Geography and Planning
Why Geography? Why Planning?
"Now more than ever, we need people who think broadly and who understand systems, connections, patterns, and root causes & how to think in whole systems, how to find connections, how to ask big questions, and how to separate the trivial from the important."
- David W. Orr (1994)
Geography is an interdisciplinary, problem-solving field that bridges the natural and social sciences. It is a branch of science focused on understanding place, space, and process over space and time. The scope of the phenomena and processes investigated in Geography are multiscalar, ranging from the local to the global.
Geographers study where phenomena are located, how they got there, where they are going in the future, and why. Geography is the "spatial science" - concerned with place, space, and pattern - and change in pattern over time.
City and Regional Planning involves the development of public policy to efficiently and sustainably manage our land use practices, the built and natural environments, transportation infrastructure, growth, and other things.
Department specializations
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Topical areas of study include globalization, international development, the environment, land use and land use change, natural resource conservation, and area (regional) and global studies (Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, the Americas).
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A robust and expanding City and Regional Planning emphasis in the major, a minor, as well as a Certificate in Sustainable Planning.
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Geospatial technologies - geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, cartography, and spatial statistics. We offer an emphasis in the major, a minor, and a Certificate in GIS. Our experience shows that acquiring analytical expertise in geospatial technologies can virtually guarantee a wide range of employment opportunities and increase a student's chances of acceptance into a good graduate school.
- Dedicated faculty. We excel at providing students opportunities to conduct research and acquire analytical skills. The ability to generate new knowledge through research is the most important skill a student can acquire in undergraduate higher education. We offer a wide variety of research methods courses, strongly encourage students to present their work at scholarly conferences, and mentor them at every level for success.
Our faculty is comprised of area, topical, and technical specialists who are distinguished in their fields. Our area specialists have spent years in the field, have conducted research in their regions and speak at least one language from their region of expertise. The faculty is very student-focused: our main interest is to work closely with students to help them develop as professionals, analysts, and researchers who will make a smooth and successful transition to life after graduation--and make an impact on the world.
Our graduates find meaningful and well-paid employment, and a career track, with the Bachelors degree. Our graduates are sought after by graduate programs as well. We are pleased that in the competitive application process for graduate schools, most of our students are awarded paid graduate assistantships. Our graduates are capable, particularly in their research and analytical skills, and simply out-compete students from other universities in the graduate application process.
We welcome you to our program and welcome you to come and pay us a visit
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Page last modified December 5, 2012
