BA in Geography
Degree Program Description
Geographers are interested in a wide range of topics and often work in interdisciplinary teams that analyze challenges like environmental change, resource use, and economic issues in an increasingly interdependent world. Geography majors receive marketable skills during their undergraduate experience. All majors must select one of the four emphasis areas: General Geography, Geographic Information Sciences, Physical/Environmental, Regional/Cultural, or Urban/Population. Geography prepares students for a variety of professions including careers in environmental impact assessment, mapping, remote sensing, geographic information analysis, government service, military intelligence, as well as education.
Major Program Requirements
Students majoring in geography are required to take a total of 36 credits in geography. The geography major consists of 21 core credits and at least 15 credits in one of the four geography emphasis areas. In addition to University, general education, and College of Arts and Science requirements, students must also meet the following major program requirements. All major requirements in the College of Arts and Science must be completed with grades of C- or higher unless otherwise indicated.
Major core requirements
| GEOG 1100 | Regions and Nations of the World I | 3 |
| GEOG 1200 | Regions and Nations of the World II | 3 |
| GEOG 1550 | Introduction to the Humanized Earth | 3 |
| GEOG 1800 | Digital Earth: Introduction to the Geospatial Technologies | 3 |
| GEOG 2610 | Climate, Landforms and Vegetation: Introduction to Physical Geography | 3 |
| GEOG 3840 | Cartography | 3 |
| or GEOG 3040 | Introduction to Geographic Information Systems GIS | |
| GEOG 4990 | Senior Seminar in Geography | 3 |
| Total Credits | 21 | |
Semester Plan
Below is a sample plan of study, semester by semester. A student's actual plan may vary based on course choices where options are available.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| GEOG 1100 | 3 | GEOG 1200 | 3 |
| ENGLSH 1000 | 3 | GEOG 1800 | 3 |
| GEOL 1100 (Physical Science with Lab) | 4 | Biological, Physical, Mathematical Science | 3 |
| Humanities | 3 | Math and Quantitative Reasoning | 3 |
| SSC 1150 | 2 | Missouri State Law Requirement, Social Science from Arts and Science | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| GEOG 1550 | 3 | GEOG 3840 or 3040 | 3 |
| Geography Emphasis, 3000-level | 3 | Behavioral Science Course, 2000-level | 3 |
| Behavioral Science | 3 | Humanities from Arts and Science | 3 |
| Second Language Requirement | 4 | Second Language Requirement | 4 |
| Social Science, 2000-level | 3 | ||
| 16 | 13 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| GEOG 2610 | 3 | Geography Emphasis, 3000-level | 3 |
| Humanities | 3 | Biological, Physical, Mathematical Science | 3 |
| Second Language Requirement | 4 | Writing Intensive | 3 |
| Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 | Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 |
| Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 | Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 |
| 16 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| Geography Emphasis, Writing Intensive, 3000-level | 3 | GEOG 4990 | 3 |
| Humanities, 2000-level | 3 | Geography Emphasis, 3000-level | 3 |
| Social Science | 3 | Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 |
| Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 | Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 |
| Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 | Second major, minor, certificate, or elective | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total Credits: 120 | |||
Degree Audit
The degree audit is an automated report reflecting a student’s academic progress toward the completion of a degree.
MU students can request a degree audit by logging in to myDegreePlanner. Students may also access myDegreePlanner via myZou, in the Student Center, click on the Academic Progress Tile, then select Request Degree Audit. The audit automatically pulls in the student’s MU course work, transfer courses and courses in progress. This is available to current students, admitted students, and those who last attended less than three terms ago.
Past MU students can request a degree audit by contacting the Academic Advising Unit of the division in which they were last enrolled at MU. For contact information, go to https://advising.missouri.edu/contact/.
Prospective students, can access a preliminary MU degree audit via https://www.transferology.com. Information on the college credits already earned will have to be manually entered before it can be evaluated against current degree requirements.
For additional details on degree audits, go to https://registrar.missouri.edu/degrees-audits/degree-audits/.
Major and Career Exploration
The University of Missouri has many resources to assist you in exploring majors and career possibilities. For guidance, visit the Majors and Careers website or view specific resources below.
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If you are considering a change of major or are exploring multiple majors, schedule an appointment with an advisor in the Discovery Center by calling (573)884-9700 or through MU Connect Discovery Center service in you success network.
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If you have decided on a major, visit an academic advisor in the School or College that you are interested in to discuss the process of declaring the major.
- If you would like to learn more about your career interests, abilities, values and talents, visit the MU Career Center. No Appointment is necessary to explore career options with one of our staff members.
- If you would like information about MU majors and degree programs, visit:
- the Degrees, Majors (Degree Programs), Emphasis Areas, Minors and Certificates page in the catalog,
- the MU Majors website.
For additional major and career exploration resources, visit Major & Career Exploration in the catalog.