors
Dr. Anila Kausar Profile
Dr. Yasmeen Anis Profile
Dr. Lubna Ghazal (T) Profile
| Name of Teacher | Areas |
Dr. Shamshad Akhtar |
Physical Geography, Quantitative Methods, Population and Settlement, Muslim World |
Dr. Sheeba Afsar |
Natural Hazard Management, Advance Cartography, Spatial Analysis, Map and Air Photo Analysis , Physical Geography and Human Geography |
Dr. Saima Shaikh |
Urban Ecology, Diseases Ecology, Cartography, RS, GIS and Geography of Pakistan |
Dr. Anila Kausar |
Agro Climatology, Urban Geography, Regional Geography and Urban Land use Planning |
Dr. Yasmeen Anis |
Climatology, Oceanography, Coastal Morphology, Human Geography and Political Geography |
Dr. Salman Zubair |
Metropolitan Transportation, Locational Analysis and Economic Geography, Geography of Pakistan and Culture Geography |
Dr. Lubna Ghazal |
Water Resources and Management, Geomorphology, Geography of Pakistan, Economic Geography, Ecology of Natural Resources, Climatology, Arid-land: Desertification, EIA and Management |
Dr. Imran Ahmed Khan |
GIS and Public Health, Biogeography, Diseases Ecology, Human Geography , Medical Geography and Economic Geography |
Mission
Mission
The Department of Geography at the University of Karachi aims to make students highly professional in the field of Geography, GIS technology, and Remote Sensing technology. They provide field survey skills, professional knowledge, and training opportunities for teachers. The program's objectives align with the university mission and are measured through comprehensive assessments. Strategies include practical field trainings, integrating advanced technologies, industry collaboration, and regular program updates to achieve these objectives.
Vision
The Department of Geography at the University of Karachi, established in 1952, has a rich history of leadership from renowned geographers. It offers comprehensive teaching and research in various geographic fields, producing a large number of graduates working globally. The department, which has the highest number of Ph.D. / M.Phil. graduates in Pakistan, offers graduate and post-graduate programs and has hosted several geography conferences. It emphasizes practical geographical research skills and maintains strong international academic partnerships.
Programs
Degree Programs Available
- B.S.
- B.S. 3rd Year
- M.S.
- M.Phil. / Ph.D.
Eligibility& Allocated Seats
B.S.:
- Intermediate Pre-Engineering - 60 seats
- Intermediate Pre-Medical - 30seats
- Intermediate Arts - 30seats
B.S 3rd Year:
- Science group - 25 seats
- Arts group - 20 seats
M.S.: M.Sc. or B.S. in Geography - 10 seats
Ph.D.:M.S. / M.Phil. (Geography) or M.S. (RS/GIS) + B.S. (Geography) - 02 seats
Courses
B.S. Program in Geography
| First Semster | |||
| S.#. | Course # | Course Title | Credit Hours |
| 1 | 301(H) | Physical Geography: Study of Climate Vegetation and Ocean | 3 |
| 301(S) | Physical Geography: Study of Climate Vegetation and Ocean | 3 | |
| 2 | 301 | Subsidiary–I | 3 |
| 3 | 301 | Subsidiary–II | 3 |
| 4 | 300.1(I.S.) | Islamic Studies (Compulsory) | 3 |
| 5 | 300.1(E) | English (Compulsory) | 3 |
| Second Semster | |||
| 1 | 302(H) | Physical Geography: Study of Land forms and Soils | 3 |
| 302(S) | Physical Geography: Study of Land forms and Soils | 3 | |
| 2 | 302 | Subsidiary–I | 3 |
| 3 | 302 | Subsidiary–II | 3 |
| 4 | 300.2(P.S.) | Pakistan Studies(Compulsory) | 3 |
| 5 | 300.1(U) | Urdu / Sindhi / Natural (Compulsory) | 3 |
| Third Semster | |||
