Society Focus: Introducing the Geography Society

Geography Society co-presidents

Hannah and Rose

We are Hannah and Rose, co-presidents of the Trinity Hall Undergraduate Geography Society (THUGS), both third-year geography students, although it often feels like we do different degrees. I am a human geographer, whereas Hannah is a physical geographer, so we don’t study any of the same papers!

We have always been a close group as Trinity Hall geographers, regularly organising family meet-ups ranging from wine and cheese nights and study dates to formals and termly dinners with our Director of Studies. Rose and I decided last year how nice it would be to make it an official society and to open up our ‘geography family’ to a wider group of people within College. We think we’ve created a friendly and welcoming space, both to discuss our favourite geographical issues and to meet new like-minded people.

We generally hold social events (which include lots of wine and cheese!) with a different geographical theme. This normally sparks lively conversation, resulting in quite a competitive quiz at the end of the night. Our last quiz involved a music round where you had to guess the geographical location mentioned in the song, and sharing with the group your favourite geography fact. It also provides a strong support network both academically (in terms of essay help and support with travel grant applications) and emotionally when trying to handle a Cambridge degree – our own College parents were so helpful when we were in our first year, it is really rewarding when we get to help our kids and grandkids out too!

I think a highlight for us was our geography society swap which we hosted in the Bath House pub with four other Geography societies from across the University. There was a great turnout, and it was especially lovely to see so many first years meeting new geographers – something we both wish we could have done early on in our degree (thanks to Covid). The night ended in a quiz (of course!) and a trip to Jack’s Gelato.

In the future, we will also be hosting a series of movie nights of films from our reading lists, which will hopefully be a nice relief from exam revision. We will top it all off with a Trinity Hall Geographers formal/ garden party to celebrate another successful year – and our last one!

We post all about our upcoming events on our Instagram @th_geographical_society, but you can also always email us (rw679, hmd44). We are normally hanging around the geography department (we’re both big fans of the library!) or tiring ourselves out in the Jerwood so please come and say hi!