Requirements for a Geography Degree

Requirements for a Geography Degree Earning your college degree in geography shows prospective employers that you can solve problems, research solutions, utilize technology, and see the big picture. A typical geography degree involves a wide variety of coursework within the discipline to expose students to all aspects of this fascinating wide-ranging subject. Undergrad Geography Coursework A typical undergraduate geography degree consists of coursework in geography and other disciplines. In many cases, the college courses taken in other subjects fulfill a students general education (or GE) requirement. These courses can be in subjects such as English, chemistry, geology, math, sociology, political science, foreign language, history, physical education, and other sciences or social sciences. Every college or university has different general education or core required courses for all students earning a degree from that university. In addition, geography departments may impose additional interdisciplinary requirements on students. You will typically find that a college or university will offer either of Bachelor of Arts degree in geography or a Bachelor of Science degree in geography. Some colleges and universities offer both Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A. or A.B.) and the Bachelor of Science degree (B.S.) in geography. The B.S. degree will typically require more science and math than the B.A. degree but again, this varies; either way its a bachelors degree in geography. As a geography major you will be able to select from a plethora of interesting courses about all facets of geography as you work toward your geography degree. However, there are always core courses that every geography major must meet. Lower Division Course Requirements These initial courses are typically lower division courses, which means they are designed for freshmen and sophomores (students in their first and second years of college, respectively).  These courses are usually: An introduction to physical geography lecture (sometimes including a laboratory course in which you make maps, use Geographic Information Systems [GIS], work with compasses and topographic maps, etc.)An introduction to cultural or human geography lectureWorld regional geography lecture During the first two years of college, a student would likely take their lower division geography courses and maybe a handful of other lower division geography courses. However, freshman and sophomore years are usually the time to take your general education courses to get them out of the way. You will take most of your geography courses (and your schedule will mostly be geography courses) only during your junior and senior years (third and fourth years, respectively). Upper Division Course Requirements There are core upper division requirements that usually include: Geographic techniques and methods (learning about geography journals, the use of the library, research, using computers for cartography and GIS, using other software platforms, and learning how to think geographicallyCartography and/or Geographic Information Systems laboratory (4 to 8 hours a week learning how to make maps and making maps on computer)History of geographic thought (learning about the history and philosophy of geography as an academic discipline)Quantitative geography (statistics and analysis of geographic problems)One upper division course in physical geographyOne upper division course in cultural or human geographyOne regional geography course to learn about a specific region of the worldSenior project or capstone project or advanced seminarField work or internship Additional Geography Concentrations Then, in addition to the core upper division courses, a student working toward a geography degree might focus within a specific concentration of geography. Your choices for a concentration might be: Urban and/or economic geography and/or planningGeographic Information Systems and/or cartographyPhysical geography, environmental studies, climatology, or geomorphology (the study of landforms and the processes that shape them)Human or cultural geographyRegional geography A student would likely be required to take three or more upper division courses within at least one concentration. Sometimes more than one concentration is required. Upon completion of all coursework and university requirements for a geography degree, a student is able to graduate and show the world that he or she is capable of great things and is an asset to any employer!

