Geography major

B.A. or B.S. in Geography

Major Requirements

At least 9 Geography courses must be taken for a letter grade. A grade of C- or better is required for any course applied to the major, and a GPA of 2.25 or better is required in courses used for the major.

Click here for a pdf of this worksheet and Click here for a Word version that you can fill in.

Click here to see the current academic year course plan (always subject to change!)

See our course offerings and how they fulfill requirements, click here.

To add or drop the geography major or change a concentration:

• To ADD or DROP. the Geography major or change your concentration, fill out the form on this page.

1. Fundamentals

Everyone needs the fundamentals. These introductory and advanced (both required) courses will stretch your horizon, sharpen your critical thinking skills, synthesize core principles, ignite a passion for learning, and might even surprise you. Let the discoveries begin.

1a Introductory Core (3 courses, 12 credits)

• GEOG 141: The Natural Environment
• GEOG 142: Introduction to Human Geography: Our Globalized World
• GEOG 181: Our Digital World

1b Advanced Core (2 courses, 8 credits)

• GEOG 391: Social Science Research & Inquiry (required for all students)

One of the following:

• GEOG 201-208: Regional Course (pick one regional course)
• GEOG 281: The World of Big Data

2. Breadth (3 courses, 12 upper division credits)

With roots in exploration and travel, Geographers traverse a wide range of topics and specialties. Here, students will gain the necessary breadth to put all the pieces together. Choose one course from each of the following:*

• GIScience
• Biophysical Geography
• Human Geography

3. Concentration (3 courses, 12 upper division credits)

With this requirement, students gain greater depth of knowledge and skills. The concentration helps translate Geography for careers. Choose one of the following concentrations and take three courses:*

• Culture, Politics & Place: Social, economic, and political processes that shape and connect places
• Environment, Economy & Sustainability: Human-environment interactions and sustainability
• Water Science & Policy: The social, political, and physical processes that shape water and its use
• Environmental Systems: The biological, climatological, and geomorphological processes that shape the earth’s surface
• Geographic Information Science: Using spatial data to understand processes that shape the earth

4. The Launchpad (1 course, 2 credits)

What can Geography do for you, beyond the classroom? Here, students will gain tangible skills in research, professional development, leadership, and applying geographical concepts and skills beyond college. Chose one of the following:

GEOG 401: Research Experience
GEOG 403: Thesis (requires a GPA of 3.6 or higher)
GEOG 406: Field Studies
GEOG 409: Practicum/ Internship
CAS 417: Career Readiness

To see descriptions of courses, see the UO Course Catalog

To add or drop the geography major or a change a concentration:

• To ADD or DROP the Geography major or change your concentration, fill out the form on this page.
• You can also ADD or DROP during an advising appointment with the advisor.
• New majors are strongly encouraged to make an appointment with the Geography advisor, Dr. Leslie McLees, through this online scheduler or through email at geogadvr@uoregon.edu.

Bachelor of Science

All Geography majors seeking a B.S. degree will be required to complete any math sequence that satisfies the University’s math requirement for a B.S. degree.  Math classes must be passed with a grade of at least C- or P.

• For the Geographic Information Science Track, we recommend a computer programming sequence.
• For students interested in biophysical geography we recommend either a statistics sequence or a calculus sequence based on your interests:
  • for geomorphology, we recommend a calculus emphasis;
  • for biogeography, we recommend a statistics emphasis; and
  • for climatology, we recommend a calculus or computer programming emphasis.

Bachelor of Arts

All Geography majors seeking a B.A. degree must demonstrate proficiency in a second language either by passing the third quarter of a second-year university language course with a grade of C- or better or by an examination indicating an equivalent level of proficiency.

If you are considering applying to graduate school in the future, we strongly recommend that you complete both the math and language requirements.