Geography is an interdisciplinary subject with natural and social science content, perspectives and methods. This integrative approach is the strength of this subject. Geography places findings about physical, socio-economic processes in the concrete context of places and regions and thus conveys a differentiated picture of the various cultures, economic forms, political and social systems, physical environments and landscapes that shape our earth. The focus in Basel is on the analysis of human-environment relations using the example of environmental change and land use change.

The natural-scientific "physical geography" places nature and landscape in the foreground and examines the structure and dynamics of the physical environment and the processes taking place in it. Based on this, the Bachelor of Science with a specialisation in geography and geology focuses on the physical-geographical aspects of the Earth system, the consequences of environmental change, especially that brought about by humans, and the resulting risks for the sustainability of the environmental services required by humans. The Bachelor of Arts in Geography, on the other hand, takes these natural science factors into account, but focuses on people. The focus is on the analysis of land use changes, taking into account socio-economic factors such as population dynamics, food habits or agricultural and energy policies.