Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Environmental Studies

Background of the Program

The relationship between men, his environment, and its many attendant problems have been the most important areas of concern to Geography since its early days of development as a modern academic discipline. The core of the subjects’ inquiry is the interpretation of human-environment interactions and relationships, and their ever-changing dynamics through space and time at different scales from local to global levels. Geography not only mediated between natural or physical sciences and biosciences on one hand and the social sciences on the other but also bridged and synthesized their mutual common broad spectrum underpinning through its core thrust on man - environment relationships, which naturally integrate them all.

At least partly as a result of this lack of significant concern with the impact of human activities and technology on the natural environment, and the consequences of this on human welfare and survival for a relatively long time, there has come a renewed concern and interest on environment. Thus, it is quite natural that the physical environmental aspect subsumed throughout physical geography needed to be strengthened in our curricula. As result, many courses have been either newly designed or modified to emphasize the environmental concerns. Moreover, in developing the new curriculum emphasis was given to include technical courses, such as statistics, mathematics and GIS, to meet the increased recognition of the relevance of quantitative and GIS techniques in Geography. Hence, the relevance of teaching and research both in Geography and cartography will be strengthened.

Rationale of the Program

Based on the national consensus to develop the curriculum, the department has conducted need assessment. Data were collected from employers of the graduate, employees and prospective graduates of the 2000 E.C. Employers were asked about the overall skills, efficiency and professional expertise of their employees. Employees were asked about the relevance of the knowledge, skills and experience they developed in the program to the current job they are working and to their overall development. Similarly, prospective graduates were asked the relevance of the program to their needs, the interrelationship of the courses in the program, the efficiency of instructors and the methodology they used and the facilities available in the program.

Majority of the employers reported that the skills, efficiency and professional expertise of geography employees are satisfactory. This shows that the program is training man power at the satisfactory level, which entails to add effort to increase the effectiveness of the graduates in the future. Sixty-percent of the employers responded that there was slight relationship between the employees’ knowledge and the practical skills of the jobs they are currently handling and recommended curriculum modifications. They suggested adding environmental courses, provision of in-service training, adding practical courses and research works.

Therefore, in designing the new curriculum special emphasis was given to improve the program’s facilities, the methodologies to be used, integration and continuity of the courses within the department and adding practical and research related courses.

Admission Requirements

The following requirements are set as selection criteria to join the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies in the degree program.

·        

Students who successfully completed the preparatory program and pass the entrance exam that could be prepared by the department, the University, or the Ministry of Education and meet the minimum requirement needed.

  • Students who have Diploma in Geography from recognized college or university with a minimum CGPA of 2.00 at graduation.  

Duration of Study

Three academic years

 

Graduation Requirements

  • A minimum of 180 CP (Credit Point) hours or 110 credit hour.
  • Cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of not less than 2.00
  • No “F” grade in any of the prescribed courses

Medium of Instruction

The medium of instruction for the program is ENGLISH

Degree Nomenclature

The undergraduate program of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies will leads to a certification referred in English as:

The Degree of Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Environmental Studies  and in Amharic: የባችለር አርት ድግሪ በጅኦግራፊ እና አካባቢ ጥናት

List of Modules, Courses and their Status

Module

No.

Course Title

Course

Code

Status

Cr.

Hr

ECTS

 

 

CP

 

Physical Geography

 

 

 

L

T

L/P

HS

 

 

 

 

01

Introduction to Geology

Gees1011

Compulsory

2

2

0

0

6

4

Introduction to Climate

Gees1012

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Geomorphology

Gees1013

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Applied Climatology

Gees1014

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Soil Geography

Gees1015

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Terrain Analysis & Land use Planning

Gees1016

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Hydro Geography

Gees1017

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Biogeography

Gees1018

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Geography of Natural Resource management 

Gees1019

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Total

44

 

 

Economic Geography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

02

Introduction to Economic geography

Gees2021

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Economic Geography of Ethiopia

Gees2022

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Geography of transport & Development

Gees2023

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Geography of Tourism & Development

Gees2024

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Total

20

 

 

Urban Geography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

03

Social & Cultural Geography

Gees2031

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Population & Settlement

Gees2032

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Political Geography

Gees2033

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Urban Geography

Gees2034

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Regional Planning

Gees2035

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Total

25

 

 

Technical Geography

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

04

Map Reading & Interpretation

Gees3041

Compulsory

3

2

0

3

5

5

Introduction to Surveying

Gees3042

Compulsory

3

2

0

3

5

5

Cartography

Gees3043

Compulsory

3

2

0

3

5

5

Geographic Information System I

Gees3044

Compulsory

3

2

0

3

5

5

Geographic Information System II

Gees3045

Compulsory

3

2

0

3

5

5

Introduction to Remote Sensing 

Gees3046

Compulsory

3

2

0

3

5

5

Total

30

 

Research Methodology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

05

Quantitative Techniques in Geography

Gees3051

Compulsory

4

4

0

0

6

5

 

Research Methods in Geography & Environmental Studies

Gees3052

Compulsory

3

4

0

0

6

5

 

Seminar on Contemporary Geographic Issues

Gees3053

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

5

4

 

Senior Essay

Gees3054

Compulsory

3

0

0

4

6

5

 

Total

19

 

 

Environment and Development

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

06

Environment & Development

Gees3061

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

 

Environmental Impact Assessment 

Gees3062

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

 

Project Design & Development

Gees3063

Compulsory

2

2

0

0

4

3

 

Total

13

 

                                     

 

Common Courses

Course Title

Course

Code

Status

Cr. Hr

 

ECTS

CP

L

T

L/P

HS

Communicative English Skill

Enla1021

Compulsory

3

1

3

0

6

5

Basic English Writing Skill

Enla2033

Compulsory

3

1

4

0

7

6

Introduction to Civic and Ethics

Cvet1012

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Information Communication Technology

Inct1011

Compulsory

3

2

0

3

3

4

Total

20

 

Supportive Courses

Course Title

Course

Code

Status

Cr. Hr

 

ECTS

CP

L

T

L/P

HS

Introduction to Psychology

Spsy1011

Compulsory

3

2

0

3

3

4

Entrepreneurship

Mgmt3042

Compulsory

3

3

0

0

7

5

Total

9

 

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