Geography, BA
Introduction
Please click here to see Geography and Environmental Sciences department information.
The Geography program (within the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences) offers a BA degree that includes a full range of courses in the fundamentals of geography taught mainly by full-time faculty.
These degree requirements are subject to periodic revision by the academic department, and the College reserves the right to make exceptions and substitutions as judged necessary in individual cases. Therefore, the College strongly urges students to consult regularly with their major advisor and CLAS advisor to confirm the best plans of study before finalizing them.
Program Delivery
- This is an on-campus program.
Declaring This Major
- Click here to go to information about declaring a major.
General Requirements
To earn a degree, students must satisfy all requirements in each of the three areas below, in addition to their individual major requirements.
- CU Denver General Graduation Requirements
- CU Denver Core Curriculum
- College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Graduation Requirements
- Click here for information about Academic Policies
Program Requirements
- Students must complete a minimum of 33 GEOG, GEOL or ENVS credit hours.
- Students must complete a minimum of 24 upper division (3000-level and above) GEOG credit hours.
- Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all major courses taken at CU Denver and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0. All graded attempts in required and elective courses are calculated in the major GPA. Students cannot complete major or ancillary course requirements as pass/fail.
- Students must complete a minimum of 15 GEOG, GEOL, or ENVS credit hours with CU Denver faculty.
Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations
- Only 3 credits of Travel Study may be counted toward graduation requirements.
- Undergraduate students may count up to 6 credit hours of independent study or internship (any combination of GEOG 3840 Independent Study: GEOG, GEOG 4840 Independent Study: GEOG, GEOG 4880 Directed Research, or GEOG 3939 Internship) towards elective credit in the major as approved by the undergraduate coordinator. Students may not receive more than 3 credit hours per independent study section. No more than 3 credit hours of independent study may be taken with the same instructor or in the same term.
- GEOG 3939 Internship: Community/Professional Experience optional, but highly recommended.
Required Courses
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take all of the following | 15-16 | |
| ENVS 1044 & ENVS 1045 | Introduction to Environmental Sciences and Introduction to Environmental Sciences Laboratory | 3-4 |
| or GEOG 1202 | Introduction to Physical Geography | |
| GEOG 1102 | World Regions Global Context | 3 |
| or GEOG 1302 | Introduction to Human Geography | |
| GEOG 2080 | Introduction to Mapping and Map Analysis | 3 |
| GEOG 3232 | Weather and Climate | 3 |
| GEOG 3412 | Globalization and Regional Development | 3 |
Geography Subfields
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take at least one course from each of the following subfields | 12 | |
Physical Geography
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| GEOG 3240 | Colorado Climates | 3 |
| GEOG 4010 | Landscape Biogeochemistry | 3 |
| GEOG 4020 | Earth Environments and Human Impacts | 3 |
| GEOG 4240 | Applied Geomorphology | 3 |
| GEOG 4251 | Fluvial Geomorphology | 3 |
| GEOG 4270 | Glacial Geomorphology | 3 |
| GEOG 4280 | Environmental Hydrology | 4 |
