geo.appstate.edu

Saskia van de Gevel, Chair
gevelsv@appstate.edu

Derek Martin, Graduate Program Director
martindj1@appstate.edu

The graduate degree programs in Geography are designed to provide students with a broad range of academic and professional options. Foundations of the programs include preparing students for: 1) Ph.D. work in geography or planning, and 2) professional opportunities in applied geography and planning.

Past graduates are employed in a variety of fields including: geographic information science, environmental analysis and policy development, transportation planning, urban planning, satellite image analysis, cartography, regional planning and sustainable development, community development, and land and water resource management.

Faculty and students are actively engaged in research investigating: climate change, biome change, GIS applications (health geography; city/urban planning; landscape visualization), globalization processes, community development, human migration, nationalism, transportation and land use, precipitation climatology, mountain environments, and natural hazards.

The Department also offers graduate certificates in Planning, GIScience, and Climate Change for students interested in gaining proficiency in those areas without completing an entire degree. Completion of the certificate does not guarantee admission into the MA degree program.

Qualifying Appalachian State University undergraduate students may apply for accelerated admission into the MA program in Geography and earn graduate credit during their senior year. For more information on the Accelerated Master’s option, follow this link: Accelerated Master’s Geography MA

Programs

• Geography, Non-Thesis Option - Climate Change Concentration, MA
• Geography, Non-Thesis Option - General Geography Concentration, MA
• Geography, Non-Thesis Option - Geographic Information Science Concentration, MA
• Geography, Non-Thesis Option - Planning Concentration, MA
• Geography, Thesis Option, MA

• Climate Change Graduate Certificate
• Geographic Information Science Graduate Certificate
• Planning Graduate Certificate

• Geography Graduate Minor

Courses

• PLN 5030 - Planning for Climate Resilience (3) [DL]
• PLN 5240 - Sustainable Transportation Planning (3) [DL]
• PLN 5400 - Planning Theory and Process (3) [CL]
• PLN 5420 - Human Settlements and Planning History (3)
• PLN 5425 - Task-Oriented Group Facilitation Methods (3) [CL]
• PLN 5431 - Planning Methods and Techniques (3)
• PLN 5441 - Planning Studio (3)
• PLN 5450 - Inside the Sustainable City (3) [DL]
• PLN 5460 - Environmental Policy and Planning (3) [DL]
• PLN 5470 - Community Development: A Sustainable Approach (3) [DL]
• PLN 5530-5549 - Selected Topics (1-4)
• PLN 5730 - Land Use Controls, Planning Law, and Ethics (3)
• PLN 5858 - Directed Research (3) [CL]

• GHY 5000 - Research Themes in Geography (3)
• GHY 5015 - Climate Change: Physical Science Basis (3)
• GHY 5025 - Climate and Society (3)
• GHY 5100 - Seminar in Physical Geography (3)
• GHY 5110 - Seminar in Spatial Analysis (3)
• GHY 5130 - Seminar in Human Geography (3)
• GHY 5150 - Seminar in GIScience (3)
• GHY 5301 - Regional Geography (3)
• GHY 5312 - GIS Management (3)
• GHY 5400 - Planning Theory and Process (3) [CL]
• GHY 5500 - Independent Study (1-4)
• GHY 5530-5549 - Selected Topics (1-4)
• GHY 5620 - Atmospheric Circulation (3) [DL]
• GHY 5800 - Advanced Quantitative Methods in Geography (3)
• GHY 5810 - Satellites, Drones, and Spatial Analysis (3) [DL]
• GHY 5812 - GIS Analysis and Modeling (3) [DL]
• GHY 5815 - GIS Programming and Databases (3)
• GHY 5816 - GIScience and Water Resources (3) [DL]
• GHY 5818 - Web Mapping (3) [DL]
• GHY 5820 - Geographical Hydrology (3) [DL]
• GHY 5858 - Directed Research (3) [CL]
• GHY 5900 - Internship in Geography (3-12)
• GHY 5989 - Graduate Research (1-9)
• GHY 5998 - Thesis Preparation (1-3)
• GHY 5999 - Thesis (1-3)