Course Work
Background Course Requirements
Generally, background is placed on the degree outline as a requirement when a student is deficient in certain course work. For specific information on background requirements, you should contact the department's Graduate Program Coordinator.
Course work identified on your official Ph.D. degree outline as background is not used in the computation of your advancement to candidacy GPA. Any course required for background is not awarded graduate degree credit.
Semester Hour Requirements
The student must complete 31 semester hours of graduate work to meet the minimum requirements for advancement to candidacy. In some cases, a student may need to complete additional hours before being allowed to advance to candidacy. The student must have satisfied the residency requirement of 18 graduate credit hours.
Degree Outline
You will need to declare an area of specialization for your program of study. The Ph.D. program in Geography offers specialization in either environmental geography or geographic education. In the first semester that you enroll for doctoral study, you should confer with your Graduate Advisor and prepare a degree program. Doctoral degree programs are tailored with the individual student in mind. It is therefore possible for the individual degree outline to exceed the number of degree hours identified in this catalog.
The office of the Graduate College approves and finalizes your official degree outline. A copy of the official degree outline is prepared for you, and you will receive a copy from the Graduate College when the outline has been prepared. The outline should be used in determining enrollment each semester. Any course taken prior to the official degree outline being approved is taken at your own risk. Any change in the degree outline must be requested on an official Graduate College form, and be submitted by the departmental Graduate Advisor to the Graduate College for final approval.
Course Work Requirements
Core Courses 9 hours
Skill Course 4 hours
Specialization Courses 12 hours
Elective Courses in Geography or related fields 6 hours
Course Work Total 31 hours
Degree Total 46 hours minimum
Required Core Courses: 9 hours
(Core courses are prerequisites to other research courses.)
GEO 7300 Advanced Geographic Research Design
GEO 7301 Advanced Quantitative Methods in Geography
GEO 7302 Nature and Philosophy of Geography
Skill Courses: 4 hours
Environmental Geography & Geographic Education Students:
GEO 7415 Geographic Applications of Remote Sensing
GEO 7417 Geographic Information Systems I
GEO 7430 Field Methods
Geographic Information Science Students:
GEO 7418 Techniques and Methods in Geographic Information Science
Specialization Courses: 12 hours
Environmental Geography Courses:
GEO 7313 Environmental Systems Analysis
GEO 7314 Environmental Geography of Resources Development
GEO 7330 Geography of Natural Hazards
GEO 7331 Geography of the Hazards of Technology
GEO 7334 Geographic Aspects of Water
GEO 7370 Advanced Seminar in Environmental Geography*
GEO 7390 Independent Study*
*Repeatable up to six hours with a different topic.
Geographic Education Courses:
GEO 7342 Theories and Methods in Geographic Education
GEO 7344 Seminar in Geographic Curriculum
GEO 7346 Standards and Assessment in Geography
GEO 7347 Spatial Graphics in Geographic Education
GEO 7371 Advanced Seminar in Geographic Education*
GEO 7390 Independent Study*
*Repeatable up to six hours with a different topic.
Geographic Information Science Courses:
GEO 7316 Remote Sensing and the Environment
GEO 7318 GIS and Environmental Geography
GEO 7319 Environmental Digital Terrain Modeling
GEO 7347 Spatial Graphics and Geographic Education
GEO 7361 Advanced Geographic Information Systems
GEO 7362 Multivariate Mapping
GEO 7363 Geographic Geodesy
GEO 7364 Geocomputation
GEO 7365 Cartography and Visualization
GEO 7366 Advanced Topics in Remote Sensing
GEO 7367 Geographic Information Science and Society
GEO 7372 Seminar in Geographic Information Science
Elective Courses in Geography:
GEO 7305 Historical Geography of the American Environment
GEO 7316 Remote Sensing and the Environment
GEO 7318 Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Environmental Geography
GEO 7348 Ethnic Geography
GEO 7349 Population Geography
Dissertation: 15 hours minimum
Environmental Geography:
GEO 7399A Dissertation**
GEO 7699A Dissertation**
GEO 7999A Dissertation**
Geographic Education:
GEO 7399B Dissertation**
GEO 7699B Dissertation**
GEO 7999B Dissertation**
Geographic Information Science:
GEO 7399C Dissertation**
GEO 7699C Dissertation**
GEO 7999C Dissertation**
**The student must ensure that he or she enrolls in a combination of dissertation courses that equals 15 hours (i.e.; 7399X, 7699X, 7699X; or 7699X and 7999X; etc.) in order to meet the minimum dissertation credit hour requirement.