| GEOG 4305 | Water Quality and Resources | 3 |
| GEOG 4720 | Climate Change: Causes, Impacts and Solutions | 3 |
| GEOG 4731 | Mountain Biogeography | 4 |
| GEOG 4740 | Soil Science and Geography | 3 |
Human Geography
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| ENVS 1342 | Environment, Society and Sustainability | 3 |
| GEOG 1602 | Urban Studies and Planning | 3 |
| GEOG 2202 | Hazards to Disasters: Perception and Management | 3 |
| GEOG 3401 | Geography of Food and Agriculture | 3 |
| GEOG 3430 | Geography of Tourism | 3 |
| GEOG 3440 | Ecotourism | 3 |
| GEOG 3450 | Cultural Heritage and Tourism | 3 |
| GEOG 3501 | Geography of Health | 3 |
| GEOG 4265 | Sustainability in Resources Management | 3 |
| GEOG 4300 | Children's Geographies | 3 |
| GEOG 4301 | Population, Culture, and Resources | 3 |
| GEOG 4335 | Contemporary Environmental Issues | 3 |
| GEOG 4350 | Environment and Society in the American Past | 3 |
| GEOG 4420 | The Politics of Nature | 3 |
| GEOG 4440 | Science, Policy and the Environment | 3 |
| GEOG 4450 | Urban Food and Agriculture: Perspectives and Research | 3 |
| GEOG 4460 | Sustainable Urban Agriculture Field Study I | 3 |
| GEOG 4470 | Sustainable Urban Agriculture Field Study II | 3 |
| GEOG 4640 | Urban Geography: Denver and the U.S. | 3 |
| GEOG 4680 | Urban Sustainability: Perspectives and Practice | 3 |
| GEOG 4710 | Disasters, Climate Change, and Health | 3 |
Regional Geography
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| GEOG 1102 | World Regions Global Context | 3 |
| GEOG 1302 | Introduction to Human Geography | 3 |
| GEOG 3100 | Geography of Colorado | 3 |
| GEOG 3120 | Geography of Europe | 3 |
| GEOG 3130 | Central America and the Caribbean | 3 |
| GEOG 3140 | Geography of South America | 3 |
| GEOG 3150 | Middle East | 3 |
| GEOG 3160 | Geography of China | 3 |
Techniques of Geographical Analysis
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| GEOG 4080 | Introduction to GIS (highly recommended; pre-req to most of the advanced GISci courses) | 3 |
| GEOG 4060 | Remote Sensing I: Introduction to Environmental Remote Sensing | 3 |
| GEOG 4070 | Remote Sensing II: Advanced Remote Sensing | 3 |
| GEOG 4081 | Cartography and Computer Mapping | 3 |
| GEOG 4085 | GIS Applications for the Urban Environment | 3 |
| GEOG 4090 | Environmental Modeling with Geographic Information Systems | 3 |
| GEOG 4091 | Open Source Software for Geospatial Applications | 3 |
| GEOG 4092 | GIS Programming and Automation | 3 |
| GEOG 4095 | Deploying GIS Functionality on the Web | 3 |
| GEOG 4220 | Environmental Impact Assessment | 3 |
| GEOG 4230 | Hazard Mitigation and Vulnerability Assessment | 3 |
| GEOG 4235 | GIS Applications in the Health Sciences | 3 |
| GEOG 4770 | Applied Statistics for the Natural Sciences | 3 |
Geography Electives
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take six additional credits from the following, not already taken. | 6 | |
| GEOG 1102 | World Regions Global Context | 3 |
| GEOG 1111 | First Year Seminar | 3 |
| GEOG 1202 | Introduction to Physical Geography | 3 |
| GEOG 1302 | Introduction to Human Geography | 3 |
| GEOG 1602 | Urban Studies and Planning | 3 |
| GEOG 2202 | Hazards to Disasters: Perception and Management | 3 |
| GEOG 2939 | Internship | 1-3 |
| GEOG 3100 | Geography of Colorado | 3 |
| GEOG 3110 | Geography of North America | 3 |
| GEOG 3120 | Geography of Europe | 3 |
| GEOG 3130 | Central America and the Caribbean | 3 |
| GEOG 3140 | Geography of South America | 3 |
| GEOG 3150 | Middle East | 3 |
| GEOG 3160 | Geography of China | 3 |
