Majors and Minors

OVERVIEW

The Geography Department offers two undergraduate majors that lead to the Bachelor of Arts degree, and three minors. Our majors prepare students for employment opportunities in both the public and private sectors (in environmental analysis, assessment, and management, map making and remote sensing, regional analysis, economic and urban spatial analysis, and teaching) and for graduate study in law, management, urban and regional planning, education, other biophysical and social sciences, and applied programs, as well as in Geography.

Majors:

Minors:

PETITION TO DECLARE OR DROP A MAJOR AND/OR MINOR

Please review the criteria to declare a Geography major or minor. If you are eligible, please download and fill out the petition form here and return it via email here.

Petitions to declare a Geography major or minor are processed weeks 5 and 9. Petitions to drop a major or minor are processed throughout the quarter.

INTERESTED IN A DOUBLE MAJOR?

Please go to the College of Letters and Science’s information page concerning the procedures for declaring a second major.

Counseling & Advising

For information about the majors and/or minors offered in Geography or for other general inquiries, send email to undergraduate@geog.ucla.edu. You will receive a response in 1-2 days.

Undergraduate student advising sessions with the Student Affairs Officer may be booked at https://geogsao.youcanbook.me or during posted drop-in hours in 1255 Bunche Hall.

For questions regarding General Education or University requirements, you must consult with your main counseling unit (https://registrar.ucla.edu/academics/academic-counseling).

INTERESTED IN DEPARTMENTAL HONORS?

The Geography Honors Program is designed for highly motivated Geography and Geography/Environmental major students who are interested in completing a two-quarter research project (contract courses GEOG 198A and 198B) with a final thesis paper under the supervision of one or two Faculty Advisors. Students typically participate in the Geography Honors Program during their senior year. Departmental Honors are bestowed upon graduation to participating students who have achieved at least a 3.5 GPA in the major and at least a 3.0 overall GPA. For further information, please review the guidelines:

COURSE SUBSTITUTION PETITION

The geography department allows up to a maximum of two (2) upper division (courses number 100 – 199) to count towards a major/minor with Faculty approval. Lower division courses (1 – 99) are not allowed. Once the course you are proposing appears in your UCLA academic record or your degree audit, you may submit the petition to the department.  Pre-approval is not provided. Please follow the instructions in the header of the petition form and include the required supplemental documents for the faculty committee’s review. Petitions are reviewed in groups, two times per quarter, typically Weeks 5 and 9.

Download the PDF version of the petition here, complete, and return to the department via email here.

 

CONTRACT COURSES (GEOG 195B, 198A, 199, etc.)

Major and minor upper division requirements (4.0 units) may be satisfied by an approved contract course designed by the student and mentored by a Geography faculty member in a quarter. Students must have the consent of his/her faculty mentor prior to creating the contract.

To create a contract:

  1. Login to my.ucla.edu
  2. Click on “Contract Courses”, which is located on the left column under “MyUCLA Features”
  3. Click on “Submit a new contract” under “My Contract Courses”
  4. Select year and term
  5. Select the course you wish to enroll in, e.g., Internship (195), Directed Research (199) or Honors Research (198)
  6. Select the “Subject Area,” which is the department that your faculty mentor is affiliated with
  7. Choose your faculty mentor and the number of units that you will enroll (4.0 units required towards majors and minors)
  8. In “My Research Plan,” write a brief description of your project
  9. Complete any other areas as requested and print out the contract

To be enrolled in your contract course:

  1. Obtain your faculty mentor’s signature
  2. Send the signed contract to the department that your faculty mentor is affiliated (e.g., Michael Shin, GEOG) and then send signed contract by email to GEOG Student Affairs Officer (SAO)
  3. The SAO will review for approval, obtain the signature of the authorized departmental representative, and process your enrollment