Students will plan a program of study with an adviser and other members of the supervisory committee during the first term of residence (the first term after admission to the program). The program of study must include a minimum of 45 graduate credits. Of these, a minimum of 32 graduate credits must be in geography, to include 6 credits of Geog 509 (GIS Practicum), 12 credits of core geography courses, 8 credits in core GIS competency courses, 4 credits in non-GIS, topical courses, at least two courses (6-8 credits) from one of the five specialized geospatial data science focus areas, and 7-9 elective credits to meet the 45 credits required by the program.
Students in the program must complete a project-based practicum. The practicum requires the presentation of the student’s practicum project into a topic approved by the student's graduate committee, which may include a community partner. The practicum represents an original contribution to knowledge in the field of GIScience and normally involves working with a community partner. A final oral presentation of the project and a project report are required for completion of the degree.
The Geography Department follows the University requirement for minimum and continuous enrollment.
The program consists of coursework in the following areas:
Core Geography Courses (12 credits):
- Geog 572 Critical GIS (2 credits)
- Geog 591 Professionalism in GIS (2 credits)
- Geog 522 Research Design (4 credits)
- Geog 592/USP 592 Geographic Information Systems II: Advanced GIS (4 credits)
Core GIS Competency Courses (8 credits):
- Geog 590 GIS Programming (4 credits)
- Geog 575 Spatial Database Design and Applications (4 credits)
- Geog 597 Advanced Spatial Quantitative Analysis (4 credits)
Non-GIS Topical (4 credits):
- 4 credits of graduate-level non-GIS courses (with approval of the committee)
Specialized Geospatial Data Science Focus Area (6-8 credits):
Take two courses in one of the focus areas:
Area 1: Remote sensing and digital image analysis
- Geog 580 Fundamentals of Remote Sensing (4 credits)
- Geog 581 Digital Image Analysis I: Introduction (4 credits)
- Geog 582 Digital Image Analysis II: Advanced Remote Sensing (4 credits)
- Geog 577 Photogrammetry and LiDAR (2 credits)
Area 2: Cartography and geovisualization
- Geog 584 Cartographic Applications of GIS (4 credits)
- Geog 585 Map Design and Production (4 credits)
Area 3: Computer and information sciences
- CS 520 Object-Oriented Programming & Design (3 credits)
- CS 547 Computer Graphics (3 credits)
- CS 549 Computational Geometry (3 credits)
- CS 554 Software Engineering (3 credits)
- Geog 575 Spatial Database Design and Applications (4 credits)
- Geog 590 GIS Programming (4 credits)
- Geog 595 Maps, Models, and GIS (4 credits)
Area 4: Spatial statistics and quantitative methods
- ESM 566/CE 566 Environmental Data Analysis (4 credits)
- ESM 567 Multivariate Analysis of Environmental Data (4 credits)
- Geog 597 Advanced Spatial Quantitative Analysis (4 credits)
Area 5: System and data science
- CS 541 Artificial Intelligence (3 credits)
- CS 542 Advanced Artificial Intelligence: Combinatorial Games (3 credits)
- CS 543 Advanced Artificial Intelligence: Combinatorial Search (3 credits)
- CS 545 Machine Learning (3 credits)
- SySc 514 System Dynamics (4 credits)
- SySc 525 Agent-Based Simulation (4 credits)
- SySc 527 Discrete System Simulation (4 credits)
- SySc 531 Data Mining with Information Theory (4 credits)
- SySc 535 Modeling & Simulation with R and Python (4 credits)
- SySc 540 Introduction to Network Science (4 credits)
- SySc 552 Game Theory (4 credits)
- SySc 575 AI: Neural Networks I (4 credits)
Students may need to complete additional courses to meet the prerequisite requirements for a course. Please check with the instructor before registering.
GIS Practicum (6 credits):
- Geog 509 Practicum (6 credits)
Electives (7-9 credits):
Graduate-level GIS courses or seminars:
- G 525 Field GIS (4 credits)
- Geog 507 Seminar: Speaker Series (1 credit)
- Geog 576 3D Terrain Analysis & Visualization (2 credits)
- Geog 589 Building a GIS Database with GPS (4 credits)
- Geog 594 GIS for Water Resources (4 credits)
Other elective courses may be approved by the committee.
45 total credits