Geography - Environment, Society and Sustainability Option, 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 39 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 | 21-22 | |
| ENVS 1044 & ENVS 1045 | Introduction to Environmental Sciences and Introduction to Environmental Sciences Laboratory | 3-4 |
| or GEOG 1202 | Introduction to Physical Geography | |
| ENVS 1342 | Environment, Society and Sustainability | 3 |
| 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 |
| GEOG 4335 | Contemporary Environmental Issues | 3 |
Environment, Society and Sustainability Electives
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take two of the following | 6 | |
| GEOG 4265 | Sustainability in Resources Management | 3 |
| GEOG 4301 | Population, Culture, and Resources | 3 |
| GEOG 4420 | The Politics of Nature | 3 |
| GEOG 4440 | Science, Policy and the Environment | 3 |
Environmental Studies Electives
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take three of the following | 9 | |
| GEOG 3401 | Geography of Food and Agriculture | 3 |
| GEOG 3440 | Ecotourism | 3 |
| GEOG 3501 | Geography of Health | 3 |
| GEOG 4230 | Hazard Mitigation and Vulnerability Assessment | 3 |
| GEOG 4265 | Sustainability in Resources Management | 3 |
| GEOG 4301 | Population, Culture, and Resources | 3 |
| GEOG 4305 | Water Quality and Resources | 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 4680 | Urban Sustainability: Perspectives and Practice | 3 |
| GEOG 4710 | Disasters, Climate Change, and Health | 3 |
| GEOG 4720 | Climate Change: Causes, Impacts and Solutions | 3 |
Techniques for Environmental Analysis
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Take one of the following | 3 | |
| GEOG 4060 | Remote Sensing I: Introduction to Environmental Remote Sensing (pre-req for Remote Sensing II) | 3 |
| GEOG 4080 | Introduction to GIS (highly recommended; pre-req to most of the advanced GISci courses) | 3 |
| GEOG 4085 | GIS Applications for the Urban Environment | 3 |
| GEOG 4235 | GIS Applications in the Health Sciences | 3 |
| GEOG 4770 | Applied Statistics for the Natural Sciences | 3 |
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.