The Social Geography concentration includes courses that involve the social sciences and humanistic aspects of geography. Students choose from a variety of upper-level courses in urban (including planning), economic, political and historical geography. In addition to at least four courses in this concentration, students take two distributional requirements: one course in geographic information sciences and one in environmental geography. Potential careers include urban planning, transportation, government at all scales, business, international relations, mapping and geography education. Students may choose to pursue graduate studies in these or related fields.

Career Opportunities

Geographers can find work in the government or private sector. All levels of government hire geographers as development or planning officers, researchers, mappers, and GIS or satellite image analysts. The private sector hires geographers to apply their ideas, skills and technologies to complex real-world systems. This can include conducting marketing studies, planning transportation routes, understanding international markets, and determining environmental risks associated with landuse change. Currently geospatial technology is the third fastest growing industry in the USA.