Why You Should Avoid These Racial Terms

Why You Should Avoid These Racial Terms Ever wonder which term is the appropriate one to use when describing a member of an ethnic minority group? How do you know if you should refer to someone as â€Å"black,† â€Å"African American,† â€Å"Afro American† or something else entirely? Better yet, how should you proceed when members of the same ethnic group have different preferences for what they’d like to be called? Say you have three Mexican  American friends. One wants to be called â€Å"Latino,† the other wants to be called â€Å"Hispanic,† and another wants to be called â€Å"Chicano.† While some racial terms remain up for debate, others are considered outdated, derogatory or both. Find out which racial names to avoid when describing people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Why â€Å"Oriental† Is a No-No What’s the problem with using the term â€Å"Oriental† to describe individuals of Asian descent? Common complaints about the term include that it should be reserved for objects, such as rugs, and not people and that it’s antiquated- akin to using â€Å"Negro† to describe an African American. Howard University Law Professor Frank H. Wu made the comparison in a 2009 New York Times piece about the state of New York banning the use of â€Å"Oriental† on government forms and documents. Washington State passed a similar ban in 2002. â€Å"It’s associated with a time period when Asians had a subordinate status,† Professor Wu told the Times. He added that people link the term to old stereotypes of Asians and the era when the United States government passed exclusion acts to keep Asian people from entering the country. Given this, â€Å"For many Asian Americans, it’s not just this term: It’s about much more†¦It’s about your legitimacy to be here,† Wu said. In the same piece, historian Mae M. Ngai, author of Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America, explained that, while the term â€Å"Oriental† isn’t a slur, it’s never been widely used by people of Asian descent to describe themselves. â€Å"I think it’s fallen into disfavor because it’s what other people call us. It’s only the East if you’re from somewhere else,† Ngai said, referring to â€Å"Oriental’s† meaning- â€Å"Eastern.† â€Å"It’s a Eurocentric name for us, which is why it’s wrong. You should call people by what (they) call themselves, not how they are situated in relation to yourself.† Due to the history of the term and the era it evokes, it’s best to follow the leads of New York State and Washington State and delete the word â€Å"Oriental† from your lexicon when describing people. When in doubt, use the term Asian or Asian American. However, if you are privy to someone’s specific ethnic background, refer to them as Korean, Japanese American, Chinese Canadian and so forth. â€Å"Indian† Is Confusing and Problematic While the term â€Å"Oriental† is almost universally frowned upon by Asians, the same isn’t true of the term â€Å"Indian† when used to describe Native Americans. Award-winning writer Sherman Alexie, who is of Spokane and Coeur d’Alene ancestry, has no objection to the term. â€Å"Just think of Native American as the formal version and Indian as the casual one,† he told a Sadie Magazine interviewer who asked the best term to use when referring to America’s indigenous peoples. Not only does Alexie approve of the term â€Å"Indian,† he also remarked that â€Å"the only person who’s going to judge you for saying ‘Indian’ is a non-Indian.† While many Native Americans do refer to each other as â€Å"Indians,† some object to the term because it is associated with explorer Christopher Columbus, who mistook the Caribbean islands for those of the Indian Ocean, which were known as the Indies. As a result of the error, people indigenous to the Americas overall were dubbed â€Å"Indians.† Also problematic is that many hold Columbus’ arrival into the New World responsible for initiating the subjugation and decimation of Native Americans, so they don’t want to be known by a term that he’s credited with popularizing. It’s worth noting, though, that the term â€Å"Indian† is far less controversial than the term â€Å"Oriental.† Not only haven’t states banned the term, there’s also a government agency known as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, not to mention the National Museum of the American Indian. On that note, the term â€Å"American Indian† is more acceptable than simply â€Å"Indian† because, in part, it is less confusing. When someone refers to â€Å"American Indians,† everyone knows the people in question don’t hail from Asia but from the Americas. If you’re concerned about the kind of reception you’ll receive by using the term â€Å"Indian,† consider saying â€Å"indigenous peoples,† â€Å"native peoples† or â€Å"First Nations† peoples instead. But the wisest thing to do is to refer to people by their specific ancestry. So, if you know a particular person is Choctaw, Navajo, Lumbee, etc., call him that rather than using umbrella terms such as â€Å"American Indian† or â€Å"Native American.† Spanish Is Not the Catch-All Term for Spanish-Speaking Peoples Ever heard a person referred to as â€Å"Spanish† who isn’t from Spain but simply speaks Spanish and has Latin American roots? In some parts of the country, particularly cities in the Midwest and on the  East Coast, it’s commonplace to refer to any such person as â€Å"Spanish.