Geography, BS

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Banner Code: SC-BS-GEOG

This program of study is offered by the Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science in the College of Science .

Students must fulfill all requirements for bachelor’s degrees including university general education requirements .

Degree Requirements

46 credits in geography

Candidates for a BS degree in geography must complete the following 46 credits of geography with a minimum GPA of 2.00 for this course work.

16 credits of core courses

GGS 102 - Physical Geography Credits: 3
GGS 103 - Human Geography Credits: 3
GGS 300 - Quantitative Methods for Geographical Analysis Credits: 3
GGS 310 - Introduction to Digital Cartography Credits: 4
GGS 415 - Seminar in Geography Credits: 3

12 credits of systematic and regional courses, chosen from:

Choose four courses from the following, including at least one systematic geography and one regional geography course. Some of the regional courses fulfill the college-level, non-Western culture requirement:

Systematic Courses (one course from the following must be taken)
GGS 301 - Political Geography Credits: 3
GGS 302 - Global Environmental Hazards Credits: 3
GGS 303 - Conservation of Resources and Environment Credits: 3
GGS 304 - Populations Dimensions of Global Change Credits: 3
GGS 305 - Economic Geography Credits: 3
GGS 306 - Urban Geography Credits: 3
GGS 307 - Sustainable Development Credits: 3
GGS 309 - Meteorology and Climate Credits: 3
GGS 312 - Physical Climatology Credits: 3
GGS 314 - Severe and Extreme Weather Credits: 3
GGS 319 - Air Pollution Credits: 3
GGS 321 - Biogeography: Space, Time and Life Credits: 3
GGS 322 - Issues in Global Change Credits: 3
GGS 357 - Structures in Urban Governance and Planning Credits: 3
GGS 455 - Environmental Impact Assessment Credits: 3
GGS 456 - Introduction to Atmospheric Radiation Credits: 3
Regional Courses (one course from the following must be taken)
GGS 315 - Geography of the United States Credits: 3
GGS 316 - Geography of Latin America Credits: 3
GGS 320 - Geography of Europe Credits: 3
GGS 325 - Geography of North Africa and the Middle East Credits: 3
GGS 330 - Geography of the Soviet Succession States Credits: 3
GGS 333 - Issues in Regional Geography Credits: 3
GGS 380 - Geography of Virginia Credits: 3

12 credits of applications courses

GGS 311 - Introduction to Geographic Information Systems Credits: 3
GGS 411 - Advanced Digital Cartography Credits: 3
GGS 412 - Air Photography Interpretation Credits: 3
and one of the following two courses:
GGS 416 - Satellite Image Analysis Credits: 3
or
GGS 463 - Applied Geographic Information Systems Credits: 3

6 credits of electives

Six additional credits of geography electives, which may also include an internship (
GGS 480
) approved by the program advisor before enrollment

25 or 26 credits of required science, mathematics, statistics, and computer science courses

MATH 113 - Analytic Geometry and Calculus I Credits: 4
MATH 114 - Analytic Geometry and Calculus II Credits: 4
STAT 250 - Introductory Statistics I Credits: 3
and one of the following:
IT 103 - Introduction to Computing Credits: 3
or
CDS 130 - Computing for Scientists Credits: 3
plus either a GEOL sequence:
GEOL 101 - Introductory Geology I Credits: 4
GEOL 102 - Introductory Geology II Credits: 4
GEOL 317 - Geomorphology Credits: 4
or a BIOL sequence:
BIOL 103 - Introductory Biology I Credits: 4
BIOL 104 - Introductory Biology II Credits: 4
BIOL 377 - Applied Ecology Credits: 3