The Department of Geography offers MA and PhD graduate degrees with concentrations in cartography/GIS/remote sensing, physical geography, regional development, and economic geography and regional science.  Through its Urban Planning Program, the department also offers the Master's in Urban and Regional Planning degree.  The Landscape Architecture Program is also a component of the Department of Geography; it offers an undergraduate degree.  When viewed in its totality, the Department of Geography at MSU provides a unique environment for graduate work.  The combination of course offerings and faculty expertise present innovative and stimulating opportunities for graduate students. 

Graduate Handbook (511 kb)
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Offerings in cartography, geographic information systems, and remote sensing are designed to meet a wide range of student needs.  Courses address both theoretical and practical aspects of the field including map design, automated map production, computer graphics, spatial data handling, and analysis of airborn and satellite remote sensing.  Faculty are actively engaged in both theoretical and applied research.

The concentration in economic geography and regional science emphasizes the study of the underlying theories of location and spatial interaction of human activities in their economic, social, and policy contexts.  This program stresses the analysis of spatial systems related to economic, urban, and transportation geography, location analysis, and regional science.  Study and research in this cluster generally involve the use of mathematical models and quantitative techniques.

The program in regional development emphasizes the study of regional, national, and international dimensions of development and change in regions or countries in which faculty have particular expertise and experience.  Specific foci of concern include resource analysis, regional planning, rural development, people-environment interaction, and spatial organization.  Study and research within this cluster generally falls within the people-environment framework.  Regional emphases include Africa, Latin America, and East Asia.

Advanced offerings in physical geography focus on synoptic and mesoscale climatology, soil, eolian, and glacial geomorphology, North American plant geography, and Pleistocene and Holocene landforms, especially in the Great Lakes region.  Within geomorphology, emphasis is on reconstruction of paleoenvironments.  The availability of diverse course offerings in the agricultural, physical, and natural sciences at MSU provides a valuable opportunity for the development and enrichment of student programs.