Geography Minor

The History, Politics and Geography Department offers an undergraduate Minor in Geography to all students. The Geography minor can complement most majors in the social sciences, physical sciences, biological sciences, and technical disciplines. The geography minor is flexible so that students can tailor their course choices to accommodate individual interests. A broadly based approach to selecting minor courses can be appropriate for students whose majors are highly specialized or narrowly focused. Alternatively, students may choose to fulfill geography minor requirements with a particular content emphasis, such as an interest in environmental issues or urban and regional planning. Looking through course choices and talking with geography staff can make earning the geography minor an important enhancement to one's academic program.

Student Learning Outcomes:

Students will apply basic foundational and specialized geographic knowledge about both the physical and human worlds, and identify notable areas of interconnectedness between those worlds at different scales
Students will effectively communicate geographical ideas using common media from the discipline, including maps, oral presentations, text, photos, illustrations, flowcharts, tables, graphs, graphics
Students will collect, organize, analyze, and synthesize geospatial information about people, places, and environments

About Academic Minors

Farmingdale State College students are invited to enhance their studies with an "Academic Minor." A minor is a cluster of thematically related courses drawn from one or more departments. In addition to department based minors (e.g. computer programming & info systems), interdisciplinary minors are also available (e.g. legal studies).

Academic minors are approved by the College-Wide Curriculum Committee and the Provost. Students must make application for an academic minor through the department offering the minor in conjunction with the Registrar's Office Specific course work must be determined in consultation with a faculty member in the department offering the minor. A statement of successful completion of the academic minor will appear on the student's transcript at the time of graduation.

A minor is considered to be an optional supplement to a student's major program of study.
Completion of a minor is not a graduation requirement and is subject to the availability of the courses selected. However, if the requirements for a minor are not completed prior to certification of graduation in the major, it will be assumed that the minor has been dropped. Consequently, the student will only be certified for graduation in their primary major.
Only students in 4 year baccalaureate programs can apply for a minor.
A minor should consist of 15 to 21 credits.
At least 12 credits must be in courses at the 200 level or higher.
At least 9 credits must be residency credits.
Specific requirements for each minor are determined by the department granting the minor.
Students must maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 in their minor. Some minors may require a higher GPA.
Students are prohibited from declaring a minor in the same discipline as their major (e.g. one cannot combine an applied math minor with an applied math major). Academic minors may not apply to all curricula.
Students are permitted to double-count courses.
Students are only permitted to take more than one minor with appropriate written approval of their department chair or curriculum Dean.

Admission to Farmingdale State College - State University of New York is based on the qualifications of the applicant without regard to age, sex, marital or military status, race, color, creed, religion, national origin, disability or sexual orientation.

History, Politics and Geography | Dr. Tim Nicholson | timothy.nicholson@farmingdale.edu | 934-420-2739

Fall 2026

Subject to revision

Required Courses	(15 credits)
GEO 110 Maps and Map Analysis	3

Students must earn at least 12 additional credits selected from the following:

Physical Geography or Geographic Information Systems	(3-4 credits)
GEO 201 Physical Geography OR	3
GIS 222 Geovisualization I	4

Human Geography	(3 credits)
GEO 211 The World and Its Peoples OR
GEO 222 Human Geography OR
GEO 231 Europe and Its Peoples	3
Select (6) credits of geography courses at the 300-level	6

Curriculum Summary

Total Credits: 15-16

1. At least 9 credits (3 courses) must be taken at Farmingdale.

2. Students must maintain an overall GPA of 2.5 for all courses taken for the minor.

3. Any course substitutions must be approved by the minor coordinator in advance, in consultation with a geography advisor.