The Department accepts both full and part-time students, and degree programs may be started in Fall, Spring or Summer. There are close ties between academic geography and the profession of urban and regional planning, and the two disciplines share a common focus on environment, land-use, landscape, location and distribution. The Department has a well-equipped GIS and Remote Sensing Laboratory, and a specially designed Planning Studio. The Capital Region offers many opportunities for paid internships and professional GIS and planning careers in government, business and non-profit organizations. The unifying idea of modern geography is the study of spatial patterns in the cultural and physical features of the earth's surface.
Faculty have regional interests in Europe, Latin America, North America, Africa, and East Asia.
Students who have completed a comparable course in their undergraduate degree may appeal to the Department Graduate Committee to waive Gog 596 for an approved substitution. If a waiver is granted students will normally substitute either Gog 692 Seminar in Geographic Information Systems or Gog 585 Digital Image Analysis for the Gog 596 requirement, after consultation with their advisor. 3 courses in an area of specialization. Satisfactory completion of oral and written comprehensive examinations. Qualified undergraduates may apply for admission to the M.A. program and, if accepted, simultaneously work toward completion of the requirements for both undergraduate and graduate degrees.