Graduate programs

The Department of Geography offers the degrees of Master of Arts and Master of Science. The department also participates in the Earth, Environment, & Society Ph.D. degree.

Areas of primary concentration are urban geography, physical geography, resource management, culture, environment and society, GIS, and cartography. The M.A. and M.S. degrees are in part designed to meet the needs of students preparing for careers in research or administration in government and industry, urban and regional planning, and in secondary education and community college teaching. The M.A. and M.S. degrees also provide a predoctoral program in geography for students planning to take advanced work leading to professional careers in university teaching, research, or public service. Students are encouraged to follow a program that combines breadth of knowledge with depth in one field of interest.

Admission requirements

Geographic Information Systems Certificate

Geographic Information Science M.S.

Geography M.A./M.S.

Geographic Information Science M.S.

Students will plan a program of study with an adviser and other members of the supervisory committee during the first term of residence (the first term after admission to the program). The program of study must include a minimum of 45 graduate credits. Of these, a minimum of 32 graduate credits must be in geography, to include 6 credits of Geog 509 (GIS Practicum), 12 credits of core geography courses, 8 credits in core GIS competency courses, 4 credits in non-GIS, topical courses, at least two courses (6-8 credits) from one of the five specialized geospatial data science focus areas, and 7-9 elective credits to meet the 45 credits required by the program.

Students in the program must complete a project-based practicum. The practicum requires the presentation of the student’s practicum project into a topic approved by the student's graduate committee, which may include a community partner. The practicum represents an original contribution to knowledge in the field of GIScience and normally involves working with a community partner. A final oral presentation of the project and a project report are required for completion of the degree.

The Geography Department follows the University requirement for minimum and continuous enrollment.

The program consists of coursework in the following areas:

Core Geography Courses

Geog 572Critical GIS

2

Geog 591Professionalism in GIS

2

Geog 522Research Design

4

Geog 592/USP 592Geographic Information Systems II: Advanced GIS

4

Total Credit Hours:12

Core GIS Competency Courses

Geog 590GIS Programming

4

Geog 575Spatial Database Design and Applications

4

Geog 597Advanced Spatial Quantitative Analysis

4

Total Credit Hours:8

Non-GIS Topical

4 credits of graduate-level non-GIS courses (with approval of the committee)
Total Credit Hours:4

Specialized Geospatial Data Science Focus Area

Take two courses in one of the focus areas:

Area 1: Remote sensing and digital image analysis

Geog 580Fundamentals of Remote Sensing

4

Geog 581Digital Image Analysis I: Introduction

4

Geog 582Digital Image Analysis II: Advanced Remote Sensing

4

Geog 577Photogrammetry and LiDAR

2

Area 2: Cartography and geovisualization

Geog 584Cartographic Applications of GIS

4

Geog 585Map Design and Production

4

Area 3: Computer and information sciences

CS 520Object-Oriented Programming & Design

3

CS 547Computer Graphics

3

CS 549Computational Geometry

3

CS 554Software Engineering

3

Geog 575Spatial Database Design and Applications

4

Geog 590GIS Programming

4

Area 4: Spatial statistics and quantitative methods

ESM 566/CE 566Environmental Data Analysis

4

ESM 567Multivariate Analysis of Environmental Data

4

Geog 597Advanced Spatial Quantitative Analysis

4

Area 5: System and data science

CS 541Artificial Intelligence

3

CS 542Advanced Artificial Intelligence: Combinatorial Games

3

CS 543Advanced Artificial Intelligence: Combinatorial Search

3

CS 545Machine Learning

3

SySc 514System Dynamics

4

SySc 525Agent Based Simulation

4

SySc 527Discrete System Simulation

4

SySc 531Data Mining with Information Theory

4

SySc 535Modeling & Simulation with R and Python

4

SySc 540Introduction to Network Science

4

SySc 552Game Theory

4

SySc 575AI: Neural Networks I

4

Total Credit Hours:6-8
Students may need to complete additional courses to meet the prerequisite requirements for a course. Please check with the instructor before registering.

GIS Practicum

Geog 509Practicum

6

Total Credit Hours:6

Electives

Graduate-level GIS courses or seminars:
G 525Field GIS

4

Geog 507Seminar: Speaker Series

1

Geog 5763D Terrain Analysis & Visualization

2

Geog 589Building a GIS Database with GPS

4

Geog 594GIS for Water Resources

4

Total Credit Hours:7-9
Other elective courses may be approved by the committee.

Total Credit Hours: 45