Geographic Information Science Minor
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
GIScience offers students a powerful way to ask questions about the world: how people, places, and systems interact, and how those relationships shape the issues we care about most. That spirit of inquiry is at the heart of a liberal arts education, and GIScience adds tools that help students explore those questions with clarity and depth. The field itself is now well established, supported by decades of scholarship, national standards, and a strong research community.
This five-course minor introduces students to the core concepts and analytical methods of GIScience and gives them room to apply those skills within their chosen fields of study. Housed in Mathematics & Computer Science and carried under a dedicated GIS course prefix, the program reflects the field’s growing emphasis on computation and modeling while offering students an inviting, accessible path into spatial thinking.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | 8 | |
| Introduction to GIS | ||
| Spatial Analysis and Modeling | ||
| 3 courses from the following, spanning at least 2 course prefixes | 12 | |
| Culture, Power & the Human Experience | ||
| Visual Anthropology | ||
| Data Science | ||
| Database Systems | ||
| Special Topics (Natural Hazards) 1 | ||
| Special Topics (Spatial Analysis Techniques for Environmental Science) 1 | ||
| Statistical Inference & Data Analysis II | ||
| Total Credits | 20 | |
- 1
To qualify for the minor, an elective must:
• Include substantial GIS or spatial-analysis work in the syllabus
• Require or build on skills taught in GIS 101 or GIS 200, or draw on equivalent
statistical or programming preparation
• Involve applied spatial reasoning, visualization, modeling, or data analysis rather
than incidental or purely descriptive use of maps