All seven undergrad options (6 BA Concentrations, BS in Physical Geography) include a set of core courses including two introductory classes (one human geography, one physical geography) and 4 skills and techniques courses, including writing, field methods, statistics, and mapping/GIS.
A minimum of a 2.000 average in the courses applied to the Geography major is required for graduation. The Junior Year Writing requirement is fulfilled by enrolling in GEOGRAPH 314; the Integrative Experience requirement is fulfilled with GEOGRAPH 486.
The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography (scroll down for BS degree)
The BA degree in Geography is a social science and humanities-focused degree in human geography. It is ideal for students interested in society/nature relations, sustainability, environmental and conservation policy and practice, environmental history, climate change, water geographies, national parks and protected areas, as well as urban studies, political geography, and US and world regional studies. Students in the BA program also learn valuable research and career skills in ethnographic fieldwork, landscape analysis, cartography, remote sensing, and Geographic Information Science.
BA – Geography majors choose from one of six degree concentrations:
- Human Geography
- Environmental Geography and Sustainability
- Climate Change and Society
- Globalization and International Studies
- Geographic Information Science and Technology
- Urban Geography
Click here for a media overview of the BA Concentrations
For a brief summary of all undergrad degree options, click here: Geography Degrees at UMass
For detailed degree requirements, see Geography BA Concentration Tables
Note: students earning the B.A. degree must fulfill the College of Natural Sciences foreign language requirement. Click here for more information.
For information about careers in Geography click here https://websites.umass.edu/umgeog/careers-in-geography/
For further information please contact the Geography Undergraduate Advisor, Piper Gaubatz, geography@geo.umass.edu
The Bachelor of Science Degree in Geography
The Geography program offers a degree program in physical geography (BS).
Although Geography program faculty do not offer physical geography courses, this degree program provides the opportunity for students interested in physical science studies to achieve a degree based on co-listed and elective courses from cognate fields (especially geoscience/ geology, and biology). This degree requires foundational courses in human geography, regional geography, physics, chemistry, and biology and core courses in climatology, biology/ecology, and geomorphology.
A Geography BS with a concentration in Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST) is being developed, and students may also be able to earn an undergraduate certificate in GIST when this becomes available (planned for Fall 2016).
Students interested in studying nature-society relations, including human impacts on environment, should enroll in the Geography BA (concentration in Environmental Geography or the proposed new concentration in Environment and Sustainability).
Students interested in the BS in physical geography should contact the Geography undergraduate advisor, Piper Gaubatz, at geography@geo.umass.edu.
For more information about the Geography program and degrees click here. https://websites.umass.edu/umgeog/undergraduate-programs/
Requirements for B.S. Degree in Physical Geography
In addition to the courses required for the B.A. degree (listed above):
Three advanced physical geography courses (9 credits), including:
354 Climatology
560 Geomorphology
and an advanced physical geography course, such as:
591C Introduction to Climate Modeling
595D Oceans and Climate
(These courses may count for three of the required upper-division courses in Geography.)
General Science Courses (18-24 credits)
Calculus (6-8 cr)
General college physics (6-8 cr)
General college chemistry (6-8 cr)
General Geoscience Courses (7 credits)
101 The Earth
CMPSCI 121 Introduction to Problem Solving with Computers