The Department of Geography at the University of South Carolina is the only program in the state to offer Bachelors, Masters' and Ph.D. degrees in Geography. The 17 full-time faculty members represent three broad areas of expertise within the discipline (human/regional; physical/environmental; and geographic techniques). We also participate in interdisciplinary programs — International Studies, Southern Studies, Women's Studies, and the School of the Environment — in the College and University.

Colloquium Series

The Department of Geography's Spring colloquium series includes the following upcoming colloquium speakers: The complete series of speakers for this spring semester can be found here.

• Friday February 10 - Martin Doyle, Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment
• Friday March 16 - Mark Rudnicki, University of Connecticut, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment
• Friday March 23 - Amy Trauger, University of Georgia, Department of Geography
• Friday March 30 - Colin Flint, University of Illinois, Department of Geography
• Friday April 6 - Rob Yarbrough, Georgia Southern University, Department of Geology and Geography
• Friday April 13 - Erika Wise, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Department of Geography

PhD student Peng Gao has been named a recipient of a 2012 NASA-MSU Professional Enhancement Award, which helps to defray expenses for outstanding students to attend the Annual Symposium of the U.S. Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology (US-IALE). This year's US-IALE meeting will be held from April 8-12 in Newport, R.I.

Graduate student Bill Stangler has accepted the position of Congaree Riverkeeper. Bill has been active in exploring and helping others explore the river prior to this position. His thesis focused on the rocky shoals spider lilies found along portions of the Midland's rivers.

Graduate student Sara Flecher has been awarded the Carolina's Chapter of the Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) Application and Research Scholarship ($1000).

Dr. John Kupfer is this year's recipient of the Southeast Division of the Association of American Geographers Research Honors Award ....read more here ....

Dr. David Cowen (Carolina Distinguished Professor Emeritus) been awarded this year's Robert T. Aangenbrug Distinguished Service Award. from the Geographic Information Science and Systems Specialty Group of the AAG.  ... read more here ...

NOAA announced a new Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA) award to the Carolinas Integrated Sciences and Assessments (CISA) program here at the University of South Carolina. CISA's principal investigators (PI) from the university include Dr. Kirstin Dow and Dr. Greg Carbone of the Geography Department and ... read more here ...

Dr. Amy Mills has received the Jane Jacobs Urban Communication Book Award, for Streets of Memory: Landscape, Tolerance, and National Identity in Istanbul (University of Georgia Press, 2010). ... read more here ...

Students in all degree programs in the Geography Department continue to excel and are recognized for their accomplishments. Read about their efforts on our Student Kudos & Awards page.

The State newspaper published an article by Dr. Jerry Mitchell on the importance of geography for a well-rounded K-12 education and economic development in South Carolina.

Geographic Alliance staff member Monti Caughman received the Outstanding Support for Geography Education Award at the National Council for Geographic Educators 2011 Conference. “The Outstanding Support for Geography Education Award is designed to recognize and honor individuals whose work takes place outside of the formal classroom, but who have made outstanding contributions to support geography education or geography educators.”

In other news:

USC Geography ranks among the best graduate programs nationally according to the recent National Research Council (NRC) Report.  The NRC bases its evaluation on twenty factors include faculty achievements (e.g. number of publications and citations, number of awards), student credentials (e.g. GRE scores, percent with fellowships) and general characteristics of PhD programs (average time to complete a degree, measures of ethnic and gender diversity).

Department of Geography • Callcott Building, Room 127 • 709 Bull Street • Columbia, SC 29208

Phone: 803-777-5234 • Fax: 803-777-4972