These requirements are for students who matriculated in academic year 2024-2025. Students who matriculated prior to fall 2024 should refer to the Archives to view the requirements for their Bulletin year.

Summary of Degree Requirements

University Requirements

  • MATH 0701 (4 s.h.) and/or ENG 0701 (4 s.h.), if required by placement testing.
  • All Temple students must take a minimum of two writing-intensive courses as part of the major. The specific courses required for this major are GUS 2197 and GUS 4198.
  • Students must complete requirements of the General Education (GenEd) Program. See the General Education section of the Undergraduate Bulletin for more details.

College of Liberal Arts Requirements

  • Completion of a minimum of 123 credits, including:
    • 90 credits in CLA/CST courses;
    • 45 credits of which must be at the upper level (numbered 2000-4999).
      • For Social Science majors, 6 upper level credits (numbered 2000-4999) must be taken in Humanities Subject Areas: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Greek (Ancient), Greek and Roman Classics, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Philosophy, Religion, Russian, and Spanish in the College of Liberal Arts, Art History in the Tyler School of Art and Architecture, or any department in the College of Science and Technology.
    • A minimum GPA of 2.0, cumulatively, in CLA/CST coursework, and in the major.
    • Only courses in which a student receives a grade of at least C- can satisfy GenEd, major, minor, or CLA Foreign Language and Global Studies requirements.
    • Professional Development Requirement
      • All students in the College of Liberal Arts are required to take a 1 credit seminar in professional development. CLA 1002 Professional Development for Liberal Arts Majors is the appropriate course option for this major. Other courses that fulfill this requirement may be found on the CLA College Requirements page. Only one course in this category may count towards graduation.
    • Foreign Language/Global Studies Requirements:
      • All students must complete or test out of the first and second levels of a foreign language - these courses are numbered 1001 and 1002;
      • All students must complete at least one course from the GenEd Global/World Society category; and
      • All Bachelor of Arts students must complete one of the following options:
        • Third semester of a foreign language;
        • Demonstrated proficiency beyond the third semester in a foreign language (placement exam or certification from the language department);
        • Take one Global Studies course from the list on the CLA College Requirements page;
        • Study Abroad at an approved program; or
        • Take a second General Education Global/World Society course.
      • Notes on Foreign Language Study
        • The third level of language is numbered 1003 in French, Spanish, and Portuguese and numbered 2001 in all other foreign language subjects.
        • Students are strongly encouraged to take the third level of a foreign language as it is the minimum required for election to the prestigious honor society Phi Beta Kappa. (Taking the course does not guarantee admission but not taking it guarantees exclusion.)
        • See the College of Liberal Arts Policies section of this Bulletin for more information on the Foreign Language Placement, Regression in Coursework, and guidelines for students' other experiences with language.

General Electives are typically one-third of a student's program of study and can be focused on a second major, a minor, or towards some other personal enrichment or professional goals. See an academic advisor for assistance in developing an academic plan for these courses.

Major Requirements (39 credits)

Gateway Courses
GUS 2001Cities3
GUS 2002Space and Place3
Research Methods courses
GUS 2197Research Design in Geography and Urban Studies3
GUS 3062Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems3
GUS 3161Spatial Statistics3
Research Methods elective
Select one of the following:3
GUS 3001
Images of the City in Popular Culture
GUS 3061
Fundamentals of Cartography
GUS 3063
Environmental Remote Sensing
GUS 3064
Qualitative Methods
GUS 4065
Urban Geographic Information Systems
International Course
Select one of the following:3
GUS 2032
Urban Systems in a Global Economy
GUS 2073
African Development
GUS 2074
East and South Asia
GUS 2121
Russian Cities
GUS 3021
International Urbanization
GUS 3052
Environmental Problems in Asia
GUS 3073
Geography of Travel and Tourism
GUS 3074
Sicily: The Land, People and Identity
GUS 3075
Comparative Regional Development
GUS 3076
Metropolitan Tokyo
GUS 3928
Honors Metropolitan Tokyo
GUS 4000
Special Topics in Geography and Urban Studies
Geography and Urban Studies electives 1
Select 1 GUS course numbered 0800-49993
Select 4 GUS courses numbered 2000-499912
Capstone Course
GUS 4198Senior Seminar in Geography and Urban Studies3
Total Credit Hours39
1

No electives may double-count between the Geography & Urban Studies major and either the Environmental Studies major or minor.