Are you passionate about environmental sustainability? Are you curious about what social justice looks like? Do you like to learn about foreign places and cultures? Are you interested in telling stories about and thinking critically about data? Do you find the character and social life of cities fascinating? Do you find physical landscapes inspiring? Do you ever wonder why some places are rich while others are poor? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, but especially more than one, then Geography could be a great fit for you. Geography is especially ideal for individuals who have a wide range of interests spanning the natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences.
Geography is an interdisciplinary field that seeks to understand humans’ relationships with the built, biophysical, and social environment. It is a rich and vibrant discipline that is essential to understanding the world and many of its problems. Geographers emphasize spatial processes in studying a wide array of vital issues, including climate change, urbanization, social movements, globalization, environmental justice, geopolitics, environmental hazards, and human migration, among others. Geography thus offers a unique lens through which to illuminate the intertwined places, societies, and ecologies that comprise our diverse world.
Exploring the field of geography at UW–Madison is easy. Interested students are strongly encouraged to take introductory courses in the field. The Department of Geography offers four intro courses, each of which surveys one of the four major subareas that comprise the discipline: (1) human geography; (2) people–environment geography; (3) physical geography; (4) and cartography and geographic information science. The four intro classes are:
- GEOG 101 Introduction to Human Geography;
- GEOG/ENVIR ST 120 Introduction to the Earth System;
- GEOG/ENVIR ST 139 Global Environmental Issues; and
- GEOG 170 Our Digital Globe: An Overview of GIScience and its Technology (online).
Students who intend to declare their major in geography must schedule an appointment with the geography undergraduate advisor.
University General Education Requirements
All undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison are required to fulfill a minimum set of common university general education requirements to ensure that every graduate acquires the essential core of an undergraduate education. This core establishes a foundation for living a productive life, being a citizen of the world, appreciating aesthetic values, and engaging in lifelong learning in a continually changing world. Various schools and colleges will have requirements in addition to the requirements listed below. Consult your advisor for assistance, as needed. For additional information, see the university Undergraduate General Education Requirements section of the Guide.
| General Education |
* The mortarboard symbol appears before the title of any course that fulfills one of the Communication Part A or Part B, Ethnic Studies, or Quantitative Reasoning Part A or Part B requirements. |
College of Letters & Science Degree Requirements: Bachelor of Science (B.S.)
Students pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in the College of Letters & Science must complete all of the requirements below. The College of Letters & Science allows this major to be paired with either the Bachelor of Arts or the Bachelor of Science degree requirements.
Bachelor of Science DEGREE REQUIREMENTS
| Mathematics | Complete two courses of 3+ credits at the Intermediate or Advanced level in MATH, COMP SCI, or STAT subjects. A maximum of one course in each of COMP SCI and STAT subjects counts toward this requirement. |
| Foreign Language | Complete the third unit of a foreign language. |
| L&S Breadth | Complete: • 12 credits of Humanities, which must include at least 6 credits of Literature; and • 12 credits of Social Science; and • 12 credits of Natural Science, which must include 6 credits of Biological Science and 6 credits of Physical Science. |
| Liberal Arts and Science Coursework | Complete at least 108 credits. |
| Depth of Intermediate/Advanced Coursework | Complete at least 60 credits at the Intermediate or Advanced level. |
| Major | Declare and complete at least one major. |
| Total Credits | Complete at least 120 credits. |
| UW-Madison Experience | Complete both: • 30 credits in residence, overall, and • 30 credits in residence after the 86th credit. |
| Quality of Work | • 2.000 in all coursework at UW–Madison • 2.000 in Intermediate/Advanced level coursework at UW–Madison |
Non–L&S Students PURSUING AN L&S MAJOR
Non–L&S students who have permission from their school/college to pursue an additional major within L&S only need to fulfill the major requirements. They do not need to complete the L&S Degree Requirements above.
Requirements for the Major
Students must declare one of the major options below, complete Core Requirements common to each option, and also the specific requirements for their declared option.