| 1 | 401(H) | Human Geography I | 3 |
| 2 | 402(H) | Regional Geography | 3 |
| 404(S) | Map Work and Surveying | 3 | |
| 3 | 402 | Subsidiary–I | 3 |
| 4 | 402 | Subsidiary–II | 3 |
| 5 | 400.1(E.) | English(Compulsory) | 3 |
| Fourth Semster | |||
| 1 | 403(H) | Human Geography II | 3 |
| 2 | 404(H) | Map Work and Surveying | 3 |
| 451(S) | Human Geography | 3 | |
| 3 | 402 | Subsidiary–I | 3 |
| 4 | 402 | Subsidiary–II | 3 |
| 5 | 400.1(E.) | Computer Applications (Compulsory) | 3 |
| Fifth Semster | |||
| 1 | 501 | Introduction to Social Sciences | 3 |
| 2 | 503 | Geomorphology | 3 |
| 3 | 504 | Economic Geography | 3 |
| 4 | 505 | Cultural Geography | 3 |
| 5 | 506 | Cartography | 3 |
| 6 | 521 | South Asia(Select any one course from 521 to 551) | 3 |
| 7 | 522 | South West Asia | 3 |
| 8 | 523 | South East Asia | 3 |
| 9 | 526 | North Africa | 3 |
| 10 | 528 | North America | 3 |
| 11 | 550 | Muslim World | 3 |
| 12 | 551 | Geography of Europe | 3 |
| Sixth Semster | |||
| 1 | 502 | Communication Skills | 3 |
| 2 | 508 | Climatology | 3 |
| 3 | 509 | History and Development of Geographic Thought | 3 |
| 4 | 510 | Map and Air Photo Analysis | 3 |
| 5 | 511 | Quantitative Methods | 3 |
| 6 | 512 | Geography of Pakistan | 3 |
| Seventh Semster | |||
| 1 | 601 | Research Methods (Compulsory) | 3 |
| 2 | 611 | Field Techniques (Compulsory) | 3 |
| 3 | (Optional-1) | 3 | |
| 4 | (Optional-2) | 3 | |
| 5 | (Optional-3) | 3 | |
| 6 | (Optional-4) | 3 | |
| Eighth Semster | |||
| 1 | 612 | Major: Field Study (Compulsory) | 3 |
| 2 | (Optional-1) | 3 | |
| 3 | (Optional-2) | 3 | |
| 4 | (Optional-3) | 3 | |
| 5 | (Optional-4) | 3 | |
| 6 | 662 | Community Development (Compulsory) | 3 |
| List of Optional Courses for Seventh and Eight Semesters Select any four Optional Courses in each Semester | |||
| S.#. | Course # | Course Title | Credit Hours |
| 1 | 607 | Geographic Information Science | 3 |
| 2 | 608 | Advanced Quantitative Methods | 3 |
| 3 | 609 | Remote Sensing | 3 |
| 4 | 610 | Political Geography | 3 |
| 5 | 614 | Urban Geography | 3 |
| 6 | 615 | Central Place Systems | 3 |
| 7 | 616 | Locational Analysis | 3 |
| 8 | 619 | Population Geography | 3 |
| 9 | 630 | Environmental Management | 3 |
| 10 | 631 | Environmental Perception and Behavior | 3 |
| 11 | 633 | Natural Hazard Management | 3 |
| 12 | 640 | Agricultural Geography | 3 |
| 13 | 642 | Geography of Manufacturing | 3 |
| 14 | 643 | Biogeography | 3 |
| 15 | 644 | Transportation Geography | 3 |
| 16 | 646 | Oceanography | 3 |
| 17 | 647 | Ecology of Natural Resources | 3 |
| 18 | 651 | Coastal Morphology | 3 |
| 19 | 652 | Applied Climatology | 3 |
| 20 | 653 | Plant Geography | 3 |
| 21 | 657 | Rural Development and Change | 3 |
| 22 | 658 | Migration and Regional Development | 3 |
| 23 | 660 | Geography of Recreation and Tourism | 3 |
| 24 | 665 | Metropolitan Transportation | 3 |
| 25 | 666 | Regional Development and Planning | 3 |
| New Proposed Course Outlines | |||
| S.#. | Course # | Course Title | Credit Hours |
| 1 | Geog: 641 | Road Safety in Geography | 3 |
| 2 | Geog: 654 | Climate Change Studies | 3 |
| 3 | Geog: 669 | Urban Agriculture and Regional Food Systems | 3 |
| 4 | Geog: 655 | Foundations of Drone Mapping | 3 |
| 5 | Geog: 663 | Spatial Database Programming in Geography | 3 |
| 6 | Geog: 664 | Geodesy | 3 |
| 7 | Geog: 645 | Introduction to Global Positioning System (GPS) | 3 |
| 8 | Geog: 656 | Mobile technology for Geographic Data Collection | 3 |