† Sure, the term doesn’t carry the baggage that terms such as â€Å"Oriental† or â€Å"Indian† do, but it’s factually inaccurate. Also,  like the other terms  covered, it lumps diverse groups of people together under an umbrella category. In actuality, the term â€Å"Spanish† is quite specific. It refers to people from Spain. But over the years, the term has been used interchangeably with the various peoples from  Latin America  that the Spanish colonized. Due to intermixing, many of the colonized peoples from Latin America do have Spanish ancestry, but that’s only a part of their racial makeup. Many also have indigenous ancestors and, due to the slave trade, African ancestry as well. To call people from Panama, Ecuador, El Salvador, Cuba and so on as â€Å"Spanish† is to erase large swathes of their racial backgrounds. The term essentially designates people who are multicultural as one thing- European. It makes about as much sense to refer to all Spanish-speakers as â€Å"Spanish† as it does  to refer to all English speakers as â€Å"English.† Colored Is Outdated but Continues to Pop up Today Think only octogenarians use terms such as â€Å"colored† to describe  African Americans? Think again. When  Barack Obama  was elected president in November 2008, actress  Lindsay Lohan  expressed her happiness about the event by  remarking  to â€Å"Access Hollywood,† â€Å"It’s an amazing feeling. It’s our first, you know, colored president.† And Lohan’s not the only young person in the public eye to use the term. Julie Stoffer, one of the houseguests featured on MTV’s â€Å"The Real World: New Orleans,† also raised eyebrows when she  referred  to African Americans as â€Å"colored.† More recently,  Jesse James  alleged mistress Michelle Bombshell McGee sought to defuse rumors that shes a white supremacist by  remarking, I make a horrible racist Nazi. I have too many colored friends. What’s to explain for these gaffes? For one thing, â€Å"colored† is a term that never completely exited American society. One of the most prominent advocacy groups for African Americans uses the term in its name- the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. There’s also the popularity of the more modern (and appropriate) term â€Å"people of color.† Some people may think it’s okay to simply shorten that phrase to â€Å"colored,† but they’re mistaken. Like â€Å"Oriental,† â€Å"colored† harkens back to an era of exclusion, a time when  Jim Crow  was in full force, and blacks used water fountains marked â€Å"colored† and sat in the â€Å"colored† sections of buses, beaches, and restaurants. In short, the term stirs up painful memories. Today, the terms â€Å"African American† and â€Å"black† are the most acceptable to use when describing individuals of African descent. Still, some of these individuals may prefer â€Å"black† over â€Å"African American† and vice versa. â€Å"African American† is considered more formal than â€Å"black,† so if you’re in a professional setting, err on the side of caution and use the former. Of course, you can also ask the individuals in question which term they prefer. You may also encounter immigrants of African descent who wish to be recognized by their homelands. As a result, they prefer to be called Haitian-American, Jamaican-American, Belizean, Trinidadian, Ugandan or Ghanaian-American, rather than simply â€Å"black.† In fact, for the 2010 Census, there was a  movement  to have  black immigrants  write in their countries of origin rather than be known collectively as â€Å"African American.† Mulatto Is a Don’t Mulatto arguably has the ugliest roots of the antiquated terms on this list. Historically used to describe the child of a black person and a white person, the term reportedly originates from the Spanish word â€Å"mulato,† which, in turn, originates from the word â€Å"mula,† or mule- the offspring of a horse and a donkey. Clearly, this term is offensive, as it compares the union of human beings to that of animals. Although the word is outdated and offensive, people still use it from time to time. Some biracial people use the term to describe themselves and others, such as author Thomas Chatterton Williams, who used it to  describe  President Obama  and rap star Drake, both of whom, like Williams, have white mothers and  black fathers. While some biracial people don’t object to the term, others balk at its use. Due to the word’s troublesome origins, refrain from using this term in any situation, with one exception:  When discussing opposition to interracial unions in early America, academics and cultural critics often refer to the  Ã¢â‚¬Å"tragic mulatto myth.†Ã‚   This myth characterizes mixed-race people as destined to live unfulfilling lives in which they fit into neither black nor white society. When speaking about this myth, those who still buy into it or the period when the myth arose, people may use the term â€Å"tragic mulatto.† But the term â€Å"mulatto† should never be used in casual conversation to describe a  biracial person. Terms such as biracial, multiracial, multiethnic or mixed are usually deemed non-offensive, with â€Å"mixed† being the most colloquial word on the list. Sometimes people use the terms â€Å"half-black† or â€Å"half-white† to describe mixed-race individuals. But some biracial people take issue with this because they believe these terms suggest that their heritage can be literally split down the middle like a pie chart when they view their ancestry as completely fused. So, as always, ask people what they wish to be called or listen to what they call themselves.