Geography at the University of Innsbruck

We are a group of 17 students originating from the three countries Austria, Germany, and Luxembourg, who have been working together since autumn 2020 as part of their Master’s degree in Geography in Innsbruck, Austria. This Master's programme is subtitled "Global Change - Regional Sustainability", and this title already indicates the focus on the connection between globalisation and localisation processes within our studies. Our studies focus on both natural and social science themes and, above all, their intersections in the form of human-environment research.
The names of all 17 students are: Ayyoub Benkhaddou, Charlotte Poppa, Christian Wolf, Joseph Fischler, Katharina Krebs, Lena Enders, Lena Schneider, Lisa Eß, Marco Wegler, Marlene Benzinger, Max Covino, Mery Pocrnja, Richard Matalewski, Sarah Rasi, Sophia Märk, Theresa Keller and Timothy Eastwood. The two Lecturers Martin Coy and Tobias Töpfer have led and organized the specialization.

About the Specialization

Within our program, you can select two of four potential specializations and thus place your academic focus more on either natural science or social science. One of the two specialisations with a stronger social science focus is development research, which concentrates particularly on development and urban themes. Under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Martin Coy and Dr. Tobias Töpfer we have been focussing on the nation of Brazil over the course of the past 18 months. More precisely, we have been investigating Brazil within the context of the countries of the Global South, in the field of tension between globalisation and sustainability. As one of our primary areas of interest is urban spaces, Brasília, as the capital of Brazil, is of particular interest as it is a relatively young and planned city (see About Brasília). Accordingly, the title of the course is 'Brasília - Icon of Modernity'.
Both in comparison to European and other South American cities - but in any case, in comparison to cities that have grown organically - there are differences, but also commonalities, which we explored during the research project in Brasília from 11.04. to 29.04.2022. In the run-up to the field trip, we defined six core topics (each topic being taken on by a team of three students) and selected corresponding methods in order to conduct at the research project.

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