Students on this programme learn through a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, practical classes, tutorials, fieldwork, group projects, student presentations, and self-directed learning, such as research, reading, and writing. All of these are informed by the interplay between theory and practice: bringing the real world together with the scholarly world. Seminars, tutorials, and practical classes are much smaller groups than lectures, small enough to allow one-on-one interaction with a professor or lecturer. Practicals also allow hands-on experience of the work professional geographers perform. The same is true of fieldwork, which at Durham is subsidized (academic year 2015-16), and consists of engaging in geographical work in the field with members of academic staff. Students can also attend an extensive programme of research-focused seminars where staff and visiting scholars present their cutting edge research.