Undergraduate Program

How to Apply - The University of Iowa undergraduate admissions website.

Minor in Geography

The minor in geography provides an opportunity to obtain a background in Geographic Information Science (e.g. GIS), environmental studies, and/or social change. A minor requires a minimum of 15 s.h. in geography courses, including 12 s.h. taken at The University of Iowa in 100-level courses. Students must maintain a g.p.a. of at least 2.00 in the minor. Students are encouraged to concentrate their course work in tracks--geography and social change, environmental studies, or geographic information science. Those who wish assistance in selecting courses may contact the department secretary to request assignment of a minor advisor.

Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts in Geography

Geography is concerned with place and environment and the ongoing processes of change within and between social and physical systems. Geography’s importance to scholarly inquiry is rooted in the complexity of the social and environmental problems with which the science deals. Its analytical power comes from its ability to understand and work with complex systems and with problems that require synthesis and integration. Three concepts at the core of the discipline—space, place, and scale—provide theoretical constructs and methodological tools for a science that investigates the complex character of social and environmental phenomena.

Geographers examine issues such as distribution and consumption of natural resources, air and water quality, climate changes and ecosystem dynamics, growth and development of urban areas, population dynamics, politics and practice of international development, social justice, and gender relations. They view society and the environment as a physical/social/cultural system. They apply uniquely geographical perspectives and tools, as well as knowledge from other social and scientific disciplines, to analyze the emergent properties of these systems.

Current undergraduates wishing to declare a Geography Major or Minor -

You may contact the Department of Geography office at 319-335-0151 or stop by 316 Jessup Hall.

Major Areas of Study

Each student majoring in geography selects one of three programs of study: geography and social change, environmental studies, or geographic information science. The course offerings in these programs include some overlapping of requirements. Transfer students must earn at least 15 s.h. of geography course work in residence at The University of Iowa.

Resources and Examples of Careers in Geography

Study abroad in India

Environmental Studies

The undergraduate program in environmental studies is designed for students interested in the environment from physical and sociocultural perspectives. These students may have career expectations or personal interests in resource management, physical geography, climatology, environmental policy or law, global environmental change, sustainable development, or other complex environmental issues. Career goals may involve one of the environmental professions, such as landscape ecology or climatology; environmental planning and regulation; or environmental law, policy, and politics. The program stresses the interrelationships among social and natural processes that affect the environment.

Training in field observation, remote sensing, geographical information systems, quantitative analysis/computing, and cartographic representation are included in this concentration. The program also provides a sound foundation for graduate or professional-level studies in either the natural or social aspects of the environment.

Geographic Information Science

The undergraduate program in geographic information science is designed for students who are preparing for positions in government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, international development agencies, and business. It also provides preparation for graduate work in geography, planning, and other disciplines. Students in this program develop an understanding of the design, implementation, and use of geographic information systems. Courses address how geographic data are acquired, stored, accessed, displayed, managed, and analyzed.

Geographic information science students learn to address problems such as modeling environmental systems, identifying the best locations for service facilities, assessing environmental impacts, and forecasting the populations of small areas. The Geographic Information Systems Instructional Laboratory (GISIL) is used extensively in courses to enable students to develop their expertise in the use of GIS software.

Core geographic information science courses cover methods of spatial analysis and geographical modeling and include database management and computer programming. Students supplement their work in GIS core courses through 12 s.h. of additional geography course work. Those who choose to focus on GIS for environmental analyses select supplementary geography courses from the department’s environmental studies program, while those whose main interests are in socioeconomic analyses select supplementary course work from the department’s geography and social change program.

Geography and Social Change

The undergraduate program in geography and social change is designed for students preparing for positions in government, nongovernmental organizations, international development agencies, and business. It also provides preparation for graduate programs in geography or planning, or for professional programs such as law, business, or policy analysis. The program provides an understanding of the increasing globalization of the modern world, including processes of urban and regional development or underdevelopment; the roles of elites, classes, institutions, and social movements; the role of the natural environment in effecting social change in different parts of the world; and the processes through which policy decisions are reached. Courses cover social and economic theories of location and regional formation, methods of spatial analysis and geographic modeling, global and regional political economy, and theories of community conflict and social change.

Students develop requisite skills in quantitative analysis and the development, management, and application of geographic information systems and computer methods. They have opportunities to work on applied problems, such as assessing sites for their growth potential, identifying the best locations for service facilities, evaluating the impact of major projects, and forecasting the populations of small areas. This concentration also gives students interested in international development the opportunity to examine competing theories intended to explain international and regional inequalities, and to investigate and evaluate the patterns and practice of development worldwide.

BA/BSc. Requirements

All geography majors must complete the following courses.

One of these:
044:001 Introduction to Human Geography 4 s.h.
044:010 The Contemporary Global System 4 s.h.

All of these:
044:003 Introduction to Earth Systems Science 4 s.h.
044:005 Foundations of GIS 3 s.h.
044:019 Contemporary Environmental Issues 3 s.h.

One of these:
044:150 Senior Project Seminar 3 s.h.
044:151 Senior Thesis 3 s.h.

All majors must complete one 3 s.h. course offered by the Department of Statistics and

Actuarial Science and numbered 22S:025 or above. The following are recommended.

22S:025 Elementary Statistics and Inference 3 s.h.
22S:102 Introduction to Statistical Methods 3 s.h.

Bachelor of Science students must satisfy a mathematics requirement consisting

of one of the following sequences.

22M:015-22M:016 Mathematics for the Biological Sciences/Calculus for the Biological Sciences 8 s.h.
22M:021-22M:022 Calculus and Modeling I-II 8 s.h.
22M:025-22M:026 Calculus I-II 8 s.h.
22M:031-22M:032 Engineering Mathematics I-II: Single Variable Calculus/Multivariable Calculus 8 s.h.

In addition, all geography majors must complete one of the three programs of study described above under Geography and Social Change, Environmental Studies, or Geographic Information Science. Students should pay close attention to prerequisites for the upper-level courses in each sequence so that they can develop and complete their programs in a timely fashion.

A list of all courses available through geography is available here:

Department of Geography Courses

A full description of undergraduate course requirements can be found here:
Department of Geography General Catalog 2009-10