Geography- Master of Arts

For information, contact:
Director of Graduate Studies
Department of Geography
118 Shideler Hall, 513-529-5010
www.MiamiOH.edu/geography

The M.A. in Geography is a small program with 10-12 students in residence each year. With 14 permanent faculty, the student to faculty ratio of around 1 to 1 provides students with excellent access to faculty. Graduate faculty are strongly committed to teaching, advising, and research collaboration with graduate students.

Geography integrates social and natural sciences through geospatial and other techniques to address the challenges and opportunities of sustainable development. The MA in Geography prepares students with advanced geographical thinking and methods for solving tomorrow’s social and environmental problems today. A flexible and personalized curriculum builds foundational understanding of space, place, and environment, applied through specialized approaches to global development, urbanization and planning, environmental management, or geospatial. All students undertake individualized inquiry -- research thesis or internship/practicum -- that develops specialized expertise and research-management skills, which they communicate in a high-quality manuscript or report.

This academic program emphasizes intellectual growth, critical analysis and communication, and professional development. Students are prepared to engage linked social-environmental problems in real-world decision making, positioning them for leadership in mapping a more sustainable future. Alumni have found impactful public, non-profit, and private-sector careers in sustainable development, conservation, geospatial technology, business analytics, and more, as well as admission/funding in top Ph.D. programs and jobs in academia.

The department has two computer labs, a planning project space, and the Geospatial Analysis Center (GAC) with state-of-the-art commercial GIS, remote sensing, GPS, and open source geospatial hardware and software (including ArcGIS, ENVI, R, QGIS, and Google Earth Engine). The GAC is supported by a large format plotter.  A hydrogeography lab is resident in the department. Additionally, there is a microclimatology/precipitation chemistry station at the nearby Ecology Research Center, three stream monitoring stations at Hueston Woods State Park, and access to the Institute for Food sustainable farm. An extensive collection of aerial photos, historical maps, and open source and commercial multispectral, synthetic aperture radar, and lidar remote sensing data is available for graduate research support.

Admission Requirements

Six courses, including introductory human geography, introductory physical geography, cartography or GIS, a quantitative methods course, and two additional advanced courses, are generally required. Deficiencies may be made up after admission. In addition, a statement of purpose/research interests and three letters of recommendation must be provided.

Requirements: Master of Arts

The Master of Arts degree has both a thesis and internship option. Both options require a minimum of 36 hours.

Before the end of the first year, a formal oral presentation of the thesis/internship proposal is required. This program culminates in the defense of a thesis or internship report.