Geography Option
The Geography Option offers students a liberal university education with an emphasis in geography. The Geography option provides a general education as well as the more specialized knowledge and skills necessary to pursue many career objectives. Geographers find professional opportunities in urban and land use planning as well as spatial analysis in the public and private sectors, analysis of regions, resource and environmental management, as well as the application of geographical skills in map making (cartography), remote sensing, and geographic information science (GIS). Geography also offers an outstanding background for more advanced education in environmental law, international business, resource planning, and other specialized graduate school opportunities. Students may enhance their employment opportunities with a Master's degree, or a Ph.D. if college teaching or advanced research positions are of interest.
The student, in consultation with an advisor, is given the opportunity to develop a program to meet his or her own particular interests and needs through a series of core geography courses and an emphasis in physical or human geography or an approved minor. The Geography Option introduces students to lower division course work in world regional, physical, and human geography. These courses emphasize the importance of spatial relationships, the global distributions of physical and cultural phenomena, the complex interplay between natural and human systems, and the factors contributing to the evolution of the earth's varied landscapes. In addition, advanced skills courses and a capstone course prepare the student to apply their training in a variety of jobs and/or graduate school.Some courses listed below are offered alternate years. A student's course sequence may differ from that shown depending upon the date the student enters the program and the availability of courses.
| Freshman Year | Credits | |
|---|---|---|
| Fall | Spring | |
| GPHY 141D - Geography of World Regions (Fall or Spring ) | 3 | |
| University Core and Electives | 12 | |
| ERTH 101IN - Earth System Sciences | 4 | |
| University Core and Electives | 11 | |
| Year Total: | 15 | 15 |
| Sophomore Year | Credits | |
| Fall | Spring | |
| GPHY 121D - Human Geography (or Freshman Year) | 3 | |
| GPHY 284 - Intro to GIS Science & Cartog (Fall or Spring or Freshman Year) | 3 | |
| STAT 216Q - Introduction to Statistics (or Freshman Year Spring ) | 3 | |
| Modern Language Fall and Spring (One Year) | 3 | |
| University Core and Electives | 3 | |
| STAT 337 - Intermediate Statistics with Introduction to Statistical Computing | 3 | |
| Modern Language Fall and Spring (One Year) | 3 | |
| University Core and Electives | 9 | |
| Year Total: | 15 | 15 |
| Junior and Senior Year | Credits | |
| Fall | Spring | |
| ERTH 303 - Weather and Climate | 3 | |
| GPHY 384 - Adv GIS and Spatial Analysis (Fall or Spring ) | 3 | |
| University Core and Electives Fall and Spring | 9 | |
| Geography Electives: Choose 12 credits from the Course List BelowFall and Spring | 12 | |
| Upper Division Electives: See UD Course List BelowFall and Spring | 18 | |
| Additional UD Electives (may be outside the Major)Fall and Spring | 12 | |
| GPHY 425 - Geographic ThoughtSr Capstone | 3 | |
| Year Total: | 57 | 3 |
| Total Program Credits: | 120 | |
Junior & Senior Geography Electives
| ANTY 101D | Anthropology and the Human Experience (Fall or Spring ) | 3 |
| ANTY 225IS | Culture, Language, and Society (Fall or Spring ) | 3 |
| BIOB 170IN | Principles of Biological Diversity (Fall or Spring ) | 4 |
| CHMY 121IN | Introduction to General Chemistry (Fall or Spring ) | 3 |
| ECNS 101IS | Economic Way of Thinking (Fall or Spring ) | 3 |
| ECNS 202 | Principles of Macroeconomics (Fall or Spring ) | 3 |
| ENSC 245IN | Soils (Fall Only ) | 3 |
| ERTH 212RN | Yellowstone: Scientific Lab (Fall Odd Years) | 4 |
| PSCI 210IS | Introduction to American Government (Fall or Spring) | 3 |
| SOCI 101IS | Introduction to Sociology (Fall and Soring ) | 3 |
Upper Division Electives
| CHOOSE FIVE OF THE FOLLOWING AND ONE METHODS COURSE OR FOUR OF THE FOLLOWING AND TWO METHODS COURSES: | ||
| ERTH 307 | Principles of Geomorphology (Fall) | 4 |
| ERTH 450R | Snow Dynamics and Accumulation (Spring ) | 4 |
| GPHY 322 | Economic Geography (Spring Even Years) | 3 |
| GPHY 325 | Cultural Geography (Fall Odd Years) | 3 |
| GPHY 326 | Geography of Energy Resources (Spring ) | 3 |
| GPHY 329 | Environment and Society (Fall) | 3 |
| GPHY 365 | Geographical Planning (Spring ) | 3 |
| GPHY 402 | Water and Society (Fall Even Years) | 3 |
| GPHY 441R | Mountain Geography (Fall Odd Years) | 4 |
| METHODS COURSES: | ||
| GPHY 357 | GPS Fund/App in Mapping (Fall or Spring ) | 3 |
| GPHY 401 | Environmental Planning and Management Toolkit (Fall Even Years) | 3 |
| GPHY 426 | Remote Sensing (Spring ) | 3 |
| GPHY 429R | Applied Remote Sensing (Spring ) | 3 |
| GPHY 445 | Adv. Regional Geography (Fall Odd Years) | 3 |
| GPHY 484R | Applied GIS & Spatial Analysis (Spring ) | 3 |
| GPHY 571 | Data Science for Climate and Sustainability Analysis (Fall ) | 3 |
| STAT 411 | Methods for Data Analysis I (Fall or Spring ) | 3 |
The Upper Division Electives (minimum 9 credits) will be selected from course offerings in Animal and Range Science, Anthropology, Biology, Civil Engineering, Economics, Entomology, History, Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Native American Studies, Political Science, Sociology, as well as Earth Science, Geology, and Geography (1 course only from within the department). The courses used here cannot be used to fulfill the other course requirements in the Geography Option.
A minimum of 120 credits is required for graduation; 42 of these credits must be in courses numbered 300 and above.