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  ; 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 numbered GEOG 488 , e.g., Transportation Geography.

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 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 (e.g., Asia). 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 GEOG 488  level geography seminar. 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 strive to develop depth in an area, while taking care to sample a breadth of courses across the discipline.