Geography Major Requirements
Students must meet with the department's undergraduate advisor to declare geography as a major. All majors must complete the 24- or 25-credit core curriculum and the additional requirements as defined in one of the four tracks:
- Geographic Information
- Urban
- Climate-Environment
- Globalization, Cultures, and Societies
Geography majors may earn either a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. In satisfying their major requirements, all students must complete at least 33 credits in geography, 18 of which must be at or above the 300 level, with at least 15 of those taken in residence at UWM. Courses taken outside geography that fulfill geography requirements will be included in the major GPA. Majors must have a 2.0 GPA in all geography credits attempted at UWM, as well as in any transfer work counting toward the Geography major.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core Curriculum | ||
| Select one of the following courses in human geography: | 3 | |
| Introduction to Human Geography | ||
| The World: Peoples and Regions | ||
| Geography of Race in the United States | ||
| Globalization and Economic Development | ||
| Our Urban Environment: Introduction to Urban Geography 1 | ||
| Select one of these courses in physical or environmental geography: | 3 | |
| Our Physical Environment | ||
| Introduction to Environmental Geography | ||
| Select one of the following regional or world geography courses: | 3 | |
| Geography of Asia | ||
| Muslim Geographies: Identities and Politics | ||
| Nationalities and Nations of the World | ||
| Europe: East and West | ||
| Gendered Geographies | ||
| Geography of South Asia | ||
| The following two courses are required for all tracks: | ||
| GEOG 215 | Introduction to Geographic Information Science | 3 |
| GEOG 247 | Quantitative Analysis in Geography | 3 |
| Select one of the following techniques courses: | 3-4 | |
| Remote Sensing: Environmental and Land Use Analysis | ||
| Cartography | ||
| Qualitative Methods in Geography | ||
| Geographic Information Science 2 | ||
| Spatial Analysis | ||
| The following course is required for all tracks. | ||
| GEOG 600 | Perspectives on Geography (satisfies L&S research requirement) | 3 |
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Geography Field Work 3 | ||
| Internship in Geography, Upper Division 4 | ||
| Study Abroad: 4 | ||
| Major Tracks | ||
| Select a Major Track | 9-15 | |
| Total Credits | 33-40 | |
- 1
Students in the Urban Track are required to take GEOG 140.
- 2
Students in the Geographic Information Track must take GEOG 525.
- 3
Fieldwork is only offered in the June summer sessions. Check with the department for further details.
- 4
Students must obtain PRIOR approval to select either of these two courses. With approval, students can fulfill this requirement by completing a minimum of 90 hours of field research in one of the following courses: GEOG 489 or GEOG 497.
Major Tracks
Geographic Information Track
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| GEOG 625 | Intermediate Geographic Information Science | 4 |
| Select two upper-level techniques courses 1 | 7-8 | |
| GEOG 698 | GIS/Cartography Internship | 3 |
| Total Credits | 14-15 | |
- 1
In addition to GEOG 525, listed in requirement of the core curriculum, (7-8 cr. beyond core).
Urban Track
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select two of the following: | 6 | |
| Geography of Cities and Metropolitan Areas | ||
| Cities of the World: Comparative Urban Geography | ||
| Globalization and the City | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Environmental Problems | ||
| Physical Geography of the City | ||
| Urban Environmental Change and Social Justice | ||
| Total Credits | 9 | |
Climate-Environment Track
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select three of the following: | 9 | |
| Human Impact on the Environment | ||
| Natural Hazards 1 | ||
| General Climatology 1 | ||
| Biogeography 1 | ||
| Conservation of Natural Resources | ||
| Hydrogeography 1 | ||
| Climates of the Past and Climate Change 1 | ||
| 1 | ||
| Environmental Problems | ||
| Watershed Analysis and Modeling 1 | ||
| Physical Geography of the City 1 | ||
| Urban Environmental Change and Social Justice | ||
| Total Credits | 9 | |
- 1
These courses are approved to satisfy the L&S Advanced Natural Sciences requirement for the B.S. Students pursuing the B.S. option will need to complete at least 15 credits in upper-division courses (numbered 300 or above) in Geography, and 30 of their 36 credits in upper-division L&S courses must be in approved L&S Advanced Natural Science courses.
Globalization, Cultures, and Societies Track
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Select any three of the following regional, world, or urban geography courses, with at least two at the 400-level or above. 1,2,3 | 9 | |
| Regional: | ||
| Geography of Asia | ||
| Europe: East and West | ||
| Geography of South Asia | ||
| World: | ||
| Muslim Geographies: Identities and Politics | ||
| Nationalities and Nations of the World | ||
| Gendered Geographies | ||
| Urban: | ||
| Geography of Cities and Metropolitan Areas | ||
| Cities of the World: Comparative Urban Geography | ||
| Physical Geography of the City | ||
| Globalization and the City | ||
| Urban Environmental Change and Social Justice | ||
| Total Credits | 9 | |
- 1
In addition to the regional or world course taken to satisfy major core requirement above.
- 2
If the course taken to meet core requirement is a Regional course, then the course selected to complete track requirement should be a World course, or vice versa, for a total of one Regional course and one World course in the major.
- 3
If not selected for core requirement above.