Undergraduate Major

Department of Geography

In addition to course work required by the university and the college, majors must complete 40 hours of department requirements with a grade of C or better. Note: Students who accumulate 15 or more of their 26 content credits in Physical Geography and Geographic Information Science qualify for the B.S. degree. Those accumulating 15 or more of their 26 content credits in Natural Resource Management and Human Geography qualify for either a B.S. or a B.A. degree. Students must declare to their academic advisor their preference of degrees prior to graduation. Students in both the B.A. and B.S. programs must complete the following:

Core Requirements (14 hours total)

• GEOG 1000 World Regional Geography (3)
• GEOG 1010 Intro to Physical Geography (4)
• GEOG 1020 Intro to Human Geography (3)
• GEOG 2150 Foundations of GIS and Technology (4)

Content areas

26 hours distributed among a minimum of three of the following content areas with at least two courses in each of two areas:

• Human Geography
• Physical Geography
• Geographic Information Science (GIS)
• Natural Resource Management

Courses that satisfy content area requirements are identified by the following codes which appear at the end of the course descriptions: (H) human geography, (P) physical geography, (A) geographic information science, (R) natural resource management. Courses used to meet department requirements must be approved by the faculty adviser.

Undergraduate Speciality Areas

Although students are encouraged to sample from the wide variety of courses within the geography program, and the general geography major is an option selected by many students, most undergraduate majors choose to focus on one of the department's areas of speciality.

• Physical Geography
• Geographic Information Science
• Natural Resource Management
• Human Geography
• Planning

Focus on Physical Geography

Offerings in this speciality include an introductory survey of the natural environment and advanced course work in areas that include landforms, soils, weather and climate, paleoenvironments, and biogeography. Course work in this speciality is frequently related to ongoing faculty research programs and activities. Courses in this speciality are designated with (P) in the following course listing.

• GEOG 1010 Intro to Physical Geography (4)
• GEOG 3010 Geomorphology (3)
• GEOG 3450 Weather and Climate (3)
• GEOG 3480 Environmental Change (3)
• GEOG 3550 Natural Hazards and Society (3)
• GEOG 4000 Terrain Analysis (3)
• GEOG 4450 Fluvial Geomorphology (4)
• GEOG 4460 Biogeography (3)
• GEOG 4470 Fire Ecology (3)

Focus on Geographic Information Science (GIS)

This speciality focuses upon the interface between geography and the computer. It offers specialized training in a variety of analytic tools and methods courses, ranging from the design and preparation of maps using computer-aided mapping programs to the spatial analysis of physical and human phenomena using detailed computer-based geographic-based geographic information systems (GIS). Courses in this speciality are designated with an (A) in the following course listing.

• GEOG 2150 Foundations of GIS and Technology (4)
• GEOG 4200 Intro to GIS (4)
• GEOG 3280 Spatial Methods (4)
• GEOG 4000 Terrain Analysis (3)
• GEOG 4111 Remote Sensing of Environment (4)
• GEOG 4113 Geol. Remote Sensing (4)
• GEOG 4210 Advanced GIS (4)
• GEOG 4211 Advanced Remote Sensing of the Environment (4)
• GEOG 4220 Spatial Modeling & Geocomputation (4)

Focus on Natural Resource Management

This speciality provides a broad interdisciplinary approach to the management of natural and recreational resources, with emphasis on the Rocky Mountain region. Resource management is a major focus of departmental faculty and encompasses an array of topics, including physical and social aspects of natural resource management, management of fire in natural systems, public land management, hazard studies, the planning-managing-administration of recreation and tourism resources, and the geographic analysis of resource systems. Courses in this speciality are designated as (R) in the course listing.

• GEOG 4040 Conservation of Nat Resources (3)
• GEOG 1050 Intro Env & Nat Resources (3)
• GEOG 2550 Recreation & Nat Resources (3)
• GEOG 3400 Traditional Ecol. Knowledge (3)
• GEOG 3550 Natural Hazards & Society (3)
• GEOG 4000 Terrain Analysis (3)
• GEOG 4051 Environmental Politics (3)
• GEOG 4052 Federal Land Politics (3)
• GEOG 4080 Management of Major River Basins (3)
• GEOG 4111 Remote Sensing of Environ. (4)
• GEOG 4211 Advanced Remote Sensing of Env. (4)
• GEOG 4310 Foundations of Sustainable Planning(3)
• GEOG 4340 National Resource Management on Western Reservations (3)
• GEOG 4370 Environmental Planning (3)
• GEOG 4400 Nat Resource Policy (3)
• GEOG 4420 Geography & Tourism (3)
• GEOG 4460 Biogeography (3)
• GEOG 4470 Fire Ecology
• GEOG 4750 Public Land Mgt (3)

Focus on Human Geography

The human geography speciality examines how societies organize their economic, cultural, and political activities spatially, and how human societies interact with their environments. Courses in the concentration are directed toward economic, cultural, regional, and global studies. Students in this concentration typically take a variety of courses from related fields such as sociology, political science, economics, international studies, and American studies. Courses within this speciality are designated with (H) in the course listing.

• GEOG 1000 World Regional Geography (3)
• GEOG 1020 Introduction to Human Geography (3)
• GEOG 3030 Geography & Development (3)
• GEOG 3050 Economic Geography (3)
• GEOG 3550 Natural Hazards & Society (3)
• GEOG 4013 Political Geography (3)
• GEOG 4310 Foundations of Sustainable Planning (3)
• GEOG 4325 Legal Aspects of Planning (3)
• GEOG 4330 Land Use Planning (3)
• GEOG 4390 Rural and Small Town Planning (3)
• GEOG 4420 Geography and Tourism (3)
• GEOG 4500 The American Landscape (3)
• GEOG 4502 Images of WY & the West (3)
• GEOG 4540 Topics in Cultural Ecology (3)
• GEOG 4550 Geography of Wine (3)
• GEOG 4560 Global Cities (3)
• GEOG 4570 Cultural Geography (3)
• GEOG 4572 Sense of Place (3)
• GEOG 4574 Geography of Conflicts (3)

Focus on Planning

The speciality in planning offers students a pre-professional curriculum; many students in this speciality go on to complete a graduate degree in the department's graduate planning program. The planning specialty examines the environmental, social and economic factors that influence sustainability and change in urban communities and small towns. The program is designed to integrate community visions with current conditions to determine options for the future. The emphasis of the planning concentration is on natural resource and rural community planning, approached from an interdisciplinary perspective. Courses within this speciality are designated with (PL) in the course listing.

• GEOG 4310 Foundations of Sustainable Planning (3)
• GEOG 4330 Land Use Planning (3)
• GEOG 4325 Legal Aspects of Planning (3)
• GEOG 4340 Nat Resource Mgmt on Western Reservations (3)
• GEOG 4370 Environmental Planning (3)
• GEOG 4390 Rural & Small Town Planning (3)
• GEOG 4400 Natural Resource Policy (3)
• GEOG 4750 Public Land Management (3