Geography

Geographers study the material and symbolic transformation of the earth in relationship to both human and natural processes. In keeping with contemporary global shifts in culture, the environment, politics and economics, the boundaries of the geographic discipline are dynamic. For example, environmental change, international development, globalization, and new spatial technologies exemplify important arenas of study in geography. Theories of space, scale, location, place, region, mobility and displacement allow geographers to critically analyze change in both human and physical environments.

Geography is both a natural science and a social science as it examines people and their environment and serves as a bridge between the physical and cultural worlds. Human geography (a social science) is concerned especially with the political, economic, social, and cultural processes and resource practices that give definition to particular places and that are affected by them. Physical geography (a natural science) focuses on the earth systems that create the natural environment, such as weather, soils, biogeography, and earth sculpting processes. Courses offered in the Geography Department at Dartmouth College address a range of these key issues.

Our major requirements are not unlike many other departments on campus.  We ask the student to put together a coherent set of courses in collaboration with the department chair. The major consists of ten courses, of which three are prerequisites (Geography 1 or 3, and two techniques/spatial analysis courses). Majors take one course in each of the three core areas of geography, and culminate with Geography 90. 

The Major

• Minimum number of courses: 10
• Pre-requisites: G1 or G3 and any 2 from G11 or any course in the 50 range
• Required courses: 1 from each from Nature-Society, Human-Social, Physical, plus 3 additional
• G90 (culminating experience) required: Yes
• Paperwork needed: Geography chair signature
• Other requirements: None

EXAMPLES OF MAJORS

There are three major streams within the Geography curriculum: (1) Physical and Human Dimensions of Global Change, (2) Critical Urban and Identity Studies, and (3) International Development. The following courses within the curriculum correspond to the streams:

Physical and Human Dimensions of Global Change

GEOG 3: The Natural Environment
GEOG 4: Landscape and Environments of New England
GEOG 5: Global Climate Change
GEOG 8: Life in the Anthropocene
GEOG 9: Climate Change and the Future of Agriculture
GEOG 12: Wilderness, Culture, and Environmental Conservation
GEOG 13: Population, Culture, and the Environment
GEOG 14: Global Water Resources
GEOG 18: Urbanization and the Environment
GEOG 19: Gender, Space, and the Environment
GEOG 31: Forest Geography
GEOG 35: River Processes and Watershed Science
Critical Urban and Identity Studies

GEOG 21: The North American City
GEOG 23: Power, Territoriality, and Political Geography
GEOG 24: American Landscapes and Culture
GEOG 25: Social Justice and the City
GEOG 27: Race, Identity and Rights: Geographic Perspectives on Law
GEOG 28: Immigration, Race, and Identity
GEOG 51: Urban Applications of GIS
GEOG 56: Mapping Health and Disease
International Development

GEOG 6: Geographies of Development
GEOG 15: Food and Power
GEOG 16: Political Economy of Development
GEOG 17: Geopolitics of Third World Development
GEOG 26: Women, Gender and Development
GEOG 40: Africa: Ecology and Development
GEOG 42: Environment, Development & Inequality in South Asia
GEOG 41: Gender, Space and Islam
GEOG 43: Latin America
GEOG 44: Environment and Politics in Southeast Asia
GEOG 47: The Czech Republic in the New Europe
GEOG 81: Field Research in the Czech Republic
GEOG 82: Independent Study in the Czech Republic
REQUIREMENTS

THE MINOR

• Minimum number of courses: 7
• Pre-requisites: G1 or G3 and any 1 from G11 or any course in the 50 range
• Required courses: 5 courses. Note: If using FSP only G47 & 81 can be used
• G90 (culminating experience) required: Recommended
• Paperwork needed: Geography chair signature
• Other requirements: None

1.       SAT Reasoning or ACT (with Writing);

2.       2 SAT Subject Test Scores;

3.       The common application essay;

4.       Within the Common Application, Dartmouth’s writing supplement requires that applicants write a brief response to one of the following supplemental essay prompts. Candidates choose one topic and respond;

5.       A counselor recommendation and two teacher recommendations. In addition, a peer recommendation is strongly encouraged;

6.       Resume;

7.       Brief abstract of an independent research project;

8.       IELTS or TOEFL (no minimum scores)

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