2025-2026 Academic Catalog

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Geography - Environment, Society and Sustainability Option, BA

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.

Program Requirements

  1. Students must complete a minimum of 39 credit hours from GEOG, GEOL and ENVS courses.
  2. Students must complete a minimum of 24 upper division (3000-level and above) credit hours from GEOG, GEOL and ENVS courses.
  3. Students must earn a minimum grade of C- (1.7) in all courses that apply to the major and must achieve a minimum cumulative major GPA of 2.0. Courses taken using P+/P/F or S/U grading cannot apply to program requirements.
  4. Students must complete a minimum of 15 credit hours of GEOG, GEOL and ENVS coursework with CU Denver faculty.

Program Restrictions, Allowances and Recommendations

  1. Only three credits of Travel Study may be counted toward graduation requirements.
  2. 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 three credit hours per independent study section. No more than three credit hours of independent study may be taken with the same instructor or in the same term.
  3. GEOG 3939 Internship: Community/Professional Experience optional, but highly recommended.
Complete all of the following required courses:21-22
Introduction to Environmental Sciences
and Introduction to Environmental Sciences Laboratory
Introduction to Physical Geography
Environment, Society and Sustainability
World Regions Global Context
Introduction to Human Geography
The Power of Maps: Introduction to Geospatial Sciences
Weather and Climate
Globalization and Regional Development
Climate Change & Society
Complete two of the following Environment, Society and Sustainability electives:6
Sustainability in Resources Management
Population, Culture, and Resources
The Politics of Nature
Science, Policy and the Environment
Complete three of the following Environmental Studies electives, not already completed:9
Geography of Food and Agriculture
Geography of Health
Hazard Mitigation and Vulnerability Assessment
Sustainability in Resources Management
Population, Culture, and Resources
Water Quality and Resources
Environment and Society in the American Past
The Politics of Nature
Science, Policy and the Environment
Urban Food and Agriculture: Perspectives and Research
Sustainable Urban Agriculture Field Study I
Urban Sustainability and Resiliency: Perspectives and Practice
Disasters, Climate Change, and Health
Climate Change: Causes, Impacts and Solutions
Complete one of the following Techniques for Environmental Analysis courses:3
Remote Sensing I: Introduction to Environmental Remote Sensing
Introduction to GIS
GIS Applications for the Urban Environment
GIS Applications in the Health Sciences
Total Hours39-40

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.