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 |