Human geography, a social science, seeks to understand the cultural, economic, and political processes that create and reproduce the built environments and social worlds in which we live. Environmental Geography lies at the intersection of the physical and human worlds, studying topics such as resources, hazards, and human impacts on the environment. What links these disparate foci is an overriding concern with space and the various ways in which it matters.

Geography courses promote a fuller understanding of the world that we live in, emphasizing critical thinking, problem solving, writing, mapping, public speaking, information literacy, and teamwork, using methods that range from ethnography and archival research, to field and laboratory work, and tools such as GIS (advanced computer mapping).