Core Requirements
30 credits the major, to include these core requirements:
BREADTH
3 courses, 1 each from these areas:
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Human Geography (1 course) | 3 | |
| Introduction to Human Geography | ||
| Introduction to Human Geography | ||
| Revolutions and Social Change | ||
| Economic Geography: Locational Behavior | ||
| Introduction to the City | ||
| International Migration, Health, and Human Rights | ||
| Latinx Feminisms: Women's Lives, Work, and Activism | ||
| The Global Game: Soccer, Politics, and Identity | ||
| Universal Basic Income: The Politics Behind a Global Movement | ||
| Introduction to Geopolitics | ||
| World Regions in Global Context | ||
| Geography of Wisconsin | ||
| Africa, South of the Sahara | ||
| Human Geography of Southeast Asia | ||
| Critical Indigenous Ecological Knowledges | ||
| The Making of the American Landscape | ||
| Space and Place: A Geography of Experience | ||
| Researching the City: Qualitative Strategies | ||
| Feminist Geography: Theoretical Approaches | ||
| Urban Spatial Patterns and Theories | ||
| Waste Geographies: Politics, People, and Infrastructures | ||
| Economic Geography | ||
| Critical Social Theory | ||
| Power, Place, Identity | ||
| History of Geographic Thought | ||
| People–Environment (1 course) | 3 | |
| Global Environmental Issues | ||
| People, Land and Food: Comparative Study of Agriculture Systems | ||
| Global Warming: Science and Impacts | ||
| Nature, Power and Society | ||
| Environmental Biogeography | ||
| Environmental Conservation | ||
| World Regions in Global Context | ||
| Changing Landscapes of the American West | ||
| Managing Nature in Native North America | ||
| Australia: Environment and Society | ||
| Critical Indigenous Ecological Knowledges | ||
| People, Wildlife and Landscapes | ||
| US Environmental Policy and Regulation | ||
| American Environmental History | ||
| The Making of the American Landscape | ||
| Human Transformations of Earth Surface Processes | ||
| Environmental Governance: Markets, States and Nature | ||
| Culture and Environment | ||
| The Humid Tropics: Ecology, Subsistence, and Development | ||
| Development and Environment in Southeast Asia | ||
| Physical Geography (1 course) | 3 | |
| Introduction to the Earth System | ||
| Physical Systems of the Environment | ||
| Geomorphology | ||
| Polar Regions and Their Importance in the Global Environment | ||
| Landforms and Landscapes of North America | ||
| Global Warming: Science and Impacts | ||
| Climatic Environments of the Past | ||
| Environmental Biogeography | ||
| Geography of Wisconsin | ||
| Changing Landscapes of the American West | ||
| Glacial and Pleistocene Geology | ||
| Advanced Paleoecology: Species Responses to Past Environmental Change | ||
| Soil Geomorphology | ||
| Human Transformations of Earth Surface Processes | ||
| Past Climates and Climatic Change | ||
| Total Credits | 9 | |
CAPSTONE
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Complete one of: | 3-6 | |
| Colloquium for Undergraduate Majors | ||
| Senior Honors Thesis and Senior Honors Thesis | ||
| Senior Thesis and Senior Thesis | ||
| Total Credits | 3-6 | |
Major Options
Declare one of these major options
Residence and Quality of Work
- 2.000 GPA in GEOG and major courses
- 2.000 GPA on 15 upper-level credits, taken in residence 1
- 15 credits in GEOG, taken on the UW–Madison campus
- 1
GEOG courses designated Intermediate/Advanced are upper level in this major.
Honors in the Major
Students may declare Honors in the Geography Major in consultation with the Geography undergraduate advisor.
HONORS IN THE MAJOR REQUIREMENTS
To earn a B.A. or B.S. with Honors in the Major in Geography students must satisfy both the requirements for the major (above) and the following additional requirements:
- Earn a 3.300 University GPA
- Earn a 3.300 GPA in all GEOG courses and major courses
- At least 1 Advanced level major course or 6 credits in major courses numbered 300 and higher, taken for Honors
- Complete a two-semester Senior Honors Thesis (GEOG 681 & GEOG 682) for a total of 6 credits.
