Brigham Young University Homepage

Undergraduate Catalog

2009 - 2010

Geography

J. Matthew Shumway, Chair
690-B SWKT, (801) 422-2707

College of Family, Home, and Social Sciences Advisement Center
151 SWKT, (801) 422-3541

Admission to Degree Program

All degree programs in the Department of Geography are open enrollment. However, special limitations apply for teaching majors.

The Discipline

Geography offers a variety of programs centered around spatial analysis and tailored, so far as possible, to meet the future needs of individual students. Our modern computer laboratory allows students to gain practical experience with geographical information systems (GIS), remote sensing, cartography, and other programs in planning, urban, travel, and population studies.

Career Opportunities

Graduates are employed in a wide range of both private and governmental positions. Job titles include geographer; teacher of geography; city or regional planner; cartographer; photo interpreter; commodities and industrial location analyst; intelligence, travel industry, or environmental and GIS specialist; and many others.

Skills in spatial analysis make geography a valuable minor or supporting field for many other disciplines.

Graduation Requirements

To receive a BYU bachelor's degree a student must complete, in addition to all requirements for a specific major, the following university requirements:

  • The university core, consisting of requirements in general and religious education. (See University Core for details. For a complete listing of courses that meet university core requirements, see the current class schedule.)
  • A minimum of 30 credit hours in residence
  • A minimum of 120 credit hours
  • A cumulative GPA of at least 2.0
  • Be in good standing with the Honor Code Office

Undergraduate Programs and Degrees

    Students should see their college advisement center for help or information concerning the undergraduate programs.

General Information

  1. The Department of Geography offers one major with six emphases. The emphases are designed to enable students to gain an appreciation of our world as well as prepare them for either a career or graduate school. All students are required to take a set of core courses that emphasize basic geographic concepts and ways of knowing that are common to all six emphases. These courses prepare students for specialization in upper-division courses.

    Geography at Brigham Young University focuses on our interdependent world: the spatial relationships between the physical landscape, diverse societies, and current events. The geography major at Brigham Young University nourishes a sense of curiosity about the world around us, a desire to serve our local and global communities, and the skills necessary to solve significant problems that are inherently spatial.

    Hundreds of students major in geography to prepare for a professional career or graduate study, or just because of an interest in exploring and understanding the world around them. We emphasize both technical and critical thinking skills, including geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing, statistics, data collection, interpretation, and communication using the written and spoken word and visual data display (maps, charts, and graphs).

  2. Prerequisite: all students admitted to one of the geography majors listed above must complete the following courses within one year of declaring a major:
    Geog 100, 101, 110, 120, 130, 211.

  3. Exit assessment and senior survey: Students must complete an exit assessment and senior survey during their final semester no later than one month before graduating. Both are offered online. The assessment is meant to evaluate the department's program goals and student learning outcome. The survey is a set of qualitative questions about the student's experience in the department. Although both the survey and assessment are formal requirements, the results are anonymous and will not be part of the student's academic records.