| GEOG 3240 | Colorado Climates | 3 |
| GEOG 3401 | Geography of Food and Agriculture | 3 |
| GEOG 3430 | Geography of Tourism | 3 |
| GEOG 3440 | Ecotourism | 3 |
| GEOG 3450 | Cultural Heritage and Tourism | 3 |
| GEOG 3501 | Geography of Health | 3 |
| GEOG 3770 | Geography and Film | 3 |
| GEOG 3840 | Independent Study: GEOG | 1-3 |
| GEOG 3939 | Internship | 1-3 |
| GEOG 3990 | Special Topics | 3 |
| GEOG 4000 | Planning Methods | 3 |
| GEOG 4010 | Landscape Biogeochemistry | 3 |
| GEOG 4020 | Earth Environments and Human Impacts | 3 |
| GEOG 4060 | Remote Sensing I: Introduction to Environmental Remote Sensing | 3 |
| GEOG 4070 | Remote Sensing II: Advanced Remote Sensing | 3 |
| GEOG 4080 | Introduction to GIS | 3 |
| GEOG 4081 | Cartography and Computer Mapping | 3 |
| GEOG 4085 | GIS Applications for the Urban Environment | 3 |
| GEOG 4086 | FOSS4G Systems Integration | 3 |
| GEOG 4090 | Environmental Modeling with Geographic Information Systems | 3 |
| GEOG 4091 | Open Source Software for Geospatial Applications | 3 |
| GEOG 4092 | GIS Programming and Automation | 3 |
| GEOG 4095 | Deploying GIS Functionality on the Web | 3 |
| GEOG 4150 | Place, Landscape, and Meaning | 3 |
| GEOG 4220 | Environmental Impact Assessment | 3 |
| GEOG 4230 | Hazard Mitigation and Vulnerability Assessment | 3 |
| GEOG 4235 | GIS Applications in the Health Sciences | 3 |
| GEOG 4240 | Applied Geomorphology | 3 |
| GEOG 4251 | Fluvial Geomorphology | 3 |
| GEOG 4260 | Energy and Natural Resource Planning | 3 |
| GEOG 4265 | Sustainability in Resources Management | 3 |
| GEOG 4270 | Glacial Geomorphology | 3 |
| GEOG 4280 | Environmental Hydrology | 4 |
| GEOG 4300 | Children's Geographies | 3 |
| GEOG 4301 | Population, Culture, and Resources | 3 |
| GEOG 4305 | Water Quality and Resources | 3 |
| GEOG 4335 | Contemporary Environmental Issues | 3 |
| GEOG 4350 | Environment and Society in the American Past | 3 |
| GEOG 4380 | Anthropocene Futures | 3 |
| GEOG 4400 | Regional Economic Systems | 3 |
| GEOG 4420 | The Politics of Nature | 3 |
| GEOG 4440 | Science, Policy and the Environment | 3 |
| GEOG 4450 | Urban Food and Agriculture: Perspectives and Research | 3 |
| GEOG 4460 | Sustainable Urban Agriculture Field Study I | 3 |
| GEOG 4470 | Sustainable Urban Agriculture Field Study II | 3 |
| GEOG 4480 | Urban Vegetable CSA: Planning, Production&Distribution | 3 |
| GEOG 4625 | Urban America: Colonial Times to the Present | 3 |
| GEOG 4630 | Transportation, Land Use, and the Environment | 3 |
| GEOG 4640 | Urban Geography: Denver and the U.S. | 3 |
| GEOG 4670 | Transportation Planning and Policy | 3 |
| GEOG 4680 | Urban Sustainability: Perspectives and Practice | 3 |
| GEOG 4700 | Synthesis for Interdisciplinary Science | 3 |
| GEOG 4710 | Disasters, Climate Change, and Health | 3 |
| GEOG 4720 | Climate Change: Causes, Impacts and Solutions | 3 |
| GEOG 4731 | Mountain Biogeography | 4 |
| GEOG 4740 | Soil Science and Geography | 3 |
| GEOG 4750 | Beeography: Geography of Bees | 4 |
| GEOG 4770 | Applied Statistics for the Natural Sciences | 3 |
| GEOG 4840 | Independent Study: GEOG | 1-3 |
| GEOG 4850 | Understanding And Communicating Field Methods | 3 |
| GEOG 4880 | Directed Research | 1-6 |
| GEOG 4940 | Senior Seminar | 3 |
| GEOG 4950 | Honors Thesis | 3 |
| GEOG 4990 | Special Topics | 1-6 |
| GEOG 4992 | Advanced Regional Field Study | 1-6 |
| GEOG 4995 | Global Study Topics | 3-9 |
To learn more about the Student Learning Outcomes for this program, please visit our website.
To review the Degree Map for this program, please visit our website.