Geography Programs

The B.A., B.G.S., and B.S. in geography provide general liberal arts enrichment, preparation for graduate work, and training for careers in geography and related fields. Geography may be combined with another program as a double major, or courses in another area may simply be added to those in geography.

First- and Second-Year Preparation

Students should begin the major by meeting the core requirements and preparing for major courses.

Requirements for the B.A. or B.G.S. Major

Geography Core Knowledge and Skills

Majors must complete a course in each of the following areas:

• Principles of Physical Geography. Satisfied by GEOG 104 or 107 Required Geography Courses.
• Introductory Laboratory in Physical Geography. Satisfied by GEOG 105.
• Principles of Human Geography. Satisfied by GEOG 102 or 103.
• Computers, Maps and Geographical Analysis. Satisfied by GEOG 210.
• Mapping. Satisfied by GEOG 316 or 358.
• Senior Capstone in Geography. Satisfied by GEOG 500 or GEOG 714.

Geography Required Elective Hours. Majors must complete five courses (15 hours) at the 200-500 level, in addition to the core above, from at least 3 of the following 4 groups, one of which must be a regional course:

• Physical Studies. Satisfied by:

GEOG 148 Scientific Principles of Environmental Studies

GEOG 304 Environmental Conservation

GEOG 321 Climate and Climate Change

GEOG 331 Regional Geomorphology of the United States

GEOG 332 Glaciers and Landscape

GEOG 335 Introduction to Soil Geography

GEOG 338 Introduction to River Systems

GEOG 339 Topics in Physical Geography: _____

GEOG 350 Physical Geography of Africa

GEOG 410 Human Biogeography, Honors

GEOG 521 Microclimatology

GEOG 531 Topics in Physical Geography: _____

GEOG 532 Geoarchaeology

GEOG 535 Soil Geography

GEOG 536 Landscape Ecology

GEOG 537 Elements of Plant Geography

GEOG 538 Soil Physics and Chemistry

GEOG 541 Geomorphology

GEOG 731 Topics in Physical Geography: _____

GEOG 735 Soil Geomorphology

GEOG 741 Advanced Geomorphology

GEOG 749 Topics in Stable Isotopes in the Natural Sciences: ____

• Geographic Information Science. Satisfied by:

GEOG 111 Maps and Mapping

GEOG 210 Computers, Maps, and Geographical Analysis

GEOG 311 Map Conception and Development

GEOG 316 Methods of Analyzing Geographical Data

GEOG 319 Topics in Techniques: _____

GEOG 357 History and Philosophy of Geographic Information Science

GEOG 358 Principles of Geographic Information Systems

GEOG 418 Workshop in Production Cartography

GEOG 433 Biogeography Field and Laboratory Techniques

GEOG 458 Geographic Information Systems: _____

GEOG 511 Intermediate Cartography: _____

GEOG 513 Cartographic Design

GEOG 514 Visualizing Spatial Data

GEOG 516 Applied Multivariate Analysis in Geography

GEOG 517 Data Handling and Map Symbolization

GEOG 526 Remote Sensing of Environment I

GEOG 558 Intermediate Geographical Information Systems

GEOG 560 GIS Application Programming

GEOG 573 Advanced Geographic Analysis

GEOG 658 Topics in Geographic Information Science: _____

GEOG 711 Advanced Cartography: _____

GEOG 713 Practicum in Cartography

GEOG 714 Field Experience

GEOG 716 Advanced Geostatistics

GEOG 726 Remote Sensing of Environment II

GEOG 733 Advanced Biogeography Field and Laboratory Techniques

GEOG 758 Geographic Information Science

• Human Studies. Satisfied by:

GEOG 150 Environment, Culture, and Society

GEOG 352 Economic Geography

GEOG 370 Introduction to Cultural Geography

GEOG 371 Environmental Geopolitics

GEOG 375 Intermediate Human Geography

GEOG 377 Urban Geography

GEOG 379 Topics in Cultural Geography: _____

GEOG 510 Human Factors

GEOG 515 Behavioral Systems

GEOG 519 History of Cartography

GEOG 551 Intermediate Economic Geography

GEOG 552 Topics in Urban/Economic Geography: _____

GEOG 556 Geography of the Energy Crisis

GEOG 557 Cities and Development

GEOG 570 Geography of American Indians

GEOG 571 Topics in Cultural Geography: _____

GEOG 572 Political Geography

GEOG 575 Geography of Population

GEOG 576 Cultural Geography of the United States

GEOG 579 Geography of American Foodways

GEOG 601 Indigenous Peoples of the World

GEOG 657 Geographic Models

GEOG 670 Cultural Ecology

GEOG 710 Information Design

GEOG 719 Development of Geographic Thought

GEOG 751 Analysis of Regional Development

GEOG 752 Topics in Urban/Economic Geography: _____

GEOG 756 Energy Problems and the Economic-Physical Environment

GEOG 771 Topics in Cultural Geography: _____

GEOG 772 Problems in Political Geography

GEOG 773 Humanistic Geography

GEOG 775 Proseminar in Population Geography

• Regional Studies. Satisfied by:

GEOG 351 Africa’s Human Geographies

GEOG 390 Geography of the United States and Canada

GEOG 395 Environmental Issues of: _____

GEOG 396 China’s Geographies

GEOG 397 Geography of Kansas and the Plains

GEOG 399 Topics in Regional Studies: _____

GEOG 550 Environmental Issues in Africa

GEOG 553 Geography of African Development

GEOG 591 Geography of Latin America

GEOG 592 Middle American Geography

GEOG 593 Central American Peoples and Lands

GEOG 594 Geography of the Former Soviet Union

GEOG 595 Geography of Eastern Europe

GEOG 596 Geography of China

GEOG 597 Geography of Brazil

GEOG 790 North American Regions: _____

GEOG 791 Latin American Regions: _____

GEOG 794 Regions of the Former U.S.S.R.

GEOG 795 European Regions: _____

GEOG 796 Asian Regions: _____

Major Hours & Major GPA

While completing all required courses (above), majors must also meet each of the following hour and grade-point average minimum standards:

Major Hours
Satisfied by 33 hours of major courses.

Major Hours in Residence
Satisfied by a minimum of 15 hours of KU resident credit in the major. 

Major Junior/Senior (300+) Hours
Satisfied by a minimum of 12 hours from junior/senior courses (300+) in the major.

Major Junior/Senior (300+) Graduation GPA
Satisfied by a minimum of a 2.0 KU GPA in junior/senior courses (300+) in the major. GPA calculations include all junior/senior courses in the field of study including F’s and repeated courses. See the Semester/Cumulative GPA Calculator.

Graduation Plan

With careful planning and commitment to a full-time course load, you can graduate in 4 years. Download a sample 4-year plan for geography.