Geography is a multifaceted discipline that bridges the social sciences, the humanities, and the physical sciences. Geographers study neighborhoods and international trade, urban life and economic patterns. Geographers study the ways in which cultures, past and present, leave their imprint on the land and landscape. Geographers study the movements of people across space, from local commuting patterns to global refugee flows. Geographers study geopolitical patterns, the changing power relationships within and between nations and states.
Geographers study natural hazards, biogeography, climate change, and earthquakes.
The study of geography at the university level equips students with many of the same analytical and conceptual skills as other liberal arts disciplines, but our emphasis on understanding the spatial dimension of physical and human phenomena is unique. Further, the study of geography trains students to appreciate the importance of a broad, international, and comparative perspective. A high proportion of our students go on to graduate work, in geography or cognate fields, and we have placed students at some of the best graduate programs in the country. The University of Vermont has one of the largest Geography departments in New England, also one of the few graduate schools of geography in the region. Undergraduate students who take Geography at UVM can choose from a wide range of courses, many of which will take them around the world.