The BA/BSc Major in Geography will appeal to students wishing to enter the workplace after a first degree. It will offer broad exposure to a wider range of courses, and opportunities for students to tailor course combinations in geography, which are better aligned to their chosen career path. The revised Major provides access to a new internship course (GEOG3433 Geography Internship and Work Experience) that will enable students to gain valuable work experience and two new applied courses in Disaster Management and Risk.
While the integration of a new internship course and a broader choice of applied undergraduate third-year options into the revised Geography Major will meet the needs of students wishing to develop their careers outside of academia, the Applied Major in Geography (BA/BSc) programme will cater to those students wishing to build their research capacity and embark on postgraduate research careers.
Also note that the Undergraduate programmes encompass the study of the earth, its structure, physical properties, and the complex relationships between people and their environments.
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A Minor in Geography will expose students in related disciplines to an appreciation for human and environmental interactions from a spatial perspective. Geography is an interdisciplinary subject that straddles the sciences, social sciences, and, humanities so that students reading for a Minor will be able to dovetail relevant subject areas within geography to related science, social science, or the humanities disciplines.
Part of the rationale for the Geography Minor is to respond to student demand and to help equip students for employment in the 21st century, as mandated in the UWI Strategic Plan.
Thus the Minor will allow students from FHE and FSS to combine Geography with Majors such as History, Languages, Economics, Sociology, Government, and International Relations with a structured programme.
A geology major studies the physical aspects of Earth and the forces acting upon it. That includes close examination of the solids, liquids, and gasses that have shaped the Earth’s surface over time, making up its natural resources or hazards and constituting its ecosystems.
This is not simply a study of rocks, but often a wider exploration of the Earth’s history, chemistry, and physics.
Geology is a broad term often used interchangeably with earth sciences and geosciences. The fields can differ by college department or by specific skills that apply to careers. Some universities have both geology and earth science programs. Others have only geosciences or a department with a title including some combination of the above terms. Generally, all of these options cover similar and overlapping material, with earth science titled programs being more holistic in their approach and often including interdisciplinary topics like paleontology, atmospheric science, and climate science.
The geology minor is designed to produce graduates who have an understanding of geology that they can merge with their major. The Caribbean region is affected by serious issues that have a multidisciplinary aspect, including the search for natural resources, water supply, natural disasters, and road construction and development. Many disciplines overlap with geology (geography, civil engineering, environmental science, geophysics) and the geology minor is designed to provide both a basic understanding of geological concepts (Level I courses), and then develop specializations at Levels II and III that would dovetail with the graduate’s major.
At Level I students acquire a basic understanding of geology theory and practice. At levels II and III, students can select a series of courses that allow for their specialization with more advanced and applied courses at Level III being developed from groundwork courses at Level II.
An understanding of geology joins together with many disciplines including geophysics, geochemistry, and civil engineering. Many disciplines require graduates to have a basic theoretical and practical knowledge of geology. The geology minor is designed for flexibility providing students with a basic understanding of geological concepts at level I, and the choice to develop areas of specialization at levels II and III.
A partial list of potential careers and fields for a budding geographer:
A degree in geology can lead to potential career paths in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, and may involve conducting research outdoors or teaching.
A Geology graduate can work for the government in natural resource management and planning, or for conservation and environmental protection efforts. They can also work as seismologists, collecting data on earthquakes, or as oceanographers, mapping the flow of the oceans. Other options include engineers and mineralogists and support infrastructure development and planning.
