Requirements

Required for the Major

The Geography Major consists of 10 courses. All geography majors must complete: GEOG 0100; GEOG 0206 or ECSC 0112; any two of the following methods courses (GEOG 0120, GEOG 0150, GEOG 0139, GEOG 0231); any additional five geography electives at the 0200 or 0300 level, at least one of which must be numbered below 0250; and either a 0400-level geography seminar or 0700-level senior independent project. Students wishing to pursue independent 0700-level senior work must have a proposal approved by a primary advisor and second reader prior to registering for the 0700-level credit. Any 100-level geography course not used to satisfy a specific major requirement can count as one of a student’s five geography electives. At least three of the electives must be semester-long courses completed on the Middlebury Campus.

Required for a Joint Major

Geography students frequently construct joint majors with Environmental Studies, Computer Science, and Architectural Studies, and often students design joint majors with other departments and programs. The Geography Joint Major consists of 7 courses. All joint majors must complete: GEOG 0100 or GEOG 0206; one of the following methods courses (GEOG 0120, GEOG 0150, GEOG 0139, GEOG 0231); four additional geography elective courses numbered below GEOG 0400, at least one of which must be numbered below 0250; and either a 0400-level geography seminar or 0700-level senior independent project. Students wishing to pursue independent 0700-level senior work must have a proposal approved by a primary advisor and second reader prior to registering for the 0700-level credit. Any 100-level geography course not used to satisfy a specific major requirement can count as one of a student’s five geography electives. At least two of the electives must be semester-long courses completed on the Middlebury Campus. No course being used to satisfy a requirement for another department or program can also be used to satisfy a Geography joint major requirement.

Required for a Minor

The Geography minor consists of 5 courses: at least one course at the 100-level, one at the 200-level, and three additional Geography courses.

Advanced Placement

One course credit will be awarded for an advanced placement (AP) score of 5 in human geography. Geography majors who receive a 5 on the AP exam may count this course credit as one 0200-level equivalent toward their major requirements, but are still required to complete GEOG 0100. The AP credit may not be used to satisfy joint major or minor requirements.

Departmental Honors

Students who seek to earn honors are required to write a two-credit honors thesis. They must have at least a 3.3 GPA in the major when they propose the thesis and must have a 3.5 GPA in the major, not including the thesis grade, to be considered for honors upon graduation. In order to complete a senior thesis, students must have a proposal approved by a primary thesis advisor and a secondary reader prior to registering for the first 0701 credit. Upon completion of the thesis, thesis students will present their work in a public lecture and defend the thesis in front of the departmental faculty. Thesis presentations and defenses will typically take place during the final week of classes or the examination period. Upon completion of the presentation and defense, the primary advisor and secondary reader will be responsible for evaluating and grading the thesis. It is strongly encouraged that students considering a thesis discuss their ideas with an advisor during the semester prior to registering for formal thesis credits. Honors will be conferred or denied on the basis of an evaluation of the thesis by the faculty and the student’s GPA in the major, as explained above.