University Degree Requirements
| Total Degree | To receive a bachelor's degree from UW–Madison, students must earn a minimum of 120 degree credits. The requirements for some programs may exceed 120 degree credits. Students should consult with their college or department advisor for information on specific credit requirements. |
| Residency | Degree candidates are required to earn a minimum of 30 credits in residence at UW–Madison. "In residence" means on the UW–Madison campus with an undergraduate degree classification. “In residence” credit also includes UW–Madison courses offered in distance or online formats and credits earned in UW–Madison Study Abroad/Study Away programs. |
| Quality of Work | Undergraduate students must maintain the minimum grade point average specified by the school, college, or academic program to remain in good academic standing. Students whose academic performance drops below these minimum thresholds will be placed on academic probation. |
- A broad spectrum of geographical knowledge and skills, as well as a degree of expertise in a specific sub-field of the discipline (Human, People-Environment, Physical, Cart/GIS).
- Skills in developing and implementing research plans.
- Critical reasoning and analytical skills.
- Communication skills - both written and oral.
Sample Four-Year Plan
This Sample Four-Year Plan is a tool to assist students and their advisor(s). Students should use it—along with their DARS report, the Degree Planner, and Course Search & Enroll tools—to make their own four-year plan based on their placement scores, credit for transferred courses and approved examinations, and individual interests. As students become involved in athletics, honors, research, student organizations, study abroad, volunteer experiences, and/or work, they might adjust the order of their courses to accommodate these experiences. Students will likely revise their own four-year plan several times during college.
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| Communication A | 3 | Ethnic Studies (e.g., GEOG 305) | 3 |
| Quantitative Reasoning A | 3 | Quantitative Reasoning B | 3 |
| Foreign Language | 4 | Introductory GEOG | 3 |
| Biological Science Breadth | 3 | Foreign Language | 4 |
| Introductory GEOG | 3-4 | Literature Breadth | 3 |
| 16 | 16 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| Communication B (e.g., GEOG 101) | 4 | Humanities Breadth | 3 |
| Humanities Breadth | 3 | Social Science Breadth | 3 |
| Major course: Human Geography | 3-4 | Major course: Physical Geography | 3 |
| INTER-LS 210 | 1 | Major course: People-Environment | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | Elective | 3 |
| 14 | 15 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| Social Science Breadth | 3 | Literature Breadth | 3 |
| Natural Science Breadth | 3 | Major course: Mapping | 3-4 |
| Humanities Breadth | 3 | GEOG 365 | 3 |
| Intermediate-Level Geography in Subarea | 3-4 | Electives | 6 |
| STAT 301 | 3 | ||
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Credits | Spring | Credits |
| GEOG 565 | 3 | Advanced-Level Geography Elective in Subarea | 3-4 |
| Intermediate-Level Geography Elective in Subarea | 3-4 | Electives | 10 |
| Electives | 8 | ||
| 15 | 14 | ||
| Total Credits 120 | |||
Advising
Students with questions about the major, courses, and careers are encouraged to contact the geography undergraduate advisor, Joel Gruley, at jgruley@wisc.edu.
Careers
Given its interdisciplinary nature, Geography prepares students for employment in a wide variety of fields spanning the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, both domestically and abroad. Fields where geographers commonly find employment include, but are not limited to: ecological restoration; urban planning; economic development; human rights; corporate sustainability; immigration advocacy and refugee resettlement; environmental consulting; social movements and community organization; national security; data analysis and visualization; risk assessment; public health; journalism; diplomacy; transportation; sustainable agrifood systems. Moreover, geographers trained in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and cartography are in high demand from governments, businesses, and nonprofits for their spatial data analysis and visualization skills.
L&S career resources
Every L&S major opens a world of possibilities. SuccessWorks at the College of Letters & Science helps students turn the academic skills learned in their major, certificates, and other coursework into fulfilling lives after graduation, whether that means jobs, public service, graduate school or other career pursuits.
In addition to providing basic support like resume reviews and interview practice, SuccessWorks offers ways to explore interests and build career skills from their very first semester/term at UW all the way through graduation and beyond.
Students can explore careers in one-on-one advising, try out different career paths, complete internships, prepare for the job search and/or graduate school applications, and connect with supportive alumni and even employers in the fields that inspire them.
- SuccessWorks
- Set up a career advising appointment
- Enroll in a Career Course - a great idea for first- and second-year students:
- INTER-LS 210 L&S Career Development: Taking Initiative (1 credit)
- INTER-LS 215 Communicating About Careers (3 credits, fulfills Comm B General Education Requirement)
- Learn about internships and internship funding
- Activate your Handshake account to apply for jobs and internships from 200,000+ employers recruiting UW-Madison students
- Learn about the impact SuccessWorks has on students' lives