College: College of Letters and Science
Designation: Department
Majors and degrees offered: M.S., Ph.D. in Geography; M.S. in Cartography and Geographic Information Systems
Other: Ph.D Minors in Cartography and Geographic Information Systems, and in Geography
Faculty: Professors Zimmerer (chair), Burt, Cadwallader, Cronon, Kaiser, Knox, Ostergren, Peck, Sack, Turner, Zhu; Associate Professors Mason, Naughton, Olds; Assistant Professors Harris, Harrower, Williams, Wong
The Department of Geography is a leader in the field of geography and offers exceptional opportunities for graduate education. The department has been consistently rated as one of the best in the country, is currently rated as the number two graduate program, and for over 100 years has been the training ground for generations of geographers. The department's strength is reflected in its ability to attract top-caliber students, compete for significant research funding, and publish foundational scholarly work. The department maintains strength across the full spectrum of subfields within the discipline, and is organized into five major thematic areas: physical geography, environmental studies, human geography, area studies and global systems, as well as cartography and GIS.
Department faculty and graduate students represent a diverse community within which a wide range of perspectives, approaches and research strategies is accommodated. The faculty has long been recognized nationally and internationally for outstanding contributions to geography and beyond. Many graduate students have gone on to prominence within government, industry, and academia and some of the most influential names in geography received their training here in Madison.
The department offers a master of science in geography; a master of science in cartography and geographic information systems; and a doctor of philosophy in geography. The department also offers a capstone certificate in geographic information systems for students not currently enrolled in a UW-Madison graduate degree program. Capstone certificate applicants are admitted as Special students through the Division of Continuing Studies (see www.dcs.wisc.edu/capstone). Graduate students at the M.S. level are expected to acquire a broad foundation in geography in addition to specializing in one or more areas of concentration. Students who earn the M.S. degree are prepared to continue on for the Ph.D., or for applied geography posts or cartographic positions in government agencies, planning organizations, environmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and private industry. The Ph.D. degree is founded primarily upon specialized advanced training and research. Students normally specialize in a single subdisciplinary area and are expected to engage in research leading to a dissertation that makes an original and significant contribution to geographic knowledge and ideas.
Currently 95 students are enrolled in the graduate program: 39 are pursuing the master's degree and 56 are completing the Ph.D. The department takes in roughly 20 new graduate students each year. In recent years, about half of all incoming graduate students have majored in a subject other than geography, and a third arrived having already received a master's degree from another institution.
Housed in historic Science Hall, the Department of Geography offers exceptional facilities for advanced study in geography, cartography, and GIS. The department maintains a computer lab, a computer classroom, a soils lab, a geomorphology lab, the University Cartographic Laboratory, the Arthur Robinson Map and Air Photo Library, and the Geography Library of 65,000 volumes. In addition, the building houses the Wisconsin State Cartographer's Office, the History of Cartography Project, and the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.
Graduate students may supplement their work in the geography department with study in other departments of the university, and there are frequent opportunities for advanced work in interdepartmental seminars. The location of the state capital at Madison makes possible easy contact with the state agencies, and some federal agencies.
The department evaluates applicants to its graduate program on the basis of previous academic record, Graduate Record Exam (GRE) scores, letters of recommendation, and personal statement. The GRE is especially important in the competition for university-wide fellowships; the personal statement of research interest is very important to the department in imagining how the student might benefit from pursuing research with the faculty.
Students are accepted in the fall semester only. The deadline for applications wishing to be considered for financial aid is December 1 of the preceding year. Contact the department for other admissions deadlines.
Roughly half the department's graduate students receive financial aid in the form of fellowships, teaching assistantships, or research assistantships. Most forms of financial assistance include health insurance coverage and remission of tuition.
For more information: Department of Geography, 160 Science Hall, 550 North Park Street, Madison, WI 53706-1491; 608/262-3861; fax 608/265-3991; gradschool@geography.wisc.edu; www.geography.wisc.edu.