Geography Information | Geography Programs | Geography Courses
Geography
College of Liberal Arts
Department Chair
Christine M. Rodrigue
Department Office
Liberal Arts 4 (LA), Room 106
Telephone
(562) 985-4977 / (562) 985-8432
Website
http://www.csulb.edu/geography
Faculty
Professors
James R. Curtis, Molly Debysingh (Emerita), Frank Gossette (Emeritus), Edward Karabenick (Emeritus), Christopher T. Lee, Richard Outwater (Emeritus), Christine M. Rodrigue, Joel Splansky (Emeritus), Judith Tyner (Emerita)
Associate Professor
Vincent Del Casino
Assistant Professors
Camille Holmgren, Christine L. Jocoy, Paul Laris, Dmitrii Sidorov, Deborah Thien, Suzanne P. Wechsler
Undergraduate Advisor
Paul Laris
Graduate Advisor
Christopher T. Lee
Internship Program Director
Suzanne P. Wechsler
Administrative Support Coordinator
Lisa Mikhail
Students desiring information should contact the department office for referral to one of the faculty advisors.
Geography focuses on the spatial organization of human and physical landscapes, the interactions between human society and the physical environment, as well as on the meanings that people bring to their place in the world. Geography sits at the nexus of the social and physical sciences, drawing from a range of theoretical and methodological approaches for understanding the world around us. We organize the major into four distinct areas of concentration – Human Geography, Environmental/Physical Geography, Geospatial Techniques, and Global and Regional Studies – as a way to structure the diverse approaches that geographers use in thinking about spatial relationships in geographic context. Students are required to focus within one of these concentrations at the undergraduate level.
Because of the diversity of the subject matter that it considers, geography offers a broad, liberal education, which is applicable to many careers. These include elementary, secondary, and college teaching; cartography; geographic information systems (GIS); computer mapping; regional, urban and environmental planning; natural resources management, and environmental monitoring; business; government; travel and tourism, and the foreign service. The Geography Department offers the Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees, Geography Minor, and two certificates: Urban Studies and Geographic Information Science. Certain Geography courses are applicable to teaching credential programs; to the degree in Liberal Studies; and to certificate programs in Environmental, Urban, Asian, Latin American, and Russian and East European studies, and GIS. Students may obtain materials from the department describing the geography programs and courses recommended for career preparation or visit its home page at http://www.csulb.edu/geography/.
The Master of Arts degree in geography is designed for those wishing to expand their geographic competence beyond that expected of the bachelor’s degree. The Master of Arts degree is becoming a common requirement for employment advancement and it provides the preparation necessary for success in geography Ph.D. programs at other universities. Candidates are responsible for observing the general requirements stated in this Catalog as well as the specific departmental requirements contained in the Geography Master of Arts Handbook.