Our Students

The Department of Geography offers majors a number of off-campus learning opportunities. The department conducts a biennial field trip to Yucatan, Mexico that can be taken for course credit. Students visit major archaeological sites, tour a U.S. manufacturing plant, and observe changing land use patterns as exemplified by haciendas/ejidos. Additional field trips are being planned. Undergraduate participation in faculty research/field work is encouraged. As such, in the past students have studied global warming in Alaska and the tourist industry in Mexico.

For the past ten years the Department of Geography, in collaboration with the Latin American Studies Program, as run on a biennial basis a filed trip to the Yucatan. The trip is usually scheduled during the break between fall and spring semesters. There are courses related to the trip: Geog 6050 (International Field Work) for Graduate students and Geog 1073 (Frshman Seminar:Yucatan) for Undergraduate students. The trip lasts one week, during which time students typically visit five archaeological sites (including Chicehn Itza, Uxmal, Coba, Ek Balam and Izamal), several colonial towns, churches and haciendas, traditional markets, a living Mayan community, a cooperative henequen robe factory, a community run monkey sanctuary and a modern maquiladora. The trip finishes with a free day in Cancun. The trip is run by experienced University of Cincinnati faculty and their Mexican colleagues. Every effort is made to have a physician or nurse as part of the tour group.

Course credit can be arranged through Geography or Latin American Studies. Cost per student is typically under $1,000, including airfare. $500 scholars are usually available for most students.

Publicity regarding the trips and availability of scholarships is circulated in courses in Geography, Latin American Studies, and Romance Languages during the fall semester. Posters announcing the trip are also displayed on the fourth floor of Braunstein Hall.

Geography Department and Latin American Studies faculty, in cooperation with Planning faculty, are exploring the possibility of future additional field trips to other sites in Latin America.

For further information regarding the Yucatan Filed trip, contact:

Dr. Robert South
Department of Geography University of Cincinnati
ph: 556-3427

or the Director of the Latin American Studies Program

Dr. Nicholas Dunning
ph: 556-3436

Other study abroad opportunities may be available. Students should check with the University's Institute for Global Studies and Affairs (ph: 556-4402) or the Department of Romance Languages (ph: 556-1950).

Please visit UC's Global Studies for more information

The geography department prides itself on personalized student advising.

Generally, undergraduate majors are expected to meet with the department's director of undergraduate studies every semester, especially if they have a problem.

They are encouraged to meet during priority registration. During this time the director of undergraduate studies has extended office hours daily, where students and the undergraduate advisor will review the student's timely progress towards completing both the major and college requirements, as well as career goals. Such meetings also permit students to learn about internship possibilities arranged by the department. The director of undergraduate studies is also available throughout the semester during office hours or by appointment for consultation.

Graduate students are likewise expected to meet with the department's director of graduate studies every semester if they have a problem, and are encouraged to meet during priority registration. Once a student has chosen a thesis or dissertation advisor, the student is required to meet with the advisor as well at least once a semester. These meetings are designed to insure that a student is making timely progress towards their degree. The director of graduate studies is also available for consultation.

All first-year graduate students are also afforded the opportunity to meet during finals week of fall semester with all the faculty they have worked with during their initial semester of graduate students. These meetings are designed to give students an early evaluation of their progress and to give faculty an opportunity to hear students' reactions to our program. A graduate student may request similar interviews anytime during a student's course of studies.

If you have more questions about the College of Arts and Sciences advising, please visit the A&S Advising page.

There are two student organizations at UC for those interested in Geography. Learn more about them on their campuslink pages:

• University of Cincinnati Student Geography Club
• Geography Graduate Student Association

Geography majors have two options available to them in order to fulfill the requirement of Geography Capstone experience.

Each student is required to complete a resume, plus:

• A short paper (10pp more or less), that contains data, data analysis, map, discussion and results, OR
  A field journal, based upon a field experience that must also include background reading of books and articles pertaining to the experience.

Each student is required to complete a resume, plus:

• A senior thesis as an extended research paper, or
• A paper presented at a national or regional AAG meeting, or
• A poster presented at a national or regional AAG meeting

Geog 5000: Geography Capstone I (3 credit hours), scheduled in the spring semester, is required for all geography majors who will be seniors in the following year.
Geog 5007/5008 (2 credit hours), offered as independent studies, is required for all seniors to complete Capstone experience requirements as outlined in Option A or Option B above.

Employment for geography majors (BA, BS) is varied and strong particularly for students with good computer and computer mapping skills. Geography graduates (BA) are employed as market analysts locating a variety of retailing establishments (branch banks, discount stores, restaurants), demographers (U.S. Bureau of the Census), area specialist for the tourist industry and for federal agencies (CIA, Agency for International Development), and socio-economic impact analysts for environmental consulting companies. Physical geography (BS) graduates have employment opportunities with NPO's (Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club), environmental consulting companies (GIS, remote sensing, environmental impact analysis), and numerous federal agencies as exemplified by the Bureau of Land Management (GIS, remote sensing). The undergraduate program also provides an educational background for students interested in graduate school in geography and related disciplines.

• Environmental impact analyst
• Industrial location
• Urban/regional planning
• Weather forecasting
• Market research (mapping demographic trends)
• Retailing site selection, store location
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS), (data base acquisition/mapping)
• Cartographer/computer mapping
• Remote sensing analyst
• Teaching/elementary, secondary, college
• Travel industry, tourism
• Geographic software programming/technical support
• NPO's—Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club (environmental assessment & advocacy )
• State, county, city government agencies-computer mapping/GIS
  • Federal Government
  • CIA (area specialist, remote sensing analyst)
  • Bureau of Land Management (physical geography, GIS/remote sensing)
  • Corps of Engineers (physical geography, GIS/remote sensing)
  • National Imagery and Mapping Agency (Cartography, GIS/remote sensing)
  • Agency for International Development (area specialist)
  • Department of Agriculture (physical geography, soils, GIS/remote sensing)
  • Environmental Protection Agency (physical geography, GIS)
  • Forest Service (GIS/remote sensing)
  • Bureau of the Census (demography, GIS)
  • NASA (remote sensing)

For jobs in geography and related fields, check out these websites:

• www.gjc.org
• www.earthworks-jobs.com
• https://www.aag.org/