Geography
College of Social Sciences
Social Science 445
2424 Maile Way
Honolulu, HI 96822
Tel: (808) 956-8465
Fax: (808) 956-3512
E-mail: uhmgeog@hawaii.edu
Web: www2.soc.hawaii.edu/css/dept/geog
Faculty
*M. Chapman, PhD
(Chair)--population mobility,
field methods, Melanesia
*S. D. Chang, PhD--China, urban development
*G. A. Fuller, PhD--population (fertility, policy aspects), geography of
prophylaxis (fertility control, population and political instability)
*T. W. Giambelluca, PhD--climatology, hydrology
*J. Goss, PhD--urbanization, built environment, social theory, Southeast
Asia
*N. D. Lewis, PhD--geography of health, human ecology, Pacific
*M. G. McDonald, PhD--agricultural change, social theory, political
geography, Japan
*M. McGranaghan, PhD--computer cartography, geographic information
systems
*B. J. Murton, PhD--cultural and historical geography, tropical agrarian
systems, South Asia
*M. A. Ridgley, PhD--water resources, urbanization and environmental
quality, human-environment system modeling, Latin America
*K. Suryanata, PhD--political ecology, agricultural geography, natural
resource management, Third World
*R. A. Sutherland, PhD--geomorphology, soil erosion, water quality
*L. Wester, PhD--plant geography, biogeography of islands, human-plant
relationships
*E. A. Wingert, PhD--cartography, remote sensing
*D. Woodcock, PhD--climatology, paleobiogeography
Cooperating Graduate Faculty
K. W. Bridges, PhD--computer cartography
J. O. Juvik, PhD--climatology, biogeography, resource management, humid
tropics
J. Liu, PhD--tourism, regional development
M. D. Merlin, PhD--biogeography, natural history of Hawai‘i
Affiliate Graduate Faculty
J. E. Bardach, PhD--marine and aquatic resources
J. Fox, PhD--social forestry
L. S. Hamilton, PhD--forest land use planning
C. J. Johnson, PhD--mineral resources and policies
J. Maragos, PhD--coastal and marine resources
J. R. Morgan, PhD--marine geography
T. A. Siddiqi, PhD--energy technology, environmental policy
*Graduate Faculty
Degrees Offered: BA in geography, MA in
geography, PhD in geography
The Academic Program
Geography (GEOG) provides a broad perspective on
people as inhabitants and transformers of the face of the Earth. It
explores the complexity of the cultures, economies, histories, and
ecologies that lie behind places on a map--places that make up the world
we live in and pass on to our children. Three themes (the operation of
interlocking systems of the natural environment; the relationship
between nature and society; the relationship between location and
society) focus upon challenges in the contemporary world such as global
environmental change and its implications for human existence; resource
management and regional development in the Third World; regional
conflict fed by long standing economic, religious, or territorial
differences; the making of resource and location decisions; and the
display and management of spatial information. The department is
uniquely placed to examine these issues in the Asia Pacific region.
Hawai‘i’s historical, cultural, economic, social, and environmental
context provides a fascinating setting for learning and research and can
serve as a springboard into the wider region.
Students with a geography degree have gained both a
holistic understanding of the world and a specific set of concepts and
methodologies that can be applied to a wide range of career
opportunities dealing with environmental and resources issues, location
and resource decision-making, planning and policy questions, and the
display of information on maps and through geographic information
systems in all levels of government, private firms, nonprofit
organizations, and international agencies.
Undergraduate Study
Bachelor’s Degree
Requirements
Students must complete 37 credit hours including:
• GEOG 101/101L, 151,
375, 380, and 390
• One upper division course in each subdiscipline:
human geography (GEOG 305, 312, 314, 321, 324, 325,
326, 328, 330, 335, 336, 385, 410, 411, 412, 415, 420, 421, 435, 445,
455)
physical geography (GEOG 300, 301, 303, 309, 400, 401, 402, 403, 404,
405, 410, 411, 412, 420)
Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific regional problems (GEOG 352, 353, 355, 356,
365, 366, 368, 468)
cartography, remote sensing, and geographic information systems (GEOG
370, 375, 387, 470, 472, 475, 476, 487, 488)
• Three additional
upper division courses concentrated in one of four subdisciplines listed
above
Individual programs are designed in consultation with
the undergraduate adviser.
Minor
Requirements
The minor in geography requires 15 credits of upper
division course work in geography, which should include at least one
course in three of four areas: human geography; physical geography;
Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific regional problems; and cartography, remote
sensing, and geographic information systems.
Graduate Study
The department offers programs of graduate study and
research leading to the MA and PhD degrees. Faculty interests and
supporting strengths of the University provide advantages for study of
the following general topics: (a) environmental studies and policies;
(b) resource systems; (c) population, urbanization, and regional
development; (d) cartography, remote sensing, and geographic information
systems; and (e) Pacific and Asian regional problems.
Applicants are expected to have a broad-based
undergraduate education encompassing basic courses in the physical
sciences, social sciences, and humanities. They should have a firm grasp
of the fundamentals of physical and human geography and of basic
cartographic and quantitative techniques. Intended candidates for the MA
or PhD need not have an undergraduate major in geography; students from
related fields are welcome, but any subject-area weak-ness must be
remedied by course work.
Holders of graduate degrees in geography are employed
in research and administrative positions in county, state, federal, and
international agencies; research positions in private business,
especially consulting firms; and teaching positions in secondary
schools, community colleges, colleges, and universities. |