Bachelor of Arts in Geography

About

The Bachelor of Arts in Geography is designed for students seeking careers in environmental fields, GIS, education and graduate study. In the program, you’ll:

  • Learn how to interpret and create maps
  • Study diverse cultural and natural landscapes around the world
  • Learn about the history of geography
  • Conduct research and apply field techniques

Course Requirements

Curriculum & Requirements

Geography Major, Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Cooperative studies and programs are coordinated with Environmental Science, Biology, Geology, History, Children’s Studies, International Affairs, and Urban and Regional Planning.

The Geography program has four major missions:

  1. providing general education courses to enrich the liberal arts offerings in both the sciences and social sciences;
  2. offering specialized or more advanced courses to service other programs in the university;
  3. providing a solid academic major for students wishing to pursue graduate study or work as a professional; and
  4. supporting research, consulting and other services for the region.

Notes:

  • a minor is strongly recommended for the Geography BA;
  • two years of a single high school foreign language or one year of a single college-level foreign language is required.
Required–Disciplinary Foundation Courses
GEOG 100FUNDAMENTALS OF THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT5
GEOG 101FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY5
Required CSBS Foundation Course
CSBS 310FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES THEORY5
Choose one of the following5
STATISTICS FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS I
Required Disciplinary Core Courses
GEOG 201INTRODUCTION TO FIELD RESEARCH5
GEOG 227CRITICAL CARTOGRAPHIES5
GEOG 230WORLD GEOGRAPHY5
GEOG 392SEMINAR IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF GEOGRAPHY2
Elective Concentration–choose one of the following20-25
CSBS Certificate Program
Students may choose one of the approved interdisciplinary certificate programs from the CSBS Certificate Program List, with approval of the Geography Program Director. Additional Geography electives may be required to reach the 20 credit minimum if the approved Certificate is less than 20 credits.
Geography Graduate School Track
Students may follow the traditional four field focus (human, physical, regional, technical) that is the expected preparation for graduate school. See full Geography Graduate School Track list below.
Specialization Track
Under certain circumstances, students may be allowed to design 20 to 25 credit group of electives that best expose them to the branch of geography they wish to pursue, with approval of the Geography Program Director. Choose a minimum 5 credits from each of the following four groups
Geography Graduate School Track Coursework
Human
GLOBAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION
THE GEOGRAPHY OF THEME PARKS
THE GEOGRAPHY OF CHILDHOOD
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
URBAN GEOGRAPHY: ORIGINS, FORMS AND FUNCTIONS
GLOBAL TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT
Physical
HOT EARTH: PEOPLE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
INTRODUCTION TO OCEANOGRAPHY
VEGETATION ECOLOGY OF NORTH AMERICA
FUNDAMENTALS OF SOIL SCIENCE
WEATHER FORECASTING
WATER RESOURCES
WETLAND SCIENCE I
GEOMORPHOLOGY
APPLIED GEOGRAPHIC STUDIES
Regional
GEOGRAPHY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
GEOGRAPHY OF LATIN AMERICA
GEOGRAPHY OF MONSOON ASIA
SEMINAR
Techniques
REMOTE SENSING
APPLIED GEOGRAPHIC STUDIES
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS I
DESKTOP MAPPING
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS II
Required Senior Capstone
GEOG 490THE GEOGRAPHER'S CAPSTONE5
Total Credits62-67

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