| 9 | Geog: 659 | Hydro-Geography | 3 |
| 10 | Geog: 661 | Urban Landscape Ecology | 3 |
Objectives
Department of Geography organizes teaching for the Graduate and Post Graduate courses including M.Phil. and Ph.D. research programs. The main objective of the department is to train the people for geographical research in both aspects of pure and social sciences. In this way research becomes more helpful for planning, management, allocation, distribution and evaluation of resources and their problems.
Facilities
The Department is housed in a two storied building where lecture rooms, laboratories, seminar library and staff rooms are provided. The seminar library caters for the immediate reading needs of the students and is provided with 1000 books form donations. The Map Library of the Department is well equipped with topographical maps of various areas on various scales. Total number of such maps is about 2000, aerial photographs and satellite imageries are available in the Department.
GIS Lab.
Computer laboratory of the Department of Geography was established in March, 1988. Initially it consisted of three PCs and a printer. Currently this laboratory has fifteen computers, Intel Core 2 duo. Department has purchased MapInfo Professional Software, which is one of the state-of-art packages for GIS and Remote Sensing application. Presently, it is being used for the purpose of teaching and research, in the fields of computer aided cartography, GIS and Remote Sensing.
Prehistoric Museum
On the ground floor of the Department there is a Museum containing relic of prehistoric cultures of Pakistan. These have been collected from an area extending to 120 miles around Karachi. The material ranges from early Paleolithic age through Middle and upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic to Harappan Age. The museum also displays vertebrate fossils of Miocene Age derived from Sindh Kohistan and coastal area of Sindh.
Seminar Library:
The department contains a fully fledged seminar library which offers books, Atlases, different types of Maps and topographic sheets to students. A section donated by Dr. I. H. Zaidi and Dr. M. I. Siddiqui is also available having their valuable collection of books on various fields of Geography. Different precious research journals and published material are also available.
Research
Research Assistant / Coordinators
Land surveyor: In SOP, KDA, LDA, CDA and private surveying organizations
Transport Planners: In TEB (Traffic Engineering Bureau) Karachi Planners for Katchi abadies, KMC (Karachi Metropolitan Corporation) Sindh Katchi Abadies authority
Cartographer: In survey of Pakistan, in Geological survey of Pakistan, in Civil Aviation, Meteorological department, SUPARCO, in Oil Companies, Geodetic Surveying
Consultants: In engineering firms like ECIL, EA/ES, BlueChip Intl., Proplan etc., Soil Survey of Pakistan, a number of NGOs, Atlas publishing companies (like OUP, FEP etc.)
Others: Population census organization, statistical bureau, AKRSP, (Agha Khan Rural Support Program).
Publications
- Journal occasionally published by the Department
- Faculty Publications: More than 300 articles published in the journals of international repute.
Contact
For further information please contact:
DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY
UNIVERSITY OF KARACHI, KARACHI-75270
Telephone: 99261300-06 Ext: 2292
Department Email: geography@uok.edu.pk
Chairman Email: sheebanaeem@uok.edu.pk
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