Learning Objectives

Students will learn about the natural and physical processes (e.g., air movement, plate tectonics) that generate environmental patterns (e.g., climate zones, mountain belts). Students will engage in active learning to reinforce theoretical concepts learned in lectures, and be exposed to various data sources and software to better understand, interpret, and provide solutions for contemporary environmental problems. Students will understand and distinguish between human and environmental factors of environmental changes; engage in fieldwork and data collection as well as analyzing and interpreting data; and communicate methods and procedures and findings in both oral and written forms.

Students will be able to understand how political, social, and economic factors relate to the environment, will be able to conceptualize and assess the ethical dimensions of environmental concerns, and will apply conceptual knowledge to practical situations and examples that integrate diverse cultural and geographic perspectives.

Students will be able to explain how different social and cultural positions (including their own) shape how places are valued, experienced and constructed, will be able to draw connections between broader cultural, social, political, and economic structures and geographic spaces across local and global scales, and will gain an understanding of how natural and built environments can influence human well-being and social relations. Students will develop skills in critical cultural analysis through the interpretation of media, objects and landscapes, through qualitative research methods and through community-engaged fieldwork. Students will be able to draw on their analyses to envision alternatives to improve society and the world around them.

Students will be able to understand the conceptualization and collection of data relevant to mapping, GIS and remote sensing (geospatial technologies), will grasp core technical and intellectual aspects of geospatial software analysis, will be able to express the outcomes of analysis in words, speech and media (maps, graphics, etc.). Students will be able to situate geospatial technologies and their use in a broader social context, consider the technologies from a critical perspective, and assess the impacts of geospatial technologies on the human and natural world.

Major Requirements

A minimum of 11.5 Units Majors should be declared by the end of the sophomore year. A 2.0 grade point average is required to declare the major. Students must maintain a 2.0 grade point average in his/her program to remain a major.

Note(s):

Students majoring or minoring in geography are not permitted to take courses required for the major or minor credit no/entry.