Geography is a complex field that bridges the natural and social sciences. It is a branch of science focused on understanding where phenomena are located on or near the earth's surface, 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. At the same time, geographers study processes of change at different scales from global to local. Geography has deep roots in history; it is one of the oldest disciplines in either the social or physical sciences. It was over 2,000 years ago when the word geo-graphy (earth description) was first coined by the Greeks. The ancient Arab scholars who followed the Greeks as lovers of geography called geography the "origin" of the sciences. Although geography is vastly more specialized and our tools are so much more technologically sophisticated today than in the early days of geography - this observation is still essentially correct.

Our department specializes in a number of areas of study including globalization and development, geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, city and regional planning, the environment, land use and natural resource conservation, and area/global studies.

Student research:

1. Senior Thesis research, 2003 to 2008.
2. Student Scholarship Day, April 8, 2009.
3. Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Literature, March 20, 2009, at Wayne State University. Photo.

Flood Affected Areas in Southwestern Africa. An example of the work our former students now do as professionals, Malinda Van Sledright, class of 2005, now with the Humanitarian Information Unit, U.S. State Department.

What is Geography?

• Pattison, (1963) "Four Traditions of Geography."
• Golledge, (2002) "The Nature of Geographical Knowledge."
• Clark, (2009) "Academic Geography for Sustainability."
• Department of Geography and Planning, GVSU, "Geography and the Liberal Education Tradition."