Geology, Towson University
Information for this profile was provided by Jonathan Filer in 2009.
Overview and Context
With effectively three faculty members, we have one geology curriculum (in addition to an Earth and Space Science curriculum) which has a standard geology core with many elective choices. Most of these electives are in other science programs, allowing students a lot of choice in designing with us a major that fits their interests and goals.
This is our geology curriculum, designed to be flexible to meet students goals as they prepare for life beyond college. We also have an Earth and Space Science curriculum, designed to prepare students for secondary teaching.
Program Design
Realizing the diversity of career opportunities for our students, as well as their intellectual interests, we recently redesigned our curriculum to include a wide array of electives both within our program and in other science disciplines.
Goals and Assessment
To prepare students for successful geotechnical careers or to attend graduate school.
As part of our 2007 external program review, we sent out a questionaire to alumni. The questionaire asked them to respond concