Major in Geospatial Analysis
This major prepares you for a geospatial career by providing an understanding of core geographic concepts and state-of-the art technologies. The University of Mary Washington is located close to the largest job market in the US for geospatial careers. Our emphasis on spatial thinking and practical problem solving, along with a strong alumni network, helps students parlay their liberal arts education and focused geospatial skills into professional work. Major requirements are listed in the UMW Catalog.
Core requirements introduce students to geographic thinking, through courses in human geography, physical geography, and human-environment connections. Students also take Introduction to Geographic Information Science (GIS) and an intermediate level Spatial Analysis course.
A foundational course in one from Data Science, Computer Science or Quantitative Geography serves as base information on which other concepts will build. Some students declare a minor in Data Science or Computer Science having experienced their introduction.
Electives in GIS provide both breadth and expertise. Students may focus their studies so as to focus on areas that might lead to specific careers, for example in urban planning (take Web GIS Concepts and a Special Topics on Public Health), or environmental GIS (take Remote Sensing, Mobile GIS & GNSS, Special Topics in Environmental GIS). Some students have enough room in their schedule to take one GIS course every semester, and thus continually hone their knowledge throughout their time at Mary Wash.
Elective courses in Geography round out the major. Any GIS must be “hung” on some topic, be it environmental issues, methods used in geointelligence, or cultural applications of geospatial analysis. Student interests determine which courses are taken, as long as they are at the appropriate level.
The major capstone is GEOG 490, Senior Seminar in Geography, which is both Writing and Speaking Intensive. Here, students learn some fundamentals about a topic, usually something quite narrow: then they conduct their own research and write a longer paper about some aspect that is of interest to them. This is likely to involve geospatial analysis, although that is a choice! We offer 3 Senior Seminar courses in the Fall Semester, so students have a choice of professor and course topic.
What else to know?
Look at the Career Pages
Look at the Research Opportunities page
Look at our Scholarship information!
Email Dr. Melina Patterson with questions!