Geography

Program Overview

College of Arts and Sciences, The Department of Earth, Environment, and Society
Owens Science Hall (OWS) 153
Caplow (Chair), Clotts, Hickson, Lamb, Lorah, McDermott, McKay, Regan, Small, Theissen, Vislova

Department Website

Departmental Overview

The Department of Earth, Environment and Society prepares students to address complex environmental challenges and contribute to a more sustainable future. We offer courses of study in Environmental Science (major, minor), Environmental Studies (major), Geography (minor), Geography-GIS (major, minor, certificate), Geology (major, minor), and Sustainability (minor).

Program Overview

With foundations in both the natural and social sciences, our Geography program prepares students for a wide range of careers in government, the private sector, and education. Geography graduates collect and analyze demographic data, model landscapes with GIS, perform location analysis for retail and service stores, are urban planners and land use managers, teach, and hold a wide variety of other jobs in the public and private sectors. Graduates also pursue advanced degrees in geography, environmental studies, business, urban and regional planning, community development, GIS, natural resource management, and more.

The Geography-GIS major, minor, and certificate pair well with other majors in the physical and social sciences, and complement studies in education, marketing, real estate, and entrepreneurship. Our emphasis on GIS laboratory work, internships, collaborative faculty-student research, and service learning give our students a solid foundation in geographic principles and techniques, as well as an appreciation for the diversity of people and places.

Teacher Licensure

Co-major in Social Studies (5-12) and a Co-major in Secondary Education

See Education

Major in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), (B.A.)

44 Credits

EES Core (required for all majors in the department)

ESCI 132 Intro to Environmental Science OR GEOL 115 Environmental Geology OR GEOL 163 Applied Geology (4 credits)
GEOG 215 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (4 credits)
ESCI 310 Environmental Problem Solving (4 credits)
ENVR 401 Environmental Capstone (4 credits)
Experiential Learning Requirement (4 credits of GEOL 260, Internship, Research, or other options as approved)

Geography-GIS Major Requirements

GEOG 111 Human Geography (4 credits) OR GEOG 113 Globalization & World Regions (4 credits)
GEOG 321 Geographic Information Systems (4 credits)
DASC 120 Introduction to Computational Statistics (4 credits)

Electives (choose 12 credits from the following):

GEOG 223 Remote Sensing (4 credits)
GEOG 230 Weather and Climate (4 credits)
GEOG 298 Special Topics in Geography (4 credits)
GEOG 331 Conservation Geography (4 credits)
GEOG 350 Geography of Global Health (4 credits)
GEOG 478 Experiential Learning (4 credits)
GEOG 491 Research (4 credits)

Minors in Geography

Minor in Geography

Note: this minor is only available to non-geography-GIS majors

Twenty credits in Geography
- no more than eight credits may be at the GEOG 100-level
- and at least four credits must be numbered GEOG 300 or above

Minor in Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

Note: this minor is only available to non-geography majors

Required:

GEOG 215 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (4 credits)

Electives (choose 12 credits from the following):

GEOG 223 Remote Sensing (4 credits)
GEOG 230 Weather and Climate (4 credits)
GEOG 298 Special Topics in Geography (4 credits)
GEOG 321 Advanced Geographic Information Systems (4 credits)
GEOG 331 Conservation Geography (4 credits)
GEOG 350 Geography of Global Health (4 credits)
GEOG 478 Experiential Learning (4 credits) or GEOG 491 Research (4 credits)

Certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

This Certificate is a three-course, 12-credit certificate as follows:

Required:

GEOG 215 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (4 credits)

Electives (choose 8 credits from the following):

GEOG 223 Remote Sensing (4 credits)
GEOG 230 Weather and Climate (4 credits)
GEOG 298 Special Topics in Geography (4 credits)
GEOG 321 Advanced Geographic Information Systems (4 credits)
GEOG 331 Conservation Geography (4 credits)
GEOG 350 Geography of Global Health (4 credits)
GEOG 478 Experiential Learning (with a GIS component) (4 credits)
GEOG 491 Research (with a GIS component) (4 credits)

This Certificate is only available to non-Geography majors or minors.