Geography Major, Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Cooperative studies and programs are coordinated with Environmental Science, Biology, Geology, History, Children’s Studies, International Affairs, and Urban and Regional Planning.
The Geography program has four major missions:
- providing general education courses to enrich the liberal arts offerings in both the sciences and social sciences;
- offering specialized or more advanced courses to service other programs in the university;
- providing a solid academic major for students wishing to pursue graduate study or work as a professional; and
- supporting research, consulting and other services for the region.
Notes:
- a minor is strongly recommended for the Geography BA;
- two years of a single high school foreign language or one year of a single college-level foreign language is required.
| Required–Disciplinary Foundation Courses | ||
| GEOS 113 | THE EARTH'S CLIMATE AND WEATHER | 5 |
| GEOS 200 | GLOBALIZATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT | 5 |
| Required CSBS Foundation Course | ||
| CSBS 310 | FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES THEORY | 5 |
| Choose one of the following | 5 | |
| STATISTICS FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES | ||
| CRITICAL GIS | ||
| Required Disciplinary Core Courses | ||
| GEOG 201 | RESEARCH METHODS | 5 |
| GEOG 227 | CRITICAL CARTOGRAPHIES | 5 |
| GEOG 230 | WORLD GEOGRAPHY | 5 |
| GEOG 392 | SEMINAR IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF GEOGRAPHY | 2 |
| Elective Concentration–choose one of the following | 20-25 | |
CSBS Certificate Program | ||
Students may choose one of the approved interdisciplinary certificate programs from the CSBS Certificate Program List, with approval of the Geography Program Director. Additional Geography electives may be required to reach the 20 credit minimum if the approved Certificate is less than 20 credits. | ||
Geography Graduate School Track | ||
Students may follow the traditional four field focus (human, physical, regional, technical) that is the expected preparation for graduate school. See full Geography Graduate School Track list below. | ||
Specialization Track | ||
Under certain circumstances, students may be allowed to design 20 to 25 credit group of electives that best expose them to the branch of geography they wish to pursue, with approval of the Geography Program Director. Choose a minimum 5 credits from each of the following four groups | ||
| Geography Graduate School Track Coursework | ||
Human | ||
| GLOBAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | ||
| RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION | ||
| THE GEOGRAPHY OF THEME PARKS | ||
| THE GEOGRAPHY OF CHILDHOOD | ||
| POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY | ||
| URBAN GEOGRAPHY: ORIGINS, FORMS AND FUNCTIONS | ||
| RESOURCES AND MANAGEMENT | ||
Physical | ||
| HOT EARTH: PEOPLE AND CLIMATE CHANGE | ||
| INTRODUCTION TO OCEANOGRAPHY | ||
| WILDLAND FIRE ECOLOGY | ||
| FUNDAMENTALS OF SOIL SCIENCE | ||
| WEATHER FORECASTING | ||
| WATER RESOURCES | ||
| WETLAND SCIENCE I | ||
| GEOMORPHOLOGY | ||
| DIGITAL GEOARCHAEOLOGY | ||
Regional | ||
| GEOGRAPHY OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST | ||
| LANDSCAPES OF THE PAST | ||
| REMOTE SENSING WITH LIDAR | ||
| SEMINAR | ||
Techniques | ||
| REMOTE SENSING WITH SATELLITE IMAGERY | ||
| DIGITAL GEOARCHAEOLOGY | ||
| CRITICAL GIS | ||
| DESKTOP MAPPING | ||
| GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS II | ||
| Required Senior Capstone | ||
| GEOG 490 | THE GEOGRAPHER'S CAPSTONE | 5 |
| Total Credits | 62-67 | |
University Competencies and Proficiencies
English
Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning
Placement and Clearance Exams
Prior Learning/Sources of Credit AP, CLEP, IB
General Education Requirements (GER)
- Minimum Credits—180 cumulative credit hours
- 60 upper-division credits (300 level or above)
- 45 credits in residence (attendance) at Eastern, with at least 15 upper-division credits in major in residence at Eastern
- Minimum Cumulative GPA ≥2.0
Breadth Area Core Requirements (BACR)
Humanities and Arts
Natural Sciences
Social Sciences
University Graduation Requirements (UGR)
Diversity Course List
Foreign Language (for Bachelor of Arts)
Global Studies Course List
Minor or Certificate
Senior Capstone Course List
All admitted students must officially Declare a Major by the time they reach 90 credits (junior standing).
Application for Graduation (use EagleNET) must be made at least two terms in advance of the term you expect to graduate (undergraduate and post-baccalaureate).
Use the Catalog Archives to determine two important catalog years.
SOAR calculates based on these two catalog years.
- The catalog in effect at the student's first term of current matriculation is used to determine BACR (Breadth Area Credit Requirements) and UGR (Undergraduate Graduation Requirements).
- The catalog in effect at the time the student declares a major or minor is used to determine the program requirements.
Students who successfully earn a BA in Geography from EWU should be able to do the following:
- apply basic research methodologies and field techniques to geographic research;
- demonstrate awareness of the diversity of cultural and natural landscapes on a global scale;
- demonstrate basic knowledge of the content and history of geography’s main sub disciplines, including physical, human, regional and cartographic techniques;
- demonstrate communication skills and critical thinking abilities required to interpret and express geographic information in clear written form;
- demonstrate proficiency in interpreting existing and creating new maps, in both paper and digital formats.