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Program Requirements: GeographyStudents majoring in geography take a minimum of 10 Geography courses in accordance with the following guidelines: 1. Four core courses. Core courses emphasize core geographic concepts and ways of creating knowledge; courses in the core are designed to help build frameworks for understanding the world. Students select one core course from each of the following four broad disciplinary core areas• Nature and Society: Analyzes the ways that human societies have used, shaped, and constructed nature; impacts of societies, economies, and cultures on ecological systems. Core courses in Nature-Society: • Globalization, Cities and Development: Examines the ways that space and location shape economic, sociopolitical, and cultural life; ways that economic, sociopolitical, and cultural factors shape space and location; relationships between these processes and the dynamics of urban life. Core courses in Globalization, Cities and Development: • Earth Systems Science. Examines how Earth systems (ecosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere) naturally function, how these systems interact with one another, and how they are affected by human activities. Core courses in Earth Systems Science: • Geographic Information Science. Geographic Information Science is concerned with the acquisition, analysis, and communication of geographic information; principles and techniques important in cartography, remote sensing, geographic information systems, and spatial analysis. Core courses in Geographic Information Science: Each year, several 000- and 100-level courses are designated as core courses in each of these areas. In special cases, a 200-level course may be used to fulfill a core course requirement, subject to the approval of the student’s adviser and either the undergraduate adviser or the director of the school. 2. Two skills courses. All geography majors take Geog 141 Research Methods (offered each year) and one additional course in a skill area appropriate to the student’s area of specialization, as detailed in their learning plan (discussed below). The adviser’s signature on the learning plan signifies formal approval of this elective skills course. With the approval of the student’s adviser, a comparable skills course in another department can be substituted. Students substituting a skills course from another department will need to take an additional geography course to ensure that a total of 10 geography courses are taken. Geography Skills Courses: 3. Four specialization courses. Geography majors take four specialization courses, three of which must be at the 200 level and one of which may be either at the 100 or 200 level. Specialization courses are subject to approval by the student’s adviser and must reflect a logical combination of courses as specified in the formal learning plan (see below). Formal approval of the elective specialization course is implied by the adviser’s signature on the learning plan. Geography Specialization Courses: 4. Research Applications Experience. To fulfill the research applications requirement all geography majors must complete an independent research project and present the findings at a public event at Clark (e.g., Academic Spree Day, a Departmental poster session (offered every term)) or at other appropriate venues (e.g., professional meetings). All students must clearly articulate the problem being analyzed and the project must involve research design, data collection, analysis, and a reporting of the results through the public presentation. The research applications requirement can only be met after a student has completed GEOG 141-Research Methods (or an approved equivalent from another program). A research applications project can be conducted through a research project that is part of any 200-level course in geography or through any other research project where the student is directly advised by a faculty member in the School of Geography (e.g., directed study, honors thesis, or HERO project). 5. The Capstone Experience. The capstone experience enables majors to link their particular interests/specializations to established schools of thought in the discipline of geography. To meet the requirement, students will write a 5-page (minimum) literature review as part of any 200-level geography course (including directed studies, HERO, or an honors thesis); a course that will ideally be taken during the student’s final year. The literature review will situate the student’s specialization in the major within wider trends and traditions in the discipline of geography. Specific guidance on how to write this review will be given by the professor leading the course or supervising the research project that is associated with the capstone experience. If desired, and as determined by the supervising professor, the capstone paper may be factored into the final grade for a course. Instructions for Research Applications Experience & Capstone Experience Completion I. Students must declare, in writing (a form can be found in the guide to the major), their intention to meet the research applications requirement or capstone through the course at least two days prior to the end of the add-drop period of the semester when they wish to get credit. The declaration must be approved and signed by the professor teaching the course or advising them on their research applications or capstone experience, and then given to the Undergraduate Program Assistant in Jefferson 220B. II. Students must register for GEOG235 Research Applications Experience or GEOG236 Capstone Experience, both are pass/no-credit courses run by the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) in the given year. III. Once the student has successfully met the expectations as agreed to with the advising professor, the student must make sure that the advising professor notifies the DUS that a passing grade should be administered. It is the student’s responsibility to make sure their advisor notifies the DUS of her/his successful completion of the project or capstone paper. IV. The Reseach Applications Experience and Capstone Experience are required of ALL students majoring in Geography. Special Note: Professors have the right to decline a Research Applications or Capstone Experience request from any student and no faculty member is expected to have more than 5 research applications or capstone students in any semester. Thus it is imperative that a student carefully considers the professors and courses she/he will work with and use to meet these requirements and that she/he contacts the relevant professor in the semester prior to the beginning of the Research Applications or Capstone Experience Course. 6. Learning Plan and Learning Synopsis. Each student is required to prepare a formal learning plan upon declaring the major. This plan, which can take the form of the major planning sheet in the program guide, identifies the courses the student intends to take (and in which semesters) in order to complete the major requirements. This plan can and should be regularly updated, with files retained by the major advisor and/or the undergraduate coordinator, as well as by the student. In addition by January 31 of the senior year, students must complete a learning synopsis. The synopsis will provide a comprehensive assessment of the Geography major as experienced by the student. Specifically, the synopsis describes and points to evidence of student achievement according to the goals of the major: 1) understanding the purpose and scope of the discipline of geography; 2) articulating relationships of people, culture, and society with the biophysical environment, or in relation to concepts of space and place; 3) mastery of appropriate skills; and 4) expertise and understanding of a particular topical focus within geography. 7. Requirements for the Dual Major in Geography. In accordance with University guidelines, the requirements for a dual major are identical to those of the individual major. |