University of Maine at Farmington 2021-2022 Catalog

 
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Context

Geography and Environmental Planning
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Degree Earned
Bachelor of Arts: Geography and Environmental Planning

Geographers and environmental professionals solve complex social and environmental problems. They use critical thinking, analytical tools and advanced technologies to understand human-environmental interactions, place and culture, and spatial relationships. The ability to think creatively and critically positions our graduates for fast-growing careers in conservation and natural resources, environmental justice and advocacy, environmental health, environmental regulation and enforcement, recreation, community planning, international development, mapping and geospatial technologies, and many other fields.

Students pursue personal and professional interests by following paths in geography or environmental policy and planning. In each path, there are opportunities to develop expertise in one of several possible thematic concentrations. Students engage in hands-on research projects and work side by side with faculty in the field and GIS lab on real world issues and solutions—both local and global. Students also join a larger professional community by presenting their research at campus-wide events and regional and national conferences.

Learning Goals, Assessment, and Requirements

MAJOR REQUIREMENTS: Choose Geography or Environmental Policy and Planning Path:

GEOGRAPHY

Note: Geography path requirements are available to students through a variety of remote learning options.

Foundations (4 credits)

GEO 103S Peoples and Environments          4
or    
GEO 104S Global Transformations                         4
or    
GEO 105S Earth Wind and Fire                                                   4
 
Concepts, Methods, Professional Development(4 credits)
 
GEO 200S
Geographical Imaginations                                          
4

Geospatial Technology/Mapping (4 credits)                                                            

GEO 204 Introduction to GIS                                           4

Capstone(4 credits)

GEO 450 Research in Geography                                    4

Geography Concentration: Students work with advisors to choose 12 credits from options below or to design their own concentration. Note that some courses have prerequisites.

Peoples and Environments 
GEO 212S   Latin America: Peoples & Environments                          4
GEO 214S Asia: Peoples & Environments 4
GEO 219S Geography of Maine 4
GEO 334 Political Ecology 4
 
Communities and Development
GEO 310

Sustainable Development

 4
GEO 320 Environment, Economy, Society   4
GEO 343

Community Planning

 4
 
Nature and Society  
GEO 131S Conservation and Environment 4
GEO 231S

Environmental Issues

 4
GEO 235

Physical Geography

 4
GEO 265S

Climate Change and Society

 4
GEO 325 Geography of Health and Disease 4
GEO 340

Sustainable Land Use

 4

Plus 12 credits of geography electives  

Total Credits for the Major: 40

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ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND PLANNING

Environmental Policy and Planning Foundations (12 credits)

EPP 131S Conservation and Environment                         4
EPP 231S

Environmental Issues                        

4
EPP 235

Physical Geography

 4

Concepts, Methods, Professional Development (24 credits)

EPP 207 Environmental Field Methods                     4
EPP 310 Sustainable Development 4
EPP 320 Environment, Economy, Society 4
EPP 340 Sustainable Land Use 4
EPP 343

Community Planning

 4
EPP 396

Internship

 4

Geospatial Technology/Mapping (8 credits)

EPP 204  Introduction to GIS                                           4
EPP 304 Environmental GIS 4

Capstone (4 credits)

EPP 450

Research in Environmental Planning         

4

Environmental Policy and Planning Concentration: Students work with advisor to choose 12 credits from options below or to design their own concentration. Note that some courses have prerequisites.

Development and Economics

ANT 275S Gender, Development, and Globalization                 4
BUS 101S Business, Society and Sustainability 4
ECO 101S Principles of Macroeconomics 4
ECO 102S Principles of Microeconomics 4
ECO 228

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

 4
ECO 260 Global Majority 4
ECO 325 Public Finance 4
EPP 320 Environment, Economy, Society 4

Policy

GEO 238S     Forest Management: Science, Institutions, and Communities                    4
GEO 334 Political Ecology 4
POS 101S Introduction to American Government 4
POS 200S Public Policy 4
POS 214S Law and the Legal System 4
POS 220S Environmental Politics 4
POS 351 Political Activism and Advocacy Practicum 4

Ecology

BIO 110N Introductory Biology                                                 4
BIO 141 The Living Earth: Ecology, Evolution, and Biodiversity 4
BIO 142 The Living Earth: The Cellular and Molecular World 4
BIO 294 Forest Ecology and Conservation 4
BIO 353 Conservation Biology 4
BIO 361 Ecology 4
BIO 383 Aquatic Biology 4
ENV 257 Soil Science 4
GEO 105S Earth Wind and Fire: The Geographiy of Natural Hazards 4

Environmental Health

ANT 365 Medical Anthropology 4
GEO 105S Earth Wind and Fire                                                     4
GEO 325 Geography of Health and Disease                        4
HEA 210  Environmental Health 4
HEA 245  Nutrition and Ecological Concerns 4
HEA 260  Public Health Biology 4
HEA 350  Principles of Epidemiology 4

Geoscieces

GEY 101N Environmental Geoscience                                     4
GEY 103N The Earth System 4
GEY 201N Earth History 4
GEY 203 Surficial Processes 4
GEY 303 Climate Change 4

Total Credits for the Major: 56

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WORLD LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT
For specific information about world language requirements and expectations, see the General Education Requirements in the Academic Programs section of this catalog.

 

GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS
For specific information about general education requirements and expectations, see the General Education Requirements in the Academic Programs section of this catalog.

MINIMUM TOTAL CREDITS FOR THE DEGREE: 128

Learning Goals, Assessment, and Requirements

Learning Goals:

  • Students will demonstrate integrative understanding of social, cultural and human-environmental systems that combine insights from the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities.
  • Students will become critical thinkers, handle complexity, and appreciate difference (e.g., spatial, cultural, class, gender, sexual, ethnic, and racial).
  • Students will demonstrate readiness for post graduate careers and education.

Assessment Criteria:

  • Students will demonstrate the ability to think and read critically and analytically.
  • Students will show proficiency in effective writing to support and critique multiple viewpoints.
  • Students will exhibit competence in the interpretation of visual texts, media, quantitative data, maps, and landscapes.
  • Students will show capacity for conceptualizing social and environmental processes going on at various scales, seeing themselves in relation to and acting on local-to-global dynamics.
  • Students will demonstrate the ability to connect theoretical frameworks to real world, hands-on problems.
  • Students will present their work effectively to various audiences in written, oral and graphical modes.

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