Geography B.S.
Program description
From climate to culture, urban settings to rural land uses, human society to environment, the B.S. in Geography provides students with the tools to understand our world, its processes, and all of its inhabitants. The Geography B.S., with its emphasis on the application of scientific knowledge and critical thinking to a wide variety of contemporary geographic problems, is an exceedingly relevant degree. Students specialize in one of two areas, Environmental Geography or Geographic Information Science (GIS). In Environmental Geography students study natural environments and systems, both in themselves and as they relate to human beings, including weather and climate patterns, climate change, plant and animal distributions, forest fires, and natural resources such as water, wind, and forestland. GIS collects geographic information, creates spatial analytical methods, and uses cutting-edge technologies to advance our knowledge of natural and societal phenomena and processes across space and time. Environmental Geography and GIS are highly employable fields that offer opportunities to study some of the most urgent problems facing society today: How do humans affect the climate? Why are climate-change impacts not the same everywhere? What places are most prone to fire, flooding and other hazards, and why? In a city with many different people and many different needs, where is the best place to locate a new hospital or school? How should electoral boundaries be drawn to ensure fair representation? How can we ensure that everyone has access to the goods and services they need or reduce spatial disparities? A B.S. in Geography provides the fundamental knowledge and analytical skills to tackle these and many other fundamentally geographic questions.
The B.S. in Geography directly benefits from being a science field located in a liberal arts department. As noted by the U.S. National Academies, the liberal arts are of increasing importance in scientific and technical fields because they train students to think broadly and in an integrative way. Geography majors at the University of Minnesota report high rates of satisfaction with the major. The B.S. in Geography supports students in connecting the sciences and the liberal arts by including a broad palette of coursework in Geography such as urban geography, economic geography, and social-cultural geographies. The capstone experience, taken near the end of the student's studies, readies students to move forward by encouraging them to synthesize what they have learned.
A wide variety of career options are open to students with a B.S. in Geography. Local, regional, and federal agencies seek geographers for city and regional planning, natural resource management, transportation, and community development positions. Private industry consulting, environmental and marketing firms, the non-profit sector, and local, national, and transnational non-governmental organizations seek the geographic skills taught in the Geography B.S. Many Geography undergraduate majors obtain careers in education and many go on to graduate school.
The B.S. in Geography directly benefits from being a science field located in a liberal arts department. As noted by the U.S. National Academies, the liberal arts are of increasing importance in scientific and technical fields because they train students to think broadly and in an integrative way. Geography majors at the University of Minnesota report high rates of satisfaction with the major. The B.S. in Geography supports students in connecting the sciences and the liberal arts by including a broad palette of coursework in Geography such as urban geography, economic geography, and social-cultural geographies. The capstone experience, taken near the end of the student's studies, readies students to move forward by encouraging them to synthesize what they have learned.
A wide variety of career options are open to students with a B.S. in Geography. Local, regional, and federal agencies seek geographers for city and regional planning, natural resource management, transportation, and community development positions. Private industry consulting, environmental and marketing firms, the non-profit sector, and local, national, and transnational non-governmental organizations seek the geographic skills taught in the Geography B.S. Many Geography undergraduate majors obtain careers in education and many go on to graduate school.