Bachelor of Science (B.S.) Major in Physical Geography
Minimum required: 120 semester credit hours
General Requirements
- The general education core curriculum courses are listed in the degree plan below along with the statewide component code number. See the General Education Core Curriculum section of this catalog for the Texas State requirements and options in the core curriculum, including Honors courses.
- This major requires students to select a minor from the approved list of Undergraduate Minors offered at Texas State. Various minors may be appropriate depending upon your interests and career goals. Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Geology, Mathematics, or Physics minors are highly recommended. Other minors may be appropriate depending upon your interests and career goals. Discuss possible options with your advisor.
- This major requires a minimum of 36 semester credit hours of Geography courses.
- To satisfy graduation requirements, students must have at least a 2.50 major GPA for Geography and at least a 2.25 Texas State GPA. Students must make a grade of "C" or better in all Geography courses that are to be counted for credit toward their major.
- Required major courses include the following:
Course List Code Title Hours GEO 1309 Introduction to Cultural Geography 3 or GEO 1310 World Geography GEO 2410 Introduction to Physical Geography 4 GEO 2426 Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems 4 GEO 3301 Research Methods in Geography 3 - Required Geography core courses include the following:
Course List Code Title Hours GEO 3305 Climatology 3 GEO 3425 Geomorphology 4 Select at least two courses from the following: 6 Meteorology Oceanography Landscape Biogeography Fluvial Processes - Required Geography techniques courses include at least two courses from the following:
Course List Code Title Hours GEO 3411 Maps and Mapmaking 4 GEO 3416 Remote Sensing and Earth Observation 4 GEO 3426 Advanced GIS 4 GEO 4412 Digital Image Processing and Machine Learning 4 GEO 4422 Web Mapping 4 GEO 4424 GPS and GIS 4 GEO 4430 Field Methods 4 - Geography electives to bring the required Geography hours to 36 should be selected in consultation with an advisor from the following courses:
Course List Code Title Hours GEO 2310 Global Environmental Change 3 GEO 2420 Introduction to Geographic Information Techniques 4 GEO 2427 Management and Implementation of GIS 4 GEO 3321 Energy Resource Management 3 GEO 3434 Water Resources 4 GEO 3349 World Population 3 GEO 4310 Regional Field Studies 3 GEO 4313 Environmental Management 3 GEO 4314 River Basin Management 3 GEO 4325 Fluvial Processes 3 GEO 4334 Groundwater Resources 3 GEO 4339 Environmental Hazards 3 GEO 4350 Solid Waste Planning and Management 3 GEO 4380 Internship in Geography 3 Student may select one regional course as a Geography Elective from the following: 3 Geography of Europe Latin America United States and Canada Geography of North Africa and the Middle East Geography of Texas Geography of South and Southeast Asia Geography of China and Japan Geography of the Southwest Geography of the Russian Realm - Students must complete a minimum of 36 advanced hours (3000 or 4000 level courses).
- The minimum number of hours required for this degree program is 120. The number of free elective hours a student will complete depends on the number of hours a student may need to achieve the required 120 total or 36 advanced hours.
- Nine semester credit hours must be writing intensive (WI).
Course Requirements
| Freshman | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| ENG 1310 (Communication Component Code 010 [TCCN ENGL 1301]) | 3 | American History Component Code 060 | 3 |
| US 1100 | 1 | ENG 1320 (Communication Component Code 010 [TCCN ENGL 1302]) | 3 |
| POSI 2310 (Government/Political Science Component Code 070 [TCCN GOVT 2306]) | 3 | Life and Physical Sciences Component Code 030 | 3 |
| Life and Physical Sciences Component Code 030 | 3 | GEO 2410 | 4 |
| GEO 1309 or 1310 (TCCN GEOG 1302 or 1303) | 3 | ||
| Mathematics Component Code 020 | 3 | ||
| 16 | 13 | ||
| Sophomore | |||
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| COMM 1310 (Component Area Option Code 090/091 [TCCN SPCH 1311]) | 3 | POSI 2320 (Government/Political Science Component Code 070 [TCCN GOVT 2305]) | 3 |
| ENG Literature (Component Area Option Code 090/094) [TCCN ENGL 2322, 2323, 2332, 2333, 2327 or 2328] | 3 | ENG Literature Select one of the following: | 3 |
| Modern Language 1410 (if required), or elective | 4 | ENG 2310 (TCCN ENGL 2322) | |
| American History Component Code 060 | 3 | ENG 2320 (TCCN ENGL 2323) | |
| GEO 3301 | 3 | ENG 2330 (TCCN ENGL 2332) | |
ENG 2340 (TCCN ENGL 2333) | |||
ENG 2359 (TCCN ENGL 2327) | |||
ENG 2360 (TCCN ENGL 2328) | |||
| Modern Language 1420 (if required), or elective | 4 | ||
| PHIL 1305 or 1320 (Language, Philosophy, and Culture Component Code 040 [TCCN PHIL 1301 or 2306]) | 3 | ||
| GEO 2426 | 4 | ||
| 16 | 17 | ||
| Junior | |||
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| ART 2313, DAN 2313, MU 2313, or TH 2313 (Creative Arts Component Code 050 [TCCN HUMA 1315]) | 3 | Minor | 6 |
| Social and Behavioral Sciences Component Code 080 | 3 | Electives (as needed) | 3 |
| Minor | 3 | GEO Advanced Required/Electives | 7 |
| GEO Advanced Required/Electives | 6 | ||
| 15 | 16 | ||
| Senior | |||
| First Semester | Hours | Second Semester | Hours |
| Minor | 6 | Minor | 3 |
| Electives (as needed) | 3 | Electives (as needed) | 6 |
| GEO Advanced Required/Electives | 6 | GEO Advanced Required/Electives | 3 |
| 15 | 12 | ||
| Total Hours: 120 | |||
