Undergraduate Programs

Other areas of interest in Geography (these are not formal concentrations)

• Human Geography
• Physical/Environmental Geography
• Urban & Regional Planning

Why Study Geography?

The curiosity of a geographer is virtually unbounded; we are observers and analysts of space, place, and environment on scales from the local to the global. Geography is a multifaceted discipline that bridges the social sciences, the humanities, and the physical sciences.

Geographers study:

• Neighborhoods
• International trade
• Urban life
• Economic patterns
• Ways in which cultures — past and present — leave their imprint on the land and landscape
• Movements of people across space — from local commuting patterns to global refugee flows
• Geopolitical patterns — the changing power relationships within and between nations and states
• Ways in which human relationships to places, spaces, and environments are shaped by — and, in turn, shape — class, ethnic, race, and gender identities
• Natural hazards, biogeography, climate change, and earthquakes
• They map the world, literally as well as metaphorically, and employ the newest technologies of geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing and satellite imagery to better understand the world's constantly changing natural and human landscapes

What skills will I develop with my Geography degree?

• Geography studies equips students analytical and conceptual skills
• The understanding of the spatial dimension of physical, environmental, and human phenomena
• Trains students to appreciate the importance of a broad, international, and comparative perspective
• Provides students with technical skills, a focus on environment and society, and local/global interpretive capacity that is increasingly important for an informed citizenry
• A high proportion of our students go on to graduate work, in geography or cognate fields, and we have placed students at some of the best graduate programs in the country.

Geographic Information Science & Cartography

In the Physical/Environmental concentration, you'll study topics like:

• Computer Mapping and Data Analysis
• Geographic Information Systems
• Environmental Remote Sensing
• Advanced Cartographic Methods

Travel & Tourism

In the Travel & Tourism concentration, you'll study topics like:

• World Regional Geography
• Human Geography
• Physical Geography
• Economic Geography
• Cartography & GIS

Geography & Planning Option (Environmental Studies Major)

The Geography and Planning Option is primarily designed to produce local and regional planning specialists who have a good understanding of environmental problems. Anytime humans change the nature of the landscape by constructing new housing developments, highways, shopping centers, etc. a potentially negative environmental impact to the natural landscape exists. Today's planners who are environmentally sensitive are in great demand to help avoid the common confrontations that arise between developers and those groups that are affected by the project.

Areas of Interest in Geography

Human Geography

With an interest Human Geography, you'll study topics like:

• Great Plains and Nebraska
• Geography, Gender and Work
• Historical Geography of the U.S.
• Seminar in Cultural Geography
• History and Philosophy of Geography
• Political Economy of Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe
• Seminar in Economic Geography

Physical/ Environmental Geography

With an interest in Physical/Environmental Geography, you'll study topics like:

• Conservation of Natural Resources
• Biogeography
• Process Geomorphology
• Meteorology
• Climatology
• Water Resources

Urban/Regional Planning

With an interest in Urban/Regional Planning, you'll study topics like:

• Urban Geography
• Land Use
• Seminar in Metropolitan Planning
• Economic Geography
• Internship in Regional Planning