Geography Major, B.S.

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Geosciences

Geography Program Information

Department of Geosciences
Ross Hall, Room 322 (main office)
East Tennessee State University
P.O. Box 70357
Johnson City, TN 37614-1709
Phone 423-439-7516
Fax 423-439-7520
 

The Bachelor of Science (B.S.) program offers a major in geography. Geography is a multi-faceted discipline that embraces physical science, social science, and technology. Geographic inquiry is concerned with the spatial aspects and interrelationships within the earth’s human and physical environments. A B.S. in Geography will provide the student not only with a solid background in modern geographic concepts along with human and physical aspects of our world but with the number of geospatial classes to be taken, a graduate will have the basic knowledge of a technician to enter the technology field of geographic information system (geospatial analysis).
The B.S. in Geography has a 120 credit hour requirement. A minor is required and its credit hour requirement ranges from 18 to 22. The department strongly suggests that Geography majors utilize a Geology minor–but this is not required. A minimum of a 2.0 GPA in the major is required. Double counting of credits for the major and minor are at the discretion of the major advisor. The department will accept 30 transferred credit hours. Contact information: Undergraduate Advisor: Dr. Catherine (Ke) Chen, Chenk@etsu.edu, Ross Hall 311; Department main office: 423-439-7516, Ross Hall 322; Department Chair: Jim I. Mead, mead@etsu.edu, Ross Hall 306; how to contact your advisor: www.etsu.edu/advisement/continuingstudents/default.aspx#Find

General Program Information

To earn a degree from ETSU, there are specific course requirements put forth by ETSU, by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), by each college, and by each department. All students must meet the degree requirements at each of these levels. Please follow the format below:

University-level Degree and Graduation Requirements

• Degree and Graduation Requirements 
• Completion of a minimum of 120 credit hours is required.
• CSCI 1100  or the proficiency exam
• Proficiency Intensive Course Requirements
• Senior Exit Exam
• Additional Requirements for Transfer Students
• Second Bachelor Degrees
• Double Majors/Double Degrees

Total Credit Hours for Degree: 120

College of Arts and Sciences B.S. Degree Requirements

Students majoring in the College of Arts and Sciences must meet the following requirements for the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree. Some requirements must be taken in addition to the General Education Core, whereas others specify which courses from the General Education Core must be taken.

TBR General Education Requirements: 41 Credit Hours

Below you will see the categories and courses specified under TBR General Education Requirements. Note that certain courses are required for this degree, specific to this major. Thus, these courses will satisfy both a TBR General Education requirement AND a requirement of this major. (Other majors may require different General Education courses.) Where specific courses are required for this major, we only list those courses under the category. If there are no specific major requirements for a category, all course options appear.

Communication

9 credits, consisting of 6 credits of written composition and 3 credits of oral communication.

Written Composition

Complete both of the following: 

• ENGL 1010 - Critical Reading and Expository Writing (3 credits)
• ENGL 1020 - Critical Thinking and Argumentation (3 credits)

• Students required to complete learning support in writing must enroll in both ENGL 1011  and in ENGL 1010 . Additional information may be found on the University Advisement Center website www.etsu.edu/uac/learningsupport. Students must earn a grade of “C” or better in ENGL 1010  and ENGL 1020 .

Oral Communication

Complete one of the following:

• SPCH 1300 - Introduction to Communication Studies (3 credits)
• SPCH 2300 - Public Speaking (3 credits)
• SPCH 2320 - Argumentation and Debate (3 credits)

• When one of the oral communication courses listed above is completed to meet the general education core requirement, that course will not count toward ETSU’s oral communication-intensive requirement. (See “Other Graduation Requirements.”) Any additional course from this list that is completed will count toward the oral communication-intensive requirement.

Humanities and Fine Arts

9 credits, consisting of 3 credits of literature, 3 credits of fine arts, and 3 credits of humanities electives.

Literature

Complete one of the following: 

• ENGL 2030 - Literary Heritage (3 credits)
• ENGL 2110 - American Literature I (3 credits)
• ENGL 2120 - American Literature II (3 credits)
• ENGL 2210 - British Literature I (3 credits)
• ENGL 2220 - British Literature II (3 credits)
• ENGL 2330 - World Literature (3 credits)
• ENGL 2430 - European Literature (3 credits)

Fine Arts

Complete one of the following:

• ARTH 2010 - Art History Survey I (3 credits)
• ARTH 2020 - Art History Survey II (3 credits)
• DANC 3500 - Dance as a Human Experience (3 credits)
• HUMT 2310 - Arts and Ideas I (3 credits)
• HUMT 2320 - Arts and Ideas II (3 credits)
• MUSC 1030 - Introduction to Music (3 credits)
• MUSC 1035 - History of Jazz (3 credits)
• THEA 1030 - Introduction to the Theatre (3 credits)

