School of Earth, Environment and Society

Program Details | Geography Bachelor’s

Geography majors must complete at least 52 credits, including 8 credits in each of the following areas: geographic techniques, physical geography, and human geography—as detailed below. 

  • Of the 52 credits, 12 credits are to be earned by taking the required courses, and at least 36 credit hours must be at the upper division, including 16 hours at the 400-level.
  • Out of 36 upper division credits, students may use up to 12 Anth, EES, ESM, G, or SySc credits.
  • Out of the required 16 400-level credits to graduate, 8-16 must be Geog credits.
  • Students who wish to earn a B.S. degree must take Geog 496, or Stat 243Z and Stat 244, or equivalent; students who have completed Geog 496 can count the course to partially meet the 16-credit 400-level and geographic techniques (8 credits) program requirement. 

To help achieve graduation goals on time, we strongly encourage regular consultations with a faculty or pathway advisor.

Requirements

Required Courses (12 credits)

  • Geog 210 Physical Geography and Geog 210L Lab for Geog 210 (4 credits) or G 201 Dynamic Earth: Interior and G 204 Geology Lab (4 credits) or G 202 Dynamic Earth: Surface and G 205 Geology Lab (4 credits)
  • Geog 230 Environment and Society: Global Perspectives or Anth 103 Introduction to Social/Cultural Anthropology (4 credits)
  • Geog 380U Maps and Geographic Information and Geog 380L Lab for Geog 380 (4 credits)

Physical Geography (8 credits from the following courses):

  • Geog 310U/EES 333U Climate and Water Resources (4 credits)
  • Geog 311U Climatology (4 credits)
  • Geog 312U/EES 334U Climate Variability and Change (4 credits)
  • Geog 313U Biogeography (4 credits)
  • Geog 314U Severe Weather (4 credits)
  • Geog 320 Geomorphology and Geog 320L Geomorphology Lab (4 credits)
  • Geog 322U Mountains (4 credits)
  • Geog 333U/Ph 333U Weather (4 credits)
  • Geog 340U Global Water Issues and Sustainability (4 credits)
  • Geog 407 Seminar in Physical Geography (4 credits)
  • Geog 412 Global Climate Change Science and Socio-environmental Impact Assessment (4 credits)
  • Geog 413 Disturbance Biogeography of Pacific Northwest (4 credits)
  • Geog 414 Hydrology (4 credits)
  • Geog 415 Soils and Land Use (4 credits)
  • Geog 418/ESM 418 Landscape Ecology (4 credits)
  • Geog 440/ESM 440 The Ecology & Management of Wildfire (4 credits)
  • Geog 447 Urban Streams (4 credits)

Human Geography (8 credits from the following courses):

  • Geog 325U/Intl 325U Contemporary India (4 credits)
  • Geog 331U Geography of Globalization (4 credits)
  • Geog 332U Urban Geography (4 credits)
  • Geog 345U Resource Management (4 credits)
  • Geog 346U World Population and Food Supply (4 credits)
  • Geog 347U Environmental Issues and Action (4 credits)
  • Geog 348U Cultural and Political Ecology (4 credits)
  • Geog 350U Geography of World Affairs (4 credits)
  • Geog 351U Pacific Northwest (4 credits)
  • Geog 368U United States and Canada (4 credits)
  • Geog 370U/Intl 370U Global Migration (4 credits)
  • Geog 375U Maps, Culture and Society (4 credits)
  • Geog 430 Cultural Geography (4 credits)
  • Geog 432 Urban Landscapes (4 credits)
  • Geog 442 Sustainable Cities (4 credits)
  • Geog 444 Political Ecologies of the Western US (4 credits)
  • Geog 446 Water Resource Management (4 credits)
  • Geog 448 The Urban Forest (4 credits)
  • Geog 450 Climate and Society (4 credits)
  • Geog 462 Sense of Place (4 credits)
  • Geog 467 Community Resilience in Coupled Socio-Ecological Systems (4 credits)
  • Geog 472 Critical GIS (2 credits)

Geographic Techniques (8 credits from the following courses)

  • Geog 407 Seminar in Research Skills (4 credits)
  • Geog 420 Field Methods in Physical Geography (4 credits)
  • Geog 425 Field Methods in Human Geography (4 credits)
  • Geog 472 Critical GIS (2 credits)
  • Geog 475 Spatial Database Design and Applications (4 credits)
  • Geog 476 3D Terrain Analysis & Visualization (2 credits)
  • Geog 477 Photogrammetry and LiDAR (2 credits)
  • Geog 480 Fundamentals of Remote Sensing (4 credits)
  • Geog 481 Digital Image Analysis I: Introduction (4 credits)
  • Geog 482 Digital Image Analysis II: Advanced Remote Sensing (4 credits)
  • Geog 484 Cartographic Applications of GIS (4 credits)
  • Geog 485 Map Design and Production (4 credits)
  • Geog 488 Geographic Information Systems I: Introduction and Geog 488L GIS Lab (4 credits)
  • Geog 490 GIS Programming (4 credits)
  • Geog 492 Geographic Information Systems II: Advanced GIS and Geog 492L GIS II Lab (4 credits)
  • Geog 494 GIS for Water Resources (4 credits)
  • Geog 496 Introduction to Spatial Quantitative Analysis (4 credits)
  • Geog 497 Advanced Spatial Quantitative Analysis (4 credits)

The courses in the above lists that can be used for the BS lab science requirement are the following: Geog 210, Geog 320, Geog 380U, Geog 475, Geog 476, Geog 477, Geog 480, Geog 481, Geog 488, Geog 490, and Geog 492.

Electives (16 credits)

To fulfill the electives requirement, students can count up to 12 upper-division Anth, ESM, G, and SySc credits.

Total Credit Hours: 52

Courses taken under the undifferentiated grading option (pass/no pass) will not be accepted toward fulfilling department major requirements. 

All courses used to satisfy the School major requirements must be graded C- or above.