Schools

School of Natural Sciences

Geoscience (Bachelor of Arts)

The Geosciences program offers a Bachelor of Arts in Geosciences with five concentrations: Human Geography, Geographic Information Science, Environmental Geography, Physical Geography, and Geology.  These disciplines prepare students for working in a broad range of Geoscience careers including the private sector, local, state and federal government, and as a preparation for graduate studies.

Geosciences

Student Learning Goals

  1. Geoscience majors will acquire substantive knowledge of global spatial patterns and concepts central to the study geoscience.
  2. Geoscience majors will acquire the analytical and technical skills necessary to perform spatial analysis and research using GIS or other technologies.
  3. Geoscience majors will compete successfully in the professional job market or gain admittance to an advanced Geoscience graduate program.

Geoscience BA Residency Requirement

The Geoscience Department enforces the IU Southeast Residency Requirement and the School of Natural Sciences’ Residency Requirement with no additions.

Degree Program Admission Requirements

To be fully admitted to the Bachelor of Arts in Geosciences degree program, students must mee the School of Natural Science's admission requirements and complete GEOG-G 107 (Physical Systems of the Environment) or GEOL-G 100 (General Geology) with a grade of C or better.

General Education & BA Distribution Components

All students pursuing the Bachelor of Arts in Geosciences must complete the campus General Education Core Requirements.  See General Education Component for all IU Southeast Baccalaureate Degrees for a complete listing of requirements.

Students must also complete the campus BA Distribution requirements as stated in Bachelor of Arts Degree Requirements.

Core Program

All courses listed below require a grade of C or better.  Courses marked with an asterisk (*) can be used to satisfy a General Education Core Requirement or a BA Distribution Requirement.

Note: Students are eligible to complete no more than two geography tracks and may not double dip courses taken for the Geography/Geology Concentration Requirements, Upper-Level Geography/Geology Requirement, Geography/Geology Elective Requirements, & Geography/Geology Capstone to count for any of the other tracks, including the Geology Track.

Required Math (FOR ALL GEOGRAPHY TRACKS)

Note:  Students are eligible to complete no more than two geography tracks.

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
MATH-M 118* or higher level Finite Mathematics 3 C

Required Math (FOR GEOLOGY TRACK)

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
MATH-M 215* Calculus I 5 C

Geoscience Core Requirements for all Geography Tracks and the Geology Tracks

Dept.  Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOL-G 100* General Geology 5 C
GEOG-G 201* World Regional Geography 3 C
GEOG-G 338 Geographic Information Science
(All students pursuing the GIS Track must complete this course on the IU Southeast campus.)
3 C

 

Required Geography Courses (required for all Geography Tracks)

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 107* Physical Systems of the Environment 3 C
GEOG-G 108* Physical Systems of the Environment - Lab 2 C
GEOG-G 110* Introduction to Human Geography 3 C
GEOG-G 333 Introductory Cartography 3 C

Environmental Geography Track

Additional course work required outside of Geosciences for Environmental Track.

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
BIOL-L 200* Environmental Biology & Conservation 3 C

Specific Requirements for Environmental Track - Upper Level Course

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 315 Environmental Conservation 3 C

Environmental Track Concentration Course: Students must select one.

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 307* Biogeography 3 C
GEOG-G 308* Disasters: Natural/Human Induced 3 C
GEOG-G 432 Current Issues in Environmental Conservation 3 C
GEOL-G 300* Environmental and Urban Geology 3 C

Geography/Geology Electives

Students must select 6 additional credit hours at the 300-400 level, from Geography and Geology courses, that relate to the track, with approval of the Geoscience advisor.

Capstone

Students must select one capstone course.  Students that wish to use the Internship or Research to satisfy the Capstone requirement must be pre-approved by the Geoscience Coordinator.

Dept.

Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 450 Undergraduate Readings and Research in Geography 3 C
GEOG-G 460 Internship Geographical Analysis 3 C
GEOG-G 490 Senior Seminar in Geography 3 C

Geographic Information Science Track 

Additional coursework required outside of Geosciences for GIS Track

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
MATH-K 300 Statistics 3 C
Choose one of the following Computer Science courses:
CSCI-A 201 Introduction to Programming 3 C
CSCI-N 211 Introduction to Databases 3 C

Specific Requirements for GIS Track - Upper Level Course

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 438 Advanced Geographic Information Science 3 C

GIS Track Concentration Course

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 439 Seminar in Geographic Information Science 3 C

Geography/Geology Electives

Students must select 6 additional credit hours at the 300-400 level, from Geography and Geology courses, that relate to the track, with approval of the Geoscience advisor.