Humanities

Complete the following:

• PHIL 2640 - Science and the Modern World (3 credits)

Social and Behavioral Sciences

6 credits, consisting of:

• GEOG 1012 - Introduction to Cultural Geography (3 credits)

• and one of the following:

• ANTH 1240 - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (3 credits)

•  

• ECON 1050 - Economics and Society (3 credits) or
• ECON 2210 - Principles of Macroeconomics (3 credits)

•  

• ECON 2220 - Principles of Microeconomics (3 credits)
• HDAL 2310 - Developmental Psychology (3 credits)
• HDAL 2340 - Understanding Cultural Diversity (3 credits)
• PSCI 1110 - Political Life (3 credits)
• PSCI 1120 - Introduction to American Government (3 credits)
• PSYC 1310 - Introduction to Psychology (3 credits)
• SOCI 1020 - Introduction to Sociology (3 credits)
• SOCI 2020 - Social Problems (3 credits)
• SRVL 1020 - Introduction to Service-Learning in the Community (3 credits)
• WMST 2010 - Introduction to Women’s Studies (3 credits)

History

6 credits, consisting of both of the following:

• HIST 2010 - The United States to 1877 (3 credits)
• HIST 2020 - The United States since 1877 (3 credits)

• Note:  HIST 2030 History of Tennessee  (3 credits) may be substituted for 3 credits of United States History.

Natural Sciences

Eight (8) credit hours in a SINGLE laboratory science from the following*:

• ASTR 1010 - Astronomy I (4 credits)

• and

• ASTR 1020 - Astronomy II (4 credits)

•  

• BIOL 1010 - Biology for Non-majors I (4 credits)
• BIOL 1011 - Biology for Non-majors Laboratory (0 credit)

• and

• BIOL 1020 - Biology for Non-majors II (4 credits)
• BIOL 1021 - Biology for Non-majors Laboratory II (0 credit)

•  

• BIOL 1110 - Biology for Science Majors Lecture I (4 credits)
• BIOL 1111 - Biology for Science Majors Laboratory I (0 credit)

• and

• BIOL 1120 - Biology for Science Majors Lecture II (4 credits)
• BIOL 1121 - Biology for Science Majors Laboratory II (0 credit)

• or

• BIOL 1130 - Biology for Science Majors Lecture III (4 credits)
• BIOL 1131 - Biology for Science Majors Laboratory III (0 credit)

•  

• CHEM 1110 - General Chemistry Lecture I (4 credits)
• CHEM 1111 - General Chemistry Laboratory I (0 credit)

• and

• CHEM 1120 - General Chemistry Lecture II (4 credits)
• CHEM 1121 - General Chemistry Laboratory II (0 credit)

•  

• GEOG 1110 - Earth Science: Weather and Climate (4 credits)

• and

• GEOG 1120 - Earth Science: Landforms and Processes (4 credits)

•  

• GEOL 1040 - Exploring Geology Lecture (3 credits)
• GEOL 1041 - Exploring Geology Laboratory (1 credit)

• and

• GEOL 1050 - Historical Geology (3 credits)
• GEOL 1051 - Historical Geology Laboratory (1 credit)

•  

• PHYS 2010 - General Physics I-Noncalculus (3 credits)
• PHYS 2011 - General Physics Laboratory I-Noncalculus (1 credit)

• and

• PHYS 2020 - General Physics II-Noncalculus (3 credits)
• PHYS 2021 - General Physics Laboratory II-Noncalculus (1 credit)

• or

• PHYS 2110 - Technical Physics I-Calculus Based (5 credits)

• and

• PHYS 2120 - Technical Physics II-Calculus Based (5 credits)

• * Higher-level laboratory courses in these departments also meet this requirement.

Mathematics

Students eligible to enroll in this math course must do so during their first calendar year of enrollment or prior to accumulating 33 semester credits at ETSU.

• MATH 1530 - Probability and Statistics – Noncalculus (3 credits)

Geography Major

A student majoring in geography must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours in geography.

Geography Major Requirements: 30 Credit Hours

Minor: 18-27 Credit Hours

Electives: 22-31 Credit Hours

Additional Information

Click here to view the Suggested Course Sequence  for Geography Majors.

Teaching Program Information

Teacher Education - Students interested in pursuing a teacher education program for certification as a geography teacher in grades 7-12 are asked to see a department advisor or the  professional advisor in the Office of Student Services, 321 Warf-Pickel, College of Education. Students should be aware that admission to the university does not mean that one is admitted to teacher education. Students would be advised to read the requirements for admission to teacher education in the College of Education  section of the undergraduate catalog, and to seek further information from that college’s advisor about when one should apply for admission.