Human Geography is a social science subject studying interaction between human, society and environment at different levels; from individual to local, regional, national and global level. Human Geography is also about understanding and putting phenomena into sometimes very complex and changing contexts. A starting point in Human Geography studies of society is that the space, for example in the form of spatial differences and circumstances, play a crucial part and has its own explanatory value.

Human Geography includes several different sub-disciplines. Mid Sweden University has focused the courses and study programmes on economic geography, political geography and planning, and geography of mobility.

Economic geography deals with the economic structure and spatial distribution of society as well as the trade and industry. In this context, processes creating and maintaining economic globalisation and an international division of labour, as well as the locally specialised cluster are of interest. A special focus is the economic geography of tourism, where one of the topics of discussion is the power relationship between international tourism operators and the local community’s prospects for economic, social and ecological development and sustainability.  

Another focus is mobility, transports and communications, which are important requirements when it comes to connecting nodes in a global economy. Globalisation and our increasing demands on mobility of people, goods, capital and information, require a competent and sustainable development of infrastructure and transportation system. In this context the possibilities of different groups (rural and urban residents, women and men, tourists and migrants) in terms of being a part of as well as controlling/submitting to global flows are also discussed.

In political geography different political phenomena are studied; their spatial organisation and distribution. One such example is the actions of states based on circumstances such as geographical location, resources and distribution of the population. Among other things, political geography discusses the nation state and how it is maintained over time, the function of the nation state in the political superstructure of the global economy and in times of globalization, nationalism and terrorism, imperialism and colonialism and the relation between centre and periphery on different scales. When it comes to the planning approach, it includes, among other things, the Swedish planning and administrative system, regional and local development in urban and sparsely populated areas, physical planning and resource management. Society planning has the task of aggregating the political and economic demands and requirements with the aim of managing, improving and renewing the resources of culture and nature of society.