Geography and the Environment

Geography Honours (for BA students)

Entrance requirements

Students can apply to the Geography Honours program when they have met the following criteria:

1. Completion of 90 credits that apply to the Bachelor of Arts, including at least 26 credits in geography.
2. A minimum GPA of 3.33 in all courses required for program completion.

Interested students are encouraged to seek out advice on the Geography Honours program from Geography faculty or an Advisor as early as possible in their coursework, and to apply to the program at the earliest possible entry date.

How to apply

To apply, students will need to provide the following:

1. An honours program application package (available from the department assistant).
2. A portfolio that includes coursework (laboratory assignments, written papers, etc.) from select completed geography courses. The portfolio is a tool to be used by students, the Geography Honours Advisory Committee, and potential faculty project advisor to identify areas of improvement and potential project topics, as well as writing and research strengths and weaknesses. Portfolio guidelines are available from the department.

Students should submit application materials to the department assistant. The Geography Honours Advisory Committee will then arrange for a project supervisor. Interested students are encouraged to approach a departmental faculty member appropriate to their research interests who may serve as their honours supervisor.

Fees and additional costs

See the Fees and Other Costs section. Additional fees for course field trips and miscellaneous lab materials will apply to all students enrolled in Geography programs.

Program outline

This section specifies the honours requirements only. Please refer to the Bachelor of Arts for program requirements.

Lower-level requirements: 29–30 credits

Upper-level requirements: 36–42 credits

Note 1: Students are not required to complete GEOG 491 if they have already completed one of the following courses: GEOG 396, 398, 400G, 400J, 402, 410, 440, or 458. Those students who do not need to take GEOG 491 are required to complete an additional upper-level elective.

Note 2: No more than eight credits of Directed Studies/Directed Readings (GEOG 480, GEOG 482, GEOG 483, GEOG 484) will count toward the Geography Honours.

Note 3: One of STAT 104, STAT 104, or PSYC 110 is required for GEOG 252; students should plan accordingly.

Note 4: No more than 11 credits of GEOG 396/GDS 310/SOC 396, GEOG 398/GDS 311/SOC 398, GEOG 412, GEOG 460, and GEOG 470 can be used towards meeting the Geography Honours requirements.

Note 5: GEOG 317 taken prior to 2014 can also be used to satisfy this requirement.

Concentrations

Students can choose to complete an honours designation in Geography with a selected concentration. Students seeking an honours designation will need to apply to the honours program and complete the requirements of the honours program in addition to those required for the selected concentration.

Program requirements

In addition to the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts and for the Geography major, Geography Honours students will need to complete the following:

1. 120 credits, including:
   • A minimum of 64 credits of Geography, including GEOG 354.
2. An original research project, completed as part of:
   • One of the following courses: GEOG 396, 398, 400G, 400J, 402, 410, 440, 458, or 491; and
   • GEOG 492: Honours research project.
3. Minimum CGPA of 3.33.

Research project

Successful completion of a research project is required prior to graduation. This project is developed in consultation with a faculty supervisor and demonstrates students' advanced skills and knowledge in a given area of geography.

Students will complete this project in two courses. In the first course, students will design and collect data for their project. This will be completed as part of GEOG 491 (Honours Research Design and Data Collection), or an equivalent third-year internship or fourth-year research-intensive course approved by the department. Students will then register in GEOG 492 (Honours Research Project) to complete the data analysis and project write-up.

Each honours student will disseminate their research findings in a presentation to an academic audience (e.g. professional conference or department seminar) as well as through an academic research poster or alternative. Following project completion and presentation, the honours supervisor in consultation with a second reader, will assign a grade for GEOG 492.

Residency

Please check the Bachelor of Arts residency section of the calendar for how many upper-level credits must be completed at UFV in order to graduate with this program.

Graduation requirements

A minimum CGPA of 3.33, including the mark awarded for the final research project, must be attained in order for an honours designation to be awarded.

Course listings

For complete details on courses see the course descriptions section.