About the Geography Bachelor’s Program
The Department of Geosciences offers a 120-hour Bachelor of Arts in Geography and a minor in geography, providing a liberal arts education and preparation for employment as geographers and geographic information systems analysts.
The B.A. degree is designed to provide students with a background in the nature of human interactions with the environment and a solid grounding in data collection and analysis techniques such as field data collection, statistical analysis, and geographic information systems.
Geographers work with local, state, and national government agencies and the military. In the private sector, there are increasing demands by business and industry for geographers trained in field research methods, geographic information systems, statistical analysis, remote sensing, and related skills. Geography majors also become teachers at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels. In addition, the undergraduate program provides a foundation for students who wish to pursue graduate study in geography and related professional fields such as urban or regional planning, environmental and resource management, law, and public affairs.
The geography major consists of 31 hours of coursework in geography plus MATH 2300 or MATH 2345 . Required courses are GEOG 1401 , GEOG 2300 , GEOG 3340 , GEOG 4300 ; and GIST 3300 . Students who select a GIST minor will use GIST 3300 in the minor, not the major and select another junior/senior GEOG elective. An additional 18 hours of junior- and senior-level GEOG and GIST courses are required in the major. Students majoring in geography must complete a minimum of 12 semester hours of geography courses from Texas Tech.
Communication Literacy Requirement. Students attending Texas Tech University for the first time in the Fall 2017 term or later will complete a Communication Literacy (CL) requirement in their program(s) of study.
Texas Tech University’s transition from the Writing Intensive requirement to the Communication Literacy requirement signals the university’s awareness that in addition to the fundamental role that writing plays in enabling students to explore, develop, focus, and organize a message, other types of communication must also be taught as appropriate for a student’s discipline. Throughout each program of study, then, students must be given ample opportunity to develop their skills in forms of communication central to that program.
Geography graduates are expected to be able to communicate with their peers and with the general public in several ways. Specifically, they should be competent in written and oral communication, data analysis, mapping and graphical illustration for various audiences and uses. Courses in the Communication Literacy Plan for the B.A. in Geography are GEOG 3340 , GEOG 4300 and GIST 3300 .
