Undergraduate Program

Some areas of interest in the department are: Aerial photography, African diaspora, archeology, atmosphere, climate change, climate variability, climatology, coastal morphology, conservation, crime, cultural anthropology, disaster science, economic geography, Ethnohistory, extreme events, Forensic anthropology, GIS, Historical archeology, historical geography, human geography, hurricanes, hydrology, identity, material culture, Maya, meteorology, osteology, physical geography, place and culture political ecology, political geography, public health, quantitative methods, religion, remote sensing, social theory, spatial analysis, spatial modeling, tropical cyclones, urban geography.

Geography

Students majoring in geography may earn either the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or the Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree. Students interested in mapping sciences or physical geography typically enter the B.S. program, and those interested in human geography enter the B.A. program. Download the undergraduate brochure.

Students may elect to modify the curriculum to fit specific needs, but this must be done in consultation with the departmental advisor. Special emphases are offered in mapping sciences, cultural and historical geography, economic and urban geography, Latin America, Eastern Asia, coastal and fluvial geomorphology, climatology and hydroclimatology.

Freshman Year

  • GEOG 1001 Human Geography: Americas and Europe (3)
    OR
  • GEOG 1003 Human Geography: Africa and Asia (3)

Sophomore Year

  • GEOG 2040 Geospatial Technology (3)
  • GEOG 2050 Physical Geography: The Atmosphere (3)
  • GEOG 2051 Physical Geography: Land and Water Surfaces, Plant and Animal Realms (3)

Junior and Senior Years

A total of six upper division courses are required:

Select two to four mapping science courses:

  • GEOG 4020 Aerial Photo Interpretation and Image Processing (3)
  • GEOG 4041 Field Methods in Geography (3)
  • GEOG 4044 Computer Cartography (3)
  • GEOG 4045 Environmental Remote Sensing (3)
  • GEOG 4046 Web GIS (3)
  • GEOG 4047 Geographic Information Systems (3)
  • GEOG 4048 Methods of Spatial Analysis (3)

Select two to four physical geography courses:

  • GEOG 2080 Humans and the Environment (3)
  • GEOG 3013 Meteorology (3)
  • GEOG 3070 Environmental Conservation (3)
  • GEOG 4014 Climatology (3)
  • GEOG 4015 Physical Climatology (3)
  • GEOG 4016 Methods of Climatological Analysis (3)
  • GEOG 4018 Geographical Hydrology (3)
  • GEOG 4022 Geomorphology (3)
  • GEOG 4024 Coastal Morphodynamics (3)
  • GEOG 4029 Coastal Resources and Management (3)
  • GEOG 4083 Environmental Change of the Ice Age (3)
  • GEOG 4221 The Tropical Atmosphere (3)

Freshman Year

  • GEOG 1001 Human Geography: Americas and Europe (3)
    OR
  • GEOG 1003 Human Geography: Africa and Asia (3)

Sophomore Year

  • GEOG 2040 Geospatial Technology (3)
  • GEOG 2050 Physical Geography: The Atmosphere (3)
  • GEOG 2051 Physical Geography: Land and Water Surfaces, Plant and Animal Realms (3)
  • GEOG 2055 Map Reading (3)
  • GEOG 2010 Human Geography (3)

Junior and Senior Years

A total of five upper division geography courses are required:

Select one mapping science course:

  • GEOG 4020 Aerial Photo Interpretation and Image Processing (3)
  • GEOG 4041 Field Methods in Geography (3)
  • GEOG 4044 Computer Cartography (3)
  • GEOG 4045 Environmental Remote Sensing (3)
  • GEOG 4046 Web GIS (3)
  • GEOG 4047 Geographic Information Systems (3)
  • GEOG 4048 Methods and Spatial Analysis (3)

Select one regional geography course:

  • ANTH 4051 Africa (3)
  • GEOG 3001 Geography of Louisiana (3)
  • GEOG 4002 South Asian Society, Polity and Culture (3)
  • GEOG 4031 Latin America and the Caribbean (3)
  • GEOG 4037 Geography of China (3)
  • GEOG 4052 Geography of the United States and Canada (3)
  • Other approved regional course

Select two systematic courses:

  • GEOG 2080 Humans and the Environment (3)
  • GEOG 4012 Elements of Cultural Geography (3)
  • GEOG 4061 Political Geography (3)
  • GEOG 4073 Urban Geography (3)
  • GEOG 4074 Place and Culture (3)
  • GEOG 4077 Economic Geography (3)
  • GEOG 4078 Environment and Development (3)
  • GEOG 4079 Geography of Religion (3)
  • GEOG 4080 Historical Geography (3)
  • GEOG 4086 Human-Environment Interactions (3)
  • GEOG 4087 Gender, Place and Culture (3)
  • GEOG 4090 The History of Geography (3)
  • Other approved systematic geography course

Select one:

  • Approved upper division (3000+level) geography elective (3)

Anthropology

A Bachelor of Arts (BA) is offered in anthropology. Anthropology is the study of humankind and includes four subfields: archaeology, biological anthropology, cultural anthropology, and linguistic anthropology. Because it is a broad study of people, students majoring in anthropology are urged to take courses in the sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities.

