Graduate Opportunities in Geography
The Geography Program offers two graduate degrees: the Masters of Science (M.S.) in Geography and the Ph.D. in Geosciences. Students who have not yet earned a Master's degree should apply to the M.S. program.
M.S. in Geography
A candidate for the M.S. in geography must complete a prescribed number of courses within the program, a prescribed number of courses in related fields, and either a masters thesis or a general exam. The program is designed to take two years to complete. Courses are selected by students in consultation with a faculty adviser, and the thesis or general exam is reviewed by a committee composed of two or more faculty members, one of whom may be from outside the Department.
Graduate students should pursue research in geographic fields in conjunction with our faculty. Our current faculty work in the following areas of geography: Climatology & Paleoclimatology, Geomorphology, Land and Water Management, Economic Geography, Urban Geography, Political Geography, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Earth System Modeling, and Remote Sensing. Specific problems in these areas may be explored in the regional contexts of North America, Europe , New England , East Asia and the Arctic .
Specific requirements for the M.S. degree are as follows:
The general requirements for the M.S. degree are those of the Graduate School as stated in the Graduate School Bulletin. In addition the following are required:
1. The M.S. degree requires 30 graduate course credits of which 22 must be in Geography (including thesis credits).
2. GEO-SCI 604 Geographic Theory and Analysis, a one-term seminar normally taken during the first term in residence.
3. One graduate course in methodology and techniques (not necessarily limited to courses offered in the Geography Program). Eligible courses include those primarily concerned with cartography, computer methods, statistics, survey research, geographic information systems, remote sensing, or photogrammetry. Other methodology courses may be approved to meet this requirement upon request to the Geography faculty. This requirement may not be satisfied through an independent study or special problems course.
4. Additional courses in at least four subfields selected from the following list:
Up to two subfields may be waived by the faculty based on upper-level undergraduate or graduate courses previously completed by the student with a grade of B or better. Courses taken at the graduate level in other departments may satisfy up to two subfields upon written request to the Geography faculty.
5. Each entering student will be interviewed by the faculty and assigned a temporary adviser. The student will work out with the adviser a proposed program of study. Progress in that program will be reviewed each semester by the faculty as a whole. Any deficiencies in the student’s preparation for graduate study will be identified at the beginning of the student’s program and appropriate courses may be required.
6. A candidate may elect a program with or without a thesis. The former is appropriate for those with strong focused research interests, and the latter for those wishing to emphasize breadth of geographic and interdisciplinary knowledge. The thesis is encouraged by the faculty for most students. No later than the end of the third semester, a student must have either a thesis or nonthesis proposal approved.
If the thesis option is selected, the candidate must deliver an informal lecture on the subject of such thesis in the Department Seminar (GEO-SCI 388) or equivalent forum. The candidate must also pass an oral thesis examination (defense).
If a nonthesis option is selected, the student must propose by the end of the third semester a major paper, set of papers, or equivalent project satisfactory to his/her adviser and at least one additional Geography faculty member (who will comprise the student’s Graduate Committee). In addition to completing such paper or project, the student must pass a General Examination administered by at least three members of the Department Graduate Faculty. A general examination may be administered either orally or in writing or both, and must include questions from at least two subfields selected by the student from the list in item 3 above.
7. Under the thesis option, no more than 6 credits, in addition to thesis credits, may be earned through independent studies (596, 696 ...) or special problems (597, 697 ...) courses. Under the nonthesis option, no more than 12 credits may be earned in such courses.
8. Under the thesis option, the student may elect to register for as many as 10 thesis credits (GEO-SCI 699), which will be counted toward the 30 required graduate credits. No thesis credits will be accepted under the nonthesis option. (N.B. The Graduate School Regulations require that at least 6 credits be earned at the 600-800 level for the thesis option and 12 credits at that level for the nonthesis option.)
Ph.D. in Geosciences
Geographers interested in earning a Ph.D. in a field of Geography may apply to the Ph.D. program in Geosciences. We advise potential students to contact faculty members they are interested in working with before applying. In addition to the general requirements of the Graduate School , all candidates for the Ph.D. are expected to have a background approximately equivalent to our M.S. degree in geography, although this by no means precludes individualized programs for those with special strength in another discipline. Additional requirements include completion of sufficient course work or independent study to prepare the candidate for the preliminary comprehensive exam (research proposition) and a reading knowledge in one foreign language.
For more information about applying to the graduate programs, please click here to visit the Graduate School website.