Geography, MA
The Department of Geography offers both master’s and doctoral programs of study across a range of systematic, regional, and technical fields, with innovative energy in the doctoral program for studying urban environments. The department’s overall strengths are aligned along a theme of “Changing Environments,” with three major axes, each responsive to areas with strong demand for new professionals:
Urban Environments: This area emphasizes the spatial interactions of economic systems as well as political, social, cultural, environmental, technological, and other forces that influence the people, identities, landscape, development, and dynamics of urban areas. With the world’s population becoming increasingly urbanized and globalized, courses examine the continuing challenges of urban growth and change, race, ethnicity, and gender in the city, immigration and identity politics, and spatial aspects of urban planning processes and political decision-making.
Physical Geography and Environmental Studies: This area addresses the interactions among natural forms and processes on the earth’s surface, the impact and implications of global climate change, and human connections with those natural phenomena. Courses discuss and analyze the distribution and processes of earth surface landforms (geomorphology), soils (pedology), plants and animals (biogeography), water (hydrology), and long-term atmospheric conditions (climatology). Overlapping emphases include phenology, water resources, conservation, natural hazards, natural resource scarcity, and the mounting challenges of global environmental change.
Geographic Information Science (GIS): This area emphasizes using geospatial technology to further understanding of spatial interactions among natural and social forces at multiple scales across the Earth’s surface, and exploring the impacts of using such technology on social and cultural interactions. Courses examine geographic information collection (including remote sensing), data analysis and geocomputation (spatial analysis), information presentation (cartography), and societal implications. Our program emphasizes applications of GIS in urban, regional, and environmental planning, policy making, and public health.
In addition to these departmental strengths, individual faculty members apply their expertise in topics such as remote sensing, GIS, and cartography to problems of the city. Geography faculty also participate in the certificate program in Geographic Information Systems, which is jointly offered by the College of Letters and Science and the School of Architecture and Urban Planning.
While the master’s program offers a more traditional structure within which students can strengthen their knowledge of the discipline and one or more of its subfields, the department’s unique PhD program is designed to be especially attractive to forward-looking students interested in the urban environment who seek a flexible, versatile, 21st century graduate education with a strong emphasis on interdisciplinarity. The PhD program’s urban-environmental theme is inclusive and encompassing of processes and problems associated with the intersection of human and natural environments, strongly focused on “the city” as the entity of engagement. The program breaks with longstanding tradition in the field of geography in stressing a balance between specialized analytical research and synthetic research, between traditional academic research and community engagement, and between research and teaching. It relies heavily on Geographic Information Science (GIS) as a research tool and as an organizing framework.
Intakes
- Jan
- May
- Sep
Application Processing Time in Days: 25
Minimum English Language Requirements
| English Level Description | IELTS (1.0 -9.0) | TOEFL IBT (0-120) | TOEFL CBT (0-300) | PTE (10-90) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expert | 9 | 120 | 297-300 | 86-90 | |
| Very Good | 8.5 | 115-119 | 280-293 | 83-86 | |
| Very Good | 8 | 110-114 | 270-280 | 79-83 | |
| Good | 7.5 | 102-109 | 253-267 | 73-79 | |
| Good | 7 | 94-101 | 240-253 | 65-73 | |
| Competent | 6.5 | 79-93 | 213-233 | 58-65 | |
| Competent | 6 | 60-78 | 170-210 | 50-58 | |
| Modest | 5.5 | 46-59 | 133-210 | 43-50 | |
| Modest | 5 | 35-45 | 107-133 | 36-43 | |
| Limited | 4 | 32-34 | 97-103 | 30-36 | |
| Extremely Limited | < 4 | < 31 | < 93 | < 30 |
Job Opportunity Potential
Flexible Schedules – Campus employers will schedule your work hours around your classes
Easy Commute – Don’t waste your time commuting to work, walk right from class to work.
Build Your Resume – Develop skills and experiences to use at future internships and employment
Make Friends – Campus jobs are a great way to develop friendships and build your social network.
Enhanced College Experience – Studies show, students who work on?campus are more confident, engaged in their college experience, have better time management skills, and get higher grades!
Supportive Environment – Campus jobs allow you to learn and build your skills in an environment that doesn’t mind a learning curve.
PSW Opportunity
- 3 years PSW
Admission Requirement / Eligibility Criteria
Applicants for admission to the UWM Graduate School must have the following:
A baccalaureate degree, or its equivalent as determined by the UWM Center on International Education, from a regionally accredited institution, completed before the first term of enrollment in the Graduate School. Students applying to approved accelerated master’s degrees are exempt from this requirement.
Proficiency in the English language.
A minimum cumulative undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 2.75 on a 4.0 scale, or an equivalent measure on a grading system that does not use a 4.0 scale. Those whose undergraduate GPA is below 2.75 must provide evidence of ability to succeed in graduate study through at least one of the following:
GPA of at least 3.0 during the last two years of the baccalaureate program (calculated on a minimum of 48 credits).
Completion of six or more credits of program-approved post-baccalaureate courses. These courses must be at the advanced undergraduate or graduate level, taken with the last five years with a grade of B or better (B- not acceptable).
Submission of official score reports from the Graduate Record Examination, the Graduate Management Admission Test, or the Miller Analogies Test that indicate competencies in areas related to the proposed graduate program. To be considered official, these scores must be sent directly from the testing agency to UWM, and must be received prior to admission.
Scores on tests developed by the proposed graduate program that demonstrate potential for success in that program. These scores must be submitted prior to admission.
Evidence of professional certification or licensure in a relevant area as determined by the proposed program and the Assistant Dean of Graduate Education.
A graduate degree with a minimum 3.0 GPA
The English proficiency requirement can be fulfilled by presenting one of the following:
A baccalaureate or higher degree awarded by UWM or another accredited institution where English is the language of instruction—as determined by the Center for International Education (CIE). Applicants whose native language is not English also must also have done both of the following:
Attended this institution for at least one year.
Received the degree within the previous two years of the application date OR lived and worked in the U.S. continuously since receiving the degree.
Official TOEFL** (Test of English as a Foreign Language) results with a minimum required score of 79 on the Internet-based TOEFL (IBT) and a minimum recommended sub-score of 18 in each skill).
Official IELTS** (International English Language Testing System) results with a minimum required score of 6.5, with a minimum recommended sub-score of 6.0 in each skill.
Official CAE** (Cambridge English: Advanced, aka Certificate of Advanced English) or CPE** (Cambridge English: Proficiency, aka Certificate of Proficiency in English) results with a minimum required level of C1 and a minimum recommended score of 170 on any given language skill test.
Official scores from another test deemed by UWM to be reliably equivalent to a C1 level in the Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR). Procedures for determining CEFR equivalents are outlined in Appendix A.
** Test must have been taken within the previous two years of the application date. Some programs may require a higher minimum overall score on the test and/or on specific sub-scores.
- Course Type: Full Time
- Course Level: Masters/PG Degree
- Duration: 01 Year
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Total Tuition Fee:
27046 USD
Average Cost of Living: 14000 USD /year
Application Fee: 75 USD
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