Undergraduate Studies in Geography
Are you interested in: Cities and Urban Sustainability, Climate Change, Culture, Disasters and Natural Hazards, Ethno-National conflict, Geopolitics, GIS, Human-Environment Interaction, International Food, Migration, Military Strategy, Natural Resources, or Transportation? If your answer to any of these questions (and many related others) is “YES!” – then you need to consider majoring in GEOGRAPHY!
What is Geography?
Geography is a unique discipline through its seamless integration of the social sciences with the physical sciences. This integration is increasingly facilitated through advanced computer based tools to conduct geospatial techniques.
There is always something new to research in geography: new nation-states are created, natural disasters strike populated areas, climate change creates new trade routes and resource conflicts, people migrate and effect rapid urban change, and the Internet brings millions of people closer together. Identifying places on maps is important but geography takes us far beyond place names – geographic analysis allows us to understand the rapidly changing world in which we live.
Human & Physical Paths in Geography
The work of physical geographers includes research about climates, the formation of landforms, and the evolving impact of plant and animal species change. Migration, religion, languages, and cities are a few of the specialties of human geographers. Their research into the intricacies of human existence is fundamental to our understanding of cultures.
Technical Skills
Geographers use many tools and techniques in their work, and geographic technologies are increasingly among the most important emerging fields for understanding our complex world. They include Geographic Information Systems (GIS) which is a computerized mapping and data analysis, Remote Sensing, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), online mapping such as Google Earth, and others. These types of technologies allow Geographers plan new communities, decide where new highways should be placed, and establish evacuation plans.
Careers as a Geographer
Earning your B.A. degree in geography shows prospective employers that you can solve problems, research solutions, and utilize emergent and changing technologies. You will have the ability to understand the spatial and integrative dimensions and the holistic perspective to a wide variety of the world’s most pressing challenges. At GW, we challenge students to move beyond passive knowledge consumption toward the production and contribution of NEW knowledge. GW Geography majors apply their skills and perspectives through collaborative work with faculty, fellow students and members of the Washington D.C. metropolitan community and beyond.
The Geography major can provide preparation for a career in business, industry, or government. Geographers with bachelor's degrees are currently being placed in federal, state, and local administrative and planning agencies and in private firms that specialize in planning and development or in environmental and socioeconomic analysis and a wide variety of other positions.
The Geography Department offers two majors and two minors:
Majors
Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies
Minors
Minor in Geographic Information Systems
Geography Advisors
To register as a geography major or minor, please contact the Geography Department Undergraduate Advisors to discuss your options, and fill out the required paper work.
Professor Joe Dymond, (202) 994-8503
Professor Ryan Engstrom , (202) 994-7979
Geography Students Bring Arctic Adventure back to the Lab
From fieldwork in Alaska to lab work in Foggy Bottom, Assistant Professor of Geography Nikolay Shiklomanov is keeping his students engaged in the long-term effects of climate change on the active and near-surface permafrost layers of the Arctic Circle thanks to a five-year, $1.7 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Read more.
Graduate Maps His Future
Recent alumnus Peter Gray Smith, BA ’10, has an explorer’s spirit and the tools to map out his adventures. While at GW, Smith completed a double major in Geography and International Affairs, minored in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), worked with the National Geographic Society, and spent his final spring break on the adventure of his lifetime . . . so far. Read more.
Students Take Second Place World Geography Bowl
GW Geography students Coline Reisser, Bonnie Epstien, Trevor Tisler, and Victoria Roman, representing the Mid-Atlantic region, came in second place at the World Geography Bowl Competition at the 2011 Association of American Geographers annual meeting.
Gelman Library Research Guide
Studying for a final or working on a research paper? The Gelman Library Research Guide can help you find what you need.