Who should consider a Geography major?
Students interested in:
Geography is the study of location and the temporal and spatial relationships between humans and their environment. Geography can be described as “holistic”, as it tends to focus on the big picture – seeing spatial connections between seemingly unrelated processes.
Geography is often divided into two main branches: physical and human. Physical geographers study landforms, climate, soils, watersheds, forests, and other natural environments. Human geographers study culture, population distributions, economics, politics, and urban development. The reality is that, whether focusing on the physical or human side, the geographer looks to both branches of the discipline and uses geospatial skills to study interactions and connections. Those geospatial skills include the ability to visualize and interpret location, distance, direction, spatial relationships, change, and movement over space.
Our geography programs emphasize applied, hands-on learning experiences. Students have the opportunity to study in the field, whether participating in day-long course field trips or taking full field courses in places like the Bahamas or caverns in New York and Pennsylvania. Internship opportunities provide on-the-job experiences. Our faculty have active research programs and support student involvement in research projects and attending conferences.
