Department of Geography
Undergraduate Program
The department of Geography offers a program which has three principal objectives: to promote the understanding of the locational dimensions of human behavior in their environmental context; to offer a curriculum in which geographic concepts and methods are applied to understanding economic, environmental and social problems at the urban and regional scale; and to promote international understanding through area studies.
Graduating majors of the department have found careers in business and industry, in urban and regional planning agencies, in departments of federal and state governments, and in teaching. Many graduates find that an undergraduate degree in geography is an excellent foundation for advanced graduate work or professional training in planning, business or law. Special facilities of the department include fully equipped laboratories in computer cartography, geographic information systems and remote sensing with a variety of other specialized locational analysis programs for both instruction and research.
Major Requirements
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Requirements: The College of Arts and Sciences requires 122 semester hours for the Geography B.A., to include at least 36 hours at or above the 300 course level, plus additional requirements outlined in the General Education Curriculum.
The Geography Major requires a minimum of 27 semester hours in geography courses numbered 200 and higher. Students complete a core of four courses in the areas of physical geography, human/cultural geography, cartography and GIScience, and regional geography. Students may elect a general geography major or they may complete one of three concentrations: Urban Planning, Earth Science/Environmental Studies, or Geographic Information Science. Students may also complete a major in Geography with Teacher Licensure in Social Studies .
Core Requirements:
A grade of C- or better in each course toward completion of major
One geographic techniques course from GEO 121, 321, 322, 323
One earth science course from GEO 103* or GEO 106/106L*
One human geography course from GEO 105, 114, 301, 302, 303, 306
One regional geography course from GEO 102, 104, 313, 344
* GEO 103 or GEO 106/106L satisfies one GNS requirement and GPS.
Click here to go to course listing.
Student Learning Goals
Students completing this major are expected to demonstrate a basic competence in earth science, human geography, and regional geography. In addition, they are expected to be able to successfully investigate geographic problems using the current research techniques and methodologies of the discipline and to clearly and effectively express their findings in both written and oral form.
Geography Concentrations
Urban Planning Concentration
The inter-regional shift of people and jobs in the United States and elsewhere over the past decades coupled with the movement away from large central cities has increased the need for formal urban and regional planning. Planners are needed in the private sector as well as in state and local governments to provide the appropriate kinds of economic and community development that will ensure a high quality of life in both developed and developing countries. In a growth region like the Southeastern United States, geographers with a planning background are in increasing demand.
Requirements
- Satisfaction of Geography core requirements
- GEO 105, 301 and 306
- Five courses from GEO 302, 320, 321, 322, 344, 502, 522, 533
Earth Science / Environmental Studies Concentration
A central theme in geography is human interaction with the earth's physical environment. This concentration permits students to apply the basic scientific principles of physical geography, cartography and natural resource analysis to the problem of ensuring a high quality of life through maintenance of the natural processes that support human existence. This concentration also provides training to enhance the employment opportunities of students with a strong interest in environmental assesement and resource evaluation.
Requirements
- Satisfaction of Geography core requirements
- GEO 311 and 311L, GEO 314 and 314L
- Five courses from GEO 205, 305, 312, 321, 323, 330, 510, 511, 520, 521
Geographic Information Science Concentration
Students with this concentration will develop skills in using maps, geospatial computer programs, and remotely sensed images to answer geographic questions relevant to land use planning, urban development, geomorphic or biogeographic processes, or environmental impact assessment. A capstone course (GEO 423), including a faculty directed major project is completed in the final semester.
Requirements
- Satisfaction of Geography core requirements
- GEO 121, 321, and 323
- A minimum of one of the following: GEO 520, 521, or 523
- GEO 423 is to be taken after completion of requirements 1 and 2.
Admission
If you wish to seek admission to undergraduate study at UNCG, you must submit a formal application to the Undergraduate Admissions Office. Do not apply to the Geography Department. Application materials and detailed admission requirements may be obtained by writing to or visiting:
The Undergraduate Admissions Office
123 Mossman Building
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
P.O. Box 26166
Greensboro, NC 27402-6166
Telephone: (336) 334-5243 or (336) 334-4147
Click here to go to their website.
Special Opportunities
Several opportunities are available for students to become involved in the Department, University, and community while becoming better acquainted with other students, department faculty, university personnel, and community employers and leaders. The department hosts a colloquial lecture series; speakers are featured every other week at the Geography Club meeting. Speakers are invited from planning departments, environmental agencies, GIS firms, and economic development companies, as well as alumni and visiting professors. The department also sponsors several campus-wide lectures that pertain to geography.
Students also may participate on the Universitys Geography Bowl Team. Each Fall, the Geography Bowl Team demonstrates knowledge of the concepts central to geography in an annual state-wide competition with the other universities in North Carolina.
Gamma Theta Upsilon
UNCG is proud to have a chapter of Gamma Theta Upsilon (ΓΘΥ). GTU is the international honor society in geography. The chapter recognizes outstanding students in the program and provides them with a special opportunity to establish and distinguish themselves as individuals committed to excellence in the field of geography.
Field Experience
The Geography Department offers a summer field course focusing on the physical geography and natural resource regions of North America. The course provides first-hand experience with the geologic, climatic, and geomorphic processes as reflected by land use and settlement patterns. The course involves a field trip through some of the most spectacular and diverse terrain on earth. Past trip s have included visits to the Canadian Rockies, Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park, and Carlsbad Caverns. Depending on the route, the trip lasts three to four weeks and covers from 7,000 to 10,000 miles. Travel is by van, and students should be prepared for camping and extensive hiking.
Geography Field Station
The Department of Geography Field Station at Lindale Farms is situated on approximately 130 acres of beautiful rolling hills, meadows, woodlands, ponds, streams, and farm land in the western Piedmont. Its tremendous variety and diversity of natural landscapes and features allows for the conduct of a great range of teaching and research activities-including work in the areas of biogeography, hydrology, meteorology, geomorphology, and GIS. Additionally, its geographic location in the midst of one of the more urbanized areas of the western Piedmont creates teaching and research opportunities for urban geographers.
Available for use at the field station is a variety of equipment and instrumentation, including micrometeorological instruments, water quality and water flow instrumentation, and GPS and mapping equipment.
Department Facilities
The Geography Department houses a state-of-the-art research and teaching lab for GIS, Computer Cartography, Digital Image Processing, and Air Photo Interpretation. The lab currently features:
- Networked system of forty-four advanced PCs
- Color and black and white printers; scanners
- Oversized cartographic plotter
- GPS equipment
- Software: Arc/Info, ArcView, ERDAS Imagine, ArcGIS, Surfer, AtlasGIS, MapInfo, ER Mapper, Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator
The Geomorphology and Weather and Climate Lab includes the following:
- Wide variety of aerial photographs and satellite images
- Twenty student stereoscopes and ten professional stereoscopes
- Rock and mineral collection and dendrochronology cores
- Large map collection
There is also a small SPSS and climatology computer lab in the Department.