Freshman Year

  • ANTH 1001 Introduction to Physical Anthropology and Prehistory (3)
  • ANTH 1003 Introduction to Cultural and Social Anthropology (3)

Sophomore Year

  • ANTH 2015 Introduction to Archaeology (3) or
  • ANTH 2051 Introduction to World Ethnography (3) or
  • ANTH 3060 Introduction to Anthropological Linguistics (3) or
  • ANTH 4040 Physical Anthropology (3)

Junior Year

Select two:

  • ANTH 2015 Introduction to Archaeology (3) or
  • ANTH 2051 Introduction to World Ethnography (3) or
  • ANTH 3060 Introduction to Anthropological Linguistics (3) or
  • ANTH 4040 Physical Anthropology (3)

Senior Year 

  • Approved anthropology electives (9)

Minor in Geography

Requirements for a minor in geography are one course selected from GEOG 1001 or GEOG 1003; GEOG 2050 and GEOG 2051; one course selected from GEOG 2080, GEOG 4020, GEOG 4041, and GEOG 4045; and two additional 3000 or 4000 level geography courses.

Minor in Geographic Information Systems

The minor in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) provides students with training in critical GIS skills in acquiring, managing, analyzing, and presenting spatial data and prepares them for an ever expanding GIS job market in the public, not-for-profit, or private sectors.

To graduate with a minor in GIS, students must complete 15 hours of course work. Prerequisites may extend the hours beyond 15.

Required core courses (nine hours): GEOG 4045, GEOG 4047, GEOG 4048; Selecting from (six hours): GEOG 2040, GEOG 4020, GEOG 4042, GEOG 4044, GEOG 4046; ENVS 4145, ENVS 4149 or any courses approved by the program director.

Minor in Climatology

The Minor in Climatology requires a total of 18 hours: GEOG 2050, 3013, 4014, and 4016 are the required core courses. The student will take one of two Mapping Sciences classes (GEOG 4045 or 4047). The student will also take one elective course from our physical geography courses.

Minor in Anthropology

Requirements for a minor in anthropology are ANTH 1001, ANTH 1003.

Nine hours to be taken from the following three groups with no more than six hours total from any one group:

  • Group 1 (method and laboratory) – ANTH 2016, ANTH 3401, ANTH 4010, ANTH 4020, ANTH 4021, ANTH 4083, ANTH 4090;
  • Group 2 (area) – ANTH 2050, ANTH 3004, ANTH 4004, ANTH 4017, ANTH 4023, ANTH 4050, ANTH 4051, ANTH 4053, ANTH 4470, ANTH 4475; and
  • Group 3 (topical) – ANTH 2015, ANTH 2051, ANTH 2423, ANTH 3060, ANTH 4018, ANTH 4031, ANTH 4040, ANTH 4060, ANTH 4074, ANTH 4082, ANTH 4085, ANTH 4086, ANTH 4440.

In addition, ANTH 4909, ANTH 4998, and ANTH 4999 may be included in the nine hours. Placement of these courses in the above groups depends on the topic and must be determined by the department on a case-by-case basis.

For More Information

For more details, please refer to the Department of Geography and Anthropology portion of the LSU General Catalog, located within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. For specific classes and times, please see the course offerings page.

Please Note

Although the department does have undergraduate advisors for both geography and anthropology, students are invited to speak to any faculty member involving classes and specialties.

Contacts

Geography B.A./B.S.
Advisor: Steven Namikas
225-578-6142
snamik1@lsu.edu

Geography B.A. with concentration in Environmental Studies
Advisor: Andrew Sluyter
225-578-4261
asluyter@lsu.edu

Geography B.A./B.S. with concentration in Geographic Information Science (GIS)
Advisor: Lei Wang
225-578-8876
leiwang@lsu.edu

Geography B.A./B.S. with concentration in Disaster Science and Management (DSM)
Advisor: Barry Keim
225-578-6170
keim@lsu.edu

Geography B.S. with concentration in Climatology
Advisor: Barry Keim
225-578-6170
keim@lsu.edu

Anthropology B.A.
Advisors:

Dr. Juliet Brophy
225-578-7615
jbrophy@lsu.edu

Robert Tague
225-578-6094
rtague@lsu.edu