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UMA Undergraduate Guide 2019-2020
 Academic Departments and Programs Geosciences Geography Getting Started
Getting Started
Information below is meant to guide first year students in getting started with this major and choosing appropriate courses. More advanced students interested in this major would also likely start with proposed foundation/pre-requisite courses. Please refer to the Major page located in the left menu bar to learn about the full major requirements. How to Explore the MajorSuggested General Education CoursesAll Undergraduates are required to satisfy the General Education Requirements. Guidelines for students, are available at www.umass.edu/gened. Consider taking one of the required introductory courses for the major, such as:
Students are permitted to count ONE course from the major to satisfy a general education requirement. Suggested Major and Pre-requisite CoursesRequired prerequisite courses:
Note that B.A. candidates must complete the College of Natural Sciences foreign language requirement and thus may need to take a foreign language class. See http://www.cns.umass.edu/academics/cns-degree-requirements. How to Declare/Change into the MajorFor current & admitted students: This is an unrestricted major, which means any student may declare the major. Unrestricted majors may still have an entry process such as meeting with an advisor or attending an information meeting. To declare the Geography B.A. or B.S. as a major, make an appointment for Geography advising: http://umass.campus.eab.com/home Exploratory students are welcome to declare the major at any time during their Freshman/Sophomore year. As a Secondary MajorGeography works well as a secondary major. Secondary major students typically take the Junior Year Writing and Integrative Experience courses in their primary major and do not need to duplicate those courses in Geography. To declare the Geography B.A. or B.S. as a secondary major, make an appointment for Geography advising through the UMass educational advisory board system. Login at http://umass.campus.eab.com/home Students may declare a secondary major in Geography at any time. Transfer StudentsStudents should declare before the junior year by seeing the departmental advisor. Some students do, however, enter the major as juniors and still graduate on time. Students should complete their General Education courses, GEOGRAPH 100 or 110, GEOGRAPH 102 or 150 and start taking 300-level courses drawn from the Geography core or Geography electives. Transfer students are encouraged to attend a transfer advising session or correspond with a geography advisor by emailing geography@geo.umass.edu Summary of Requirements for the MajorRefer to the Major page located in the left menu bar to learn more. Geography is a unique discipline which integrates social science and physical science. At UMass, Geography majors choose one of seven degree options: either one of the six B.A. concentration options -- human geography, environmental geography and sustainability, climate change and society, geographic information science and technology, globalization and international studies, or urban geography, or a B.S. degree in physical geography. Regardless of concentration or degree (B.A. or B.S.), all geography majors complete a common core curriculum including introductory courses in human and physical geography and skills courses including writing, fieldwork, GIS/mapping and statistics. Note that B.A. students must complete the College of Natural Sciences foreign language requirement; B.S. students complete a set of supporting science courses. A complete list of requirements and program descriptions is available at: blogs.umass.edu/umgeog. For the B.A. concentration in Human Geography: A minimum of forty-one ( 41) credits in Geography including GEOGRAPH 102 or 150, 100 or 110, 314, 340 OR an alternate department-approved statistics course, 352 OR an alternate department-approved GIS or mapping course, and 486 (or approved substitute for the Integrative Experience), plus 21 elective credits in Geography/cognate courses numbered 200 and above For the B.A. concentration in Environmental Geography and Sustainability: A minimum of forty-one ( 41) credits in Geography including GEOGRAPH 102 or 150, 100 or 110, 314, 340 OR an alternate department-approved statistics course, 352 OR an alternate department-approved GIS or mapping course, and 486 (or approved substitute for the Integrative Experience), plus one Environmental Geography and Sustainability Core Course (3 credits), three Environmental Geography and Sustainability Elective Courses (9 credits), and three General Elective Courses in Geography and Cognate Fields numbered 200 and above (9 credits) For the B.A. concentration in Climate Change and Society: A minimum of forty-one ( 41) credits in Geography including GEOGRAPH 102 or 150, 100 or 110, 314, 340 OR an alternate department-approved statistics course, 352 OR an alternate department-approved GIS or mapping course, and 486 (or approved substitute for the Integrative Experience), plus GEOGRAPH 354 Climatology and 497C Climate Crisis (6 credits), Climate and Society Elective Courses (6 credits), and General Elective Courses in Geography and Cognate Fields numbered 200 and above (9 credits) For the B.A. concentration in Geographic Information Science and Technology: A minimum of forty-one ( 41) credits in Geography including GEOGRAPH 102 or 150, 100 or 110, 314, 340 OR an alternate department-approved statistics course, 352 OR an alternate department-approved GIS or mapping course, and 486 (or approved substitute for the Integrative Experience), plus two additional Mapping/GIS/Remote Sensing Core Courses (6-8 credits), GIST Elective Courses (6 credits), and General Elective Courses in Geography and Cognate Fields numbered 200 and above (9 credits) For the B.A. concentration in Urban Geography: A minimum of forty-one ( 41) credits in Geography including GEOGRAPH 102 or 150, 100 or 110, 314, 340 OR an alternate department-approved statistics course, 352 OR an alternate department-approved GIS or mapping course, and 486 (or approved substitute for the Integrative Experience), plus two Core Courses in Urban Geography and Urban Issues (6 credits), Urban Geography Elective Courses (6 credits), and General Elective Courses in Geography and Cognate Fields numbered 200 and above (9 credits) For the B.A. concentration in Globalization and International Studies: At least 6 of these credits must be in conjunction with a study-abroad program, internship, experiential learning program or other international academic experience involving a period of residence outside the U.S. A minimum of forty-one ( 41) credits in Geography including GEOGRAPH 102 or 150, 100 or 110, 314, 340 OR an alternate department-approved statistics course, 352 OR an alternate department-approved GIS or mapping course, and 486 (or approved substitute for the Integrative Experience), plus Globalization/International Studies Core Course (World Regional Geography), pre-trip & capstone (6 credits), Globalization Elective courses (6 credits), International Studies Elective courses (6 credits), and one additional General Elective Course in Geography or a Cognate Field numbered 200 and above (3 credits) For the B.S.: A minimum of forty-one ( 41) credits in Geography including GEOGRAPH 102 or 150, 100 or 110, 314, 340 OR an alternate department-approved statistics course, 352 OR an alternate department-approved GIS or mapping course, and 486 (or approved substitute for the Integrative Experience), three Advanced Physical Geography Courses including GEOGRAPH 354 (9 credits), General Elective Courses in Geography and Cognate Fields numbered 200 and above (15 credits), and the following supporting science courses (25-31): GEOLOGY 101, two semesters each of Chemistry, Physics, Calculus and any approved one-semester Computer Science programming course. Note: the B.S. degree does not require a foreign language. Is there a minor? If so what are the requirements? For further information, contact: |