Capstone

Students must select one capstone course.  Students that wish to use the Internship or Research to satisfy the Capstone requirement must be pre-approved by the Geosciences Coordinator.

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 450 Undergraduate Research and Readings in Geography 3 C
GEOG-G 460 Geography Internship 3 C
GEOG-G 490 Senior Seminar in Geography 3 C

Human Geography Track

Specific Requirements for Human Geography Track - Upper Level Courses: students must select one.

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 323 Geography of Latin America 3 C
GEOG-G 326 Geography of North America 3 C
GEOG-G 425 Africa:  Contemporary Geographic Problems 3 C

Human Geography Track Concentration Course - Students must select one.

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 213 Introduction to Economic Geography 3 C
GEOG-G 307* Biogeography: Distribution of Life 3 C
GEOG-G 418* Historical Geography 3 C

 

Geography/Geology Electives

Students must select 6 additional credit hours at the 300-400 level, from Geography and Geology courses, that relate to the track, with approval of the Geoscience advisor.

Capstone

Students must select one capstone course.  Students that wish to use the Internship or Research to satisfy the Capstone requirement must be pre-approved by the Geosciences Coordinator.

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 450 Undergraduate Research and Readings in Geography 3 C
GEOG-G 460 Internship Geographical Analysis 3 C
GEOG-G 490 Senior Seminar in Geography 3 C

 

Physical Geography Track

Additional coursework required outside of Geosciences

Students must select 5 additional credit hours from approved laboratory courses in Biology (BIOL, PLSC, or ZOOL), Chemistry, or Physics.

Specific Requirements for Physical Geography Track - Upper Level Courses (Students must select one)

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 304* Physical Meteorology & Climatology 3 C
GEOG-G 308* Natural Disasters 3 C
GEOG-G 404 Geography of Soils 3 C
GEOL-G 415* Geomorphology 3 C

Physical Geography Track Concentration

Students must select one course, but that course must be different than the one chosen as an upper level course.

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 304* Physical Meteorology & Climatology 3 C
GEOG-G 308* Disasters: Natural/Human Induced    
GEOG-G 404 Geography of Soils 3 C
GEOL-G 415* Geomorphology 3 C
GEOL-G 451 Principles of Hydrogeology 3 C

Geography/Geology Electives

Students must select 6 additional credit hours at the 300-400 level, from Geography and Geology courses, that relate to the track, with approval of the Geoscience advisor.

Capstone

Students must select one capstone course.  Students that wish to use the Internship or Research to satisfy the Capstone requirement must be pre-approved by the Geosciences Coordinator.


Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 450 Undergraduate Research and Readings in Geography 3 C
GEOG-G 460 Internship Geographical Analysis 3 C
GEOG-G 490 Senior Seminar in Geography 3 C
  •  

Geology Track

Additional coursework required outside of Geosciences

Students on the Geology Track are required to complete 15 additional credit hours in Biology (BIOL, PLSC, or ZOOL), Chemistry, or Physics.  It is recommended that students take a 10 credit hour sequence from one Natural Science Discipline (General Chemistry or General Physics) approved by the Geoscience Advisor.

Required Geology Courses

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOL-G 221* Introductory Mineralogy 4 C
GEOL-G 222 Introduction to Petrology 4 C
GEOL-G 334 Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy 4 C

Specific Requirement for Geology Track - Upper Level Course

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOL-G 415* Geomorphology 3 C

Geology Track Concentration Course: students must select one course

Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOG-G 304* Physical Meteorology and Climatology 3 C
GEOG-G 404 Geography of Soils 3 C
GEOL-G 300* Environmental and Urban Geology 3 C
GEOL-G 415* Geomorphology 3 C

Geography/Geology Electives

Students must select 6 additional credit hours at the 300-400 level, from Geography and Geology courses, that relate to the track, with approval of the Geoscience advisor.

Capstone

Students must select one capstone course.  Both Internship and Research must be pre-approved by the Geosciences Coordinator.


Dept. Course Number Title Credit Hours Minimum Grade
GEOL-G 410 Undergraduate Research in Geology 3 C
GEOL-G 460 Internship in Geology 3 C

General & Upper-Level Electives

Students must complete a minimum of 120 credit hours and 30 credit hours at the 300-level or above.  Elective courses may be necessary to complete the minimum credit hour requirements.

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