Geography Major

GEOGRAPHY examines humankind's transformation of, impacts on, and alteration of the surface of the Earth. The major seeks to expose the student to the nature of geographic knowledge and the process of geographic inquiry. The Geography Major emphasizes four themes which together provide a means of understanding the complex relationships between human activities and the earth's natural environment. As a Geography major at Ohio Wesleyan you will learn about the geography of earth's physical environments, human impacts on the physical environment, the organization and development of cultural regions, landscapes, and urban areas on the surface of the earth, and cartography and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The major provides a broad base for graduate study in Geography and many other natural and social sciences, and careers in geography, urban and regional planning, environmental management, resource management, Geographic Information Systems, consulting firms concerned with environmental and resource problems, and areas of business which deal with location problems. Geography at Ohio Wesleyan maintains close ties with Environmental Studies, Geology, Urban Studies, and other programs in the social sciences, especially International Studies, International Business, Economics, Politics and Government, History, and Sociology/Anthropology.

Requirements for Geography Majors

Required courses:

• GEOG 110: Cultural Geography
• GEOG 111: Physical Geography
• GEOG 222: The Power of Maps and GIS
• GEOG 235: Energy Resources
• GEOG 345: Geographies of the Global Economy
• GEOG 353: Cartography and GIS
• GEOG 370: The World's Cities
• GEOG 375: Weather and Climate

• GEOG 200.1: Geographic Analysis of Agriculture in Ohio
• GEOG 270: Cultural Geography of the Middle East
• GEOG 300.3: Geography, Globalization and Place: The Mexico-U.S. Border at Tijuana
• GEOG 330: Geography of Europe
• GEOG 332: Cultural Geography of the United States
• GEOG 333: Latin American Geographies
• GEOG 334: Cultural Geography of Africa
• GEOG 347: Environmental Alteration
• GEOG 355: Geographic Information Systems
• GEOG 360: Environmental Geography Seminar
• GEOG 380: Contemporary American Landscape Problems
  
• GEOG 400.2: Seminar in Geography
• GEOG 490: Independent Study
• GEOG 491: Directed Readings

• MATH 105: Basic Probability & Statistics or MATH 230: Applied Statistics

Two related courses in the social sciences (Group 1) or natural sciences (Group II)

Students majoring or minoring in geography are not permitted to take courses required for the major or minor credit no/entry.

For students planning to do professional work in geography and/or attend graduate school, the following program is recommended: 110, 111, 222, 235, 345, 353, 355, 370, 375, 380; two from among 200.1, 330, 332, 333, 334, 347, 490, 491; MATH 105 or 230; and three upper-level courses in the social and/or natural sciences selected in consultation with one of the geography faculty.

Owing to Geography, a social science, and Geology, a natural science, being housed in one department, students who double major in Geography and Geology may exceed the 17 course limit within one department.