Geography

Geography is a discipline that trains majors to ask questions and address problems about the world's peoples, cultures, daily lives, and environments. Geographers study a range of human (social, economic, political) and environmental (atmospheric, biologic, geologic) processes that create diverse global patterns in physical and cultural landscapes. Geography especially focuses on understanding linkages among human activities and their relationship with environmental systems. Some geographers focus in the natural sciences while others are principally social scientists, but all geographers recognize the interdependence of these systems in understanding the world today.

While maintaining a global vision, geographers are also practical. Geographers study such topics as race, gender, class, and ethnic relations, urban growth, migration and immigration, tourism, human impact on the environment, international relations, and economic development. They are especially trained to synthesize qualitative and quantitative data from many different disciplines and to apply technical expertise toward the comparative analysis of geographic (spatial) patterns and processes. For example, geographers were among the first professionals to promote the need for cultural sensitivity when working for global peace. They are positioned to work for positive development initiatives in local communities and around the world.

Distinctive Features at Miami

Faculty attention: A low student to faculty ratio means that faculty are here for students and are accessible to student needs. Many geography majors are involved in independent research with faculty mentors.

Access to technology: Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing classes are taught in the Geography Department's GIS lab, which is equipped with advanced workstations running ArcMap, ArcView, Erdas Imagine, and a full suite of supporting statistical and database software.

Your Program of Study

The Bachelor of Arts in Geography degree begins with foundation courses in human and physical geography. These are followed by two courses that are central to all geography students: Global Change and Map Interpretation.

Following these foundation and core courses, students choose one of four specialization paths, two of which emphasize the social sciences: Global Development and Comparative Urban Economics. Each of these paths provides in-depth training that prepares students for future employment or postgraduate training.

All of our undergraduate majors complete a capstone course that involves a focused research project and paper that applies their knowledge to a specific problem and develops individual research skills that will be important in future employment or graduate study.

Geography is an ideal major to pair with the Environmental Science co-major. Several courses count for both majors. This is an option that allows a student to significantly strengthen his or her training in natural science, while also studying the many linkages between environmental and human systems.

Internships

Many of our students, especially those interested in applied environmental management or Geographic Information Systems, do internships as part of their degrees. Our students have worked in city planning departments in Oxford, Hamilton, and Cincinnati and the Three Valley Conservation Trust.

Student Organization

The Geography and Urban and Regional Planning Society organizes and coordinates joint student-faculty events, activities for professional development, trips to professional meetings, and a variety of social activities.

After You Graduate

As global ties continue to increase and as geographic technology continues to develop, geographers find themselves much in demand. The majority of Miami graduates are working in international and domestic businesses or in government agencies like the U.S. Geological Survey, the Census Bureau, and the State Department. A sampling of our graduates includes a guide at a national park in Oregon, a teacher with Teach for America in Tennessee, a transportation planner for a county in Ohio, an environmental scientist with a water management district in Florida, and students attending law school and graduate school in urban planning.

For More Information

For general information about Miami University, please contact:

Office of Admission
301 S. Campus Ave.
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056-3434
513-529-2531 (v/t)
www.muohio.edu/requestinfo

For specific information on the Geography major, please contact:

Department of Geography
Shideler Hall
Miami University
Oxford, Ohio 45056
513-529-5010
www.muohio.edu/geography