Imagine a world where the spatial relationships within and between people, places, environments,
and economies are made clear through exciting new conceptual and technological approaches. This is the promise of
Geography – rediscovered over the past two decades after exciting changes in Geospatial Technologies (computer
mapping, satellite image processing, global positioning systems) and ways of conceptualizing the spatiality these
technologies reveal. DePaul Geographers share a commitment to teaching and research that makes a world of difference…
for the people, places, environments, and processes that we study, whether our approach is scientific, materialist, humanist,
or realist.

By some recent (2004) estimates, Geotechnology and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is now a $30 billion/year
industry. Along with Nanotechnology and Biotechnology, Geotechnology was named by the U.S. Bureau of Labor as one
of three “hot” areas for job growth. Geography holds a comparative advantage as a discipline that straddles fields
in the social and earth science disciplines. This breadth of scope has made geography an exceptional foundation for a
variety of careers that explore questions of spatial organization and require regional knowledge. The study of geography
builds a unique spatial perspective and it addresses both "human" and "physical" domains of knowledge and examines the
interactions between them through space. Geographers apply methods such as observation, visualization, analysis, and
modeling to explain the spatial organization of human and physical environments. Geographical perspectives foster skills
that have broad applications in public policy, research, and the private sector. The Department of Geography teaches
students to reason spatially by applying geographic techniques and information technologies, including new technologies
such as GIS. In so doing it helps students produce sophisticated understandings of the world, its people and
environments, its economic structures, and its cultures.

Bachelor of Arts - Departmental Program Requirements

The BA in Geography consists of the Foundation, one of three possible Concentrations (Standard, Metropolitan Development and Land Use, or Geotechnology), and the Capstone.

FOUNDATION

Geography: 101 or 102 Earth’s Physical Landscape; 170 Earth’s Cultural Landscape

Concentrations

I. STANDARD GEOGRAPHY CONCENTRATION

Geography Foundation plus Thematic Surveys (4 courses with consent of advisor): Geography: 133 Urban Geography; 266 The World Economy; 201 Geopolitics; 210 Environmental Conservation; 240 Maps!; 310 Land-Use Ethics; 225 Weather and Climate; 233 Comparative Urbanism; 333 Urban Planning and Problems.

Methods and Techniques: (3 courses with consent of advisor): Geography: 241 GIS I; 242 GIS II; 243 Remote Sensing or 391 Research Techniques

Regional Geographic Surveys: (any 2 courses listed as Regional Analyses).

Supporting Fields: Five courses selected from course offerings in Anthropology, Economics, Environmental Sciences, History, International Studies, Political Science, Public Policy Studies, Sociology, and any other discipline or program selected in consultation with the student’s advisor.

 

II. THE METROPOLITAN DEVELOPMENT AND LAND-USE CONCENTRATION

Geography Foundation plus Thematic Surveys (3 courses): Geography: 133 Urban Geography; 233 Comparative Urbanism; 333 Urban Planning and Problems.

Methods and Techniques (4 courses): Geography: 241 GIS I; 242 GIS II; 243 Remote Sensing; 391 Research Techniques.

Additional Systematic Surveys (2 courses): Geography: 266 The World Economy (required); 331 Chicago: Spatial Anatomy of a Metropolis or any course listed under Regional Analyses.

Supporting Fields: Econ. 105 Principles of Microeconomics; Econ. 106 Principles of Macroeconomics; plus three urban-related courses selected from course offerings in Art, Anthropology, Environmental Science, History, Political Science, Public Policy Studies, and Sociology.

 

III. GEOTECHNOLOGY CONCENTRATION

Geography Foundation plus Thematic Core (5 courses): Geography: 241 GIS I; 242 GIS II; 243 Remote Sensing; 244 GIS III, 391 Research Techniques.

Systematic Surveys (2 courses): Geography: 266 The World Economy (required); 133 Urban Geography; 120 Justice, Inequity, and the Urban Environment; 160 Regional Inequity; 233 Comparative Urbanism; 333 City Planning and Problems, or 310 Land-Use Ethics; or any course in consultation with the student’s advisor.

Additional Geography Courses (2 courses): Geography: any two courses.

Supporting Fields: Econ. 105 Principles of Microeconomics; Econ. 106 Principles of Macroeconomics; plus three courses selected from course offerings in Art, Anthropology Environmental Sciences, History, International Studies, Political Science, Public Policy Studies, Sociology, and any other discipline or program selected in consultation with the student’s advisor.

 

 CAPSTONE

Geography (one course): 300 Geographical Inquiry.  The capstone seminar includes a faculty research colloquium and requires a significant student research project.

For more information on geography programs
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