In the department, we focus on examining a wide range of social, economic, environmental, and political issues from a geographic perspective, including urbanization, population growth, global warming, immigration, the global economy, and poverty. Geography is concerned with understanding, interpreting, and explaining the occurrence, distribution, and interrelationships of the physical and human elements that can be discerned in the earth's landscapes. Urban studies focuses on the study of cities, with emphasis on the process of urbanization, urban problems, the economic, social, and political aspects of urban life, and past and present efforts at urban planning and development. Geography and urban studies are closely related; our programs of study are offered in a highly interdisciplinary learning environment that includes hands-on learning, student research opportunities, and community service.?

In this program, students will gain an understanding of the distribution of physical and human features of the earth's surface, the relationships between these features, and the environmental, social, economic, and political factors have shaped and continue to shape these distributions and relationships.