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Program Description
The Department of Geography offers work leading to the Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees.
The department specializes in three areas:
1) Cultural and Historical Geography,
2) Resource Management, and
3) Urban and/or Transportation Geography.
Specifically, students are expected to:
1) become familiar with geographic literature and research,
2) develop research skills in data collection, data analysis, data display, and data presentation,
3) apply research skills in specific problem-solving situations, and
4) become familiar with work in cognate fields.
Interdisciplinary work is strongly encouraged, particularly in environmental science, resource management, urban and regional studies, and historic preservation. Particular emphasis is placed on the applied aspects of geography to prepare students for employment in locational analysis, spatial analysis, regional planning, resource management, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), computer cartography, cartographic editing, historic preservation, physical geography, cultural geography, and other fields in which geographic methodologies and perspectives may be applied.
The Department of Geography offers two programs options for the M.S. degree: the thesis option creative component option. The Ph.D. degree requires a dissertation. The Department also grants certification in GIS. The GIS certificate requires a suite of courses which may be taken as partial fulfillment of the M.S. or Ph.D. degrees. The Department of Geography is also a participant in the Master of Science in Business Geographics program, and additional information can be found at the following address: http://www.msbg.okstate.edu.
Admission Requirements
Admission to the degree programs in geography is granted to college graduates with superior academic records. An undergraduate geography major is not required. Majors from the social, physical, and behavioral sciences and from the humanities are encouraged to apply. Incoming graduate students must demonstrate coursework in human geography, physical geography, statistics, and cartography, or will be required to make up these deficits upon entrance to the program.
Admission requires approval of both the Graduate College and the Department of Geography. To apply to the Graduate College, complete the application form and pay the application fee. Applying and paying on-line is highly recommended. Applicants also need to send two official transcripts from each undergraduate and graduate institution attended, and official GRE scores to the Graduate College. Successful applicants normally achieve GRE scores above the 50th percentile in both the Quantitative and Verbal sections of the exam. International applicants must submit official TOEFL scores. A TOEFL score of at least 550 (213 computer-based/79 Internet based) is required for admission. The Geography Department requires a TOEFL score of at least 600 (250 computer-based/100 Internet based) for consideration to an appointment as a teaching assistant. To apply to the Department of Geography, submit three letters of recommendation and a personal statement discussing your academic and vocational goals. Applicants should also indicate whether they wish to be considered for and assistantship. While applications are accepted throughout the year, full consideration for full assistantships is guaranteed only for those received no later than February 15.
Financial Aid
The Department of Geography offers a number of teaching and research assistantships each year. For the 2007-08 academic year, assistantships were $1092 per month as an M.S. student and $1442 a month as a Ph.D. student. The assistantship also includes a waiver of out-of-state portion of graduate tuition. All GTAs and GRAs (graduate teaching or graduate research assistants) with a 25% appointment, qualifies for coverage of 3 credit hours of resident tuition each semester. Students with a 50% appointment qualify for coverage of 6 credit hours of resident tuition each semester. Each year, the Graduate College awards a number of tuition scholarships to students with outstanding academic records so it is possible to also receive a waiver of in-state tuition fees. A student who is awarded an assistantship will be required to submit a FAFSA form in the first semester. Additional information can be found on the department's web site http://www.geog.okstate.edu/.
Graduate Faculty List
Alyson Greiner, Ph.D., Texas, 1996. Associate Professor. Historical, Cultural, Australia.
Brad A. Bays, Ph.D., Nebraska, Associate Professor. Historical/Cultural, Political, Indigenous, Peoples, Cultural Survival.
Carlos Cordova, Ph.D., Texas, 1996. Associate Professor. Geomorphology, Geoarchaeology, Soils.
Dale R. Lightfoot, Ph.D., Colorado-Boulder, 1990. Professor and Head. Cultural Ecology, Water and Agricultural Resources, Remote Sensing, Latin America, North Africa/Middle East.
G. Allen Finchum, Ph.D., University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1992. Associate Professor. GIS, Urban, Population, United States.
Hongbo Yu, Ph.D. Tennessee, 2005. Assistant Professor. Transportation, GIS, Time.
Jacqueline M. Vadjunec, Ph.D. Clark, 2007. Assistant Professor. Cultural and Political Ecology, Latin America, Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change.
Jianjun Ge, Ph.D. Michigan State, 2007. Assistant Professor. Remote Sensing, Regional Climate Modeling, Land Use/Lan Cover Change.
John F. Rooney, Jr., Ph.D., Clark, 1966. Regents Professor Emeritus, Sport and Recreation, Resource Management, Geo-Demographics, Cultural, United States.
Jonathan C. Comer, Ph.D., Ohio State, 1994. Associate Professor. Economic Forecasting, Spatial Modeling, Quantitative Methods.
Mahesh Rao, Ph.D., Oklahoma State, 1997. Assistant Professor, GIS, Remote Sensing, Agriculture.
Rebecca A. Sheehan, Ph.D. Louisiana State, 2006. Assistant Professor. Cultural, Historical, Tourism, Public Space.
Reuel Hanks, Ph.D., Kansas, 1993. Associate Professor. Political, Ethnic, Central Asia, Africa.
Stephen J. Stadler, Ph.D., Indiana State, 1979. Professor. The State Geographer of Oklahoma. Climatology, Meteorology, Remote Sensing, Physical.
Thomas A. Wikle, Ph.D., Southern Illinois, 1989. Professor and Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences. Outdoor Recreation, Computer Cartography, GIS, Dialect Geography.
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