Program Overview

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Geography

Overview

Gain insight into how humans interact with the planet's indispensable knowledge for understanding the major challenges facing today's world. Geographers study the relationships between people and their environments. They explore the environmental, social, political and economic processes that shape places and how the places that people create, in turn, shape our lives. The interdisciplinary Bachelor of Arts in Geography stands at the crossroads of physical and social sciences; students may focus on specific world landscapes and cultures or on areas such as urban, political, economic or cultural geography, or on human-environment relations. Geography students learn to analyze data and policy in order to address and research critical questions about the world they live in.

Learning Outcomes

• Identify and critically analyze local and global issues and everyday life using a geographic framework
• Communicate effectively orally and in writing to diverse audiences / publics / stakeholders
• Understand unifying themes across human and physical geography
• Identify and analyze spatial patterns and their relationship to people, place and nature
• Demonstrate ability to design and conduct research using geographic concepts and appropriate methods
• Comprehend spatial dimensions and roots of power and inequality

Program Details

Sample Courses

• GEOG 210: Political and Cultural Geography of Globalization
• GEOG 251: World Religions: Comparative & Global Perspectives
• GEOG 240: Our Dynamic Landscape

Career Fields

• Education
• Public policy
• Sustainability
• Landscape architecture
• Consulting

Level of Math

• General Knowledge

This strand involves the general understanding and appreciation of how mathematics is used to solve problems in everyday life. The G-strand does not prepare a student for any further work grounded in mathematics and assumes the student will not proceed beyond the basic Foundations level noted above. Thus only those students whose major requires the most general knowledge of mathematics should take this strand.

Level of Second Language

• 4th Semester Proficiency

Fourth-semester skill level in a second language is required. B.A. degree students may fulfill this requirement with one of the following options: 1. Scoring the equivalent of fourth-semester skill level on an entrance or placement examination administered by The University of Arizona. 2. Completion of a two-course sequence beyond the second semester of post-secondary language instruction. 3. Completion with a C or higher of a 300- or 400-level language course at the post-secondary level. 4. Completion of one course beyond the third semester in combination with an AP (Advanced Placement) score, IB (International Baccalaureate) score or a CLEP (College Level Entrance Program) score determined by the individual language department. 5. An AP, IB, or CLEP language score determined by individual language departments 6. A minimum of one semester study abroad in a language program approved by the appropriate language department as the equivalent of fourth-semester skill level.

Pre-major Required?

• No

This Major's College

• College of Social & Behavioral Sciences

Degree

• Bachelor of Arts

Sample Plans

2025, Geography

• 4-Year Sample Plan
• Map Transfer Coursework
• Plan Ahead with a Transfer Pathway

First Year

1st Semester

• ENGL 101 First-Year Composition (3)
• Math General Strand (3)
• GE Core: Exploring Perspectives or Building Connections (3)
• Second Language (4)
• Introduction to the General Education Experience (Entry Course) (1)

2nd Semester

• ENGL 102 First-Year Composition (3)
• Intro to Human Geography (3)
• GE Core: Exploring Perspectives or Building Connections (3)
• GE Core: Exploring Perspectives or Building Connections (3)
• Second Language (4)

Second Year

3rd Semester

• Intro to Human Geography (3)
• GE Core: Exploring Perspectives or Building Connections (3)
• GE Core: Exploring Perspectives or Building Connections (3)
• GE Core: Exploring Perspectives or Building Connections (3)
• Second Language (4)

4th Semester

• GEOG Department Elective (3)
• Second Language (4)
• General Education Portfolio (Exit Course) (1)

Third Year

5th Semester

• Human Geography Core (3)
• Geography Major Methods (3)
• Elective (3)
• Minor (3)
• Minor (3)

6th Semester

• Human Geography Core (3)
• Geography Major Methods (3)
• Major Non-US Regional (3)
• Minor (3)
• Minor (3)

Fourth Year

7th Semester

• Advanced Major Elective (3)
• Advanced Major Elective (3)
• Minor (3)
• Elective (3)
• Elective (3)

8th Semester

• Geography Senior Capstone (3)
• Advanced Major Elective (3)
• Minor (3)
• Elective (3)
• Elective (3)