Geography Major

Major Requirements

The geography major consists of nine required courses and supporting courses in other departments. The classes comprising the major will be selected in a manner that builds from the introductory classes to the advanced seminars and will include the following: a) one foundation course: GEOG 111 - Human Geography of Global Issues  or GEOG 113 - World Regional Geography: People, Places and Globalization ; b) two research methods courses: GEOG 225 - Introduction to Geographic Information Systems , GEOG 378 - Statistical Research Methods in Geography ; c) one area studies course (see the clarification below on this requirement); d) four intermediate courses – 200 or 300 level; and e) one advanced seminar course: GEOG 473 - Historical Geography of Urbanization , GEOG 474 - Urban Geogrpahy Field Seminar , GEOG 475 - Medical Geography , GEOG 476 - Transportation Geography Seminar , GEOG 477 - Comparative Environment and Development , GEOG 478 - Cities of the 21st Century: The Political Economy of Urban Sustainability , or GEOG 479 - Migrants, Migration and the Global Landscape of Population Change  

The area studies course requirement may be satisfied by taking one of the following: a regional geography course in the department (e.g., GEOG 242 - Regional Geography of the US and Canada , GEOG 243 - Geography of Africa: Local Resources and Livelihoods in a Global Context , or GEOG 249 - Regional Geography of Latin America ); an approved study abroad program; or the student may petition to count a comprehensive area studies course in another department for regions not covered by the geography department. If the student selects a non-geography course to fulfill this requirement, such a course does not count as one of the nine geography courses required for the major.

The senior capstone requirement in geography will be satisfied by completing one 400-level advanced geography seminar course. GEOG 377 - Qualitative Research Methods  is strongly recommended for majors planning to attend graduate school.

The department supports four types of emphases within the major: 1) urban and economic geography, 2) nature-society geography, 3) cultural and political geography, and 4) geographic information sciences (GIS). Majors should take care to sample a breadth of courses across the discipline, while striving to develop depth in one of these areas through a few courses. That said, it is not a requirement to have a specific focus within the geography major.