Academic Catalog

Geography (BA or BS)

Geography is a multidimensional discipline that analyzes the interactions between people and their environments. Our geographers teach courses and engage in research on a wide range of relevant and timely topics such as urban sprawl, the nature and impact of migration, globalization of the economy and international trade, the spatial prevalence of disease, regional development, global climatic change, environmental degradation and restoration, watershed and landscape change, and the analysis and display of spatial data using geographic information systems (GIS) technology.

Coursework in geography enables graduates to find employment in the private and public sectors while providing both the regional and global perspective required of informed citizens. B.A. students have gone on to work as urban and regional planners, marketing specialists, environmental program managers, location analysts, and transportation planners. The B.S. degree prepares students to pursue a technologically oriented career as geographic information systems specialists. Students with an undergraduate degree in geography are also prepared to move on to graduate school to pursue M.A. and Ph.D. degrees that enable them to teach at the college level or to secure higher ranking positions in the public and private sectors.