Our graduate program stresses specialization and independent scholarship, especially in doctoral work. If you have geographical training roughly equivalent to that provided by the undergraduate Geography major at Penn State, you may begin to work immediately with your faculty advisors in the specialties you choose. Should there be deficiencies in your previous geographic education, you will be asked to remedy them as quickly as possible through a program of courses, readings, or other appropriate work recommended by an entry committee and your advisors.
Doctoral students choose two specialties.
The topics students pursue are not necessarily restricted to current faculty research interests. Interdisciplinary graduate study is formally available in programs such as the Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities under the auspices of the Graduate School. If you are interested in a specialty or a combination of topics that is not noted, please inquire. The Pennsylvania State University Park Campus is located in the municipality of State College, where the social and cultural life of a small-scale urban setting is enhanced by access to a scenic rural landscape and many recreational opportunities. New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh are from three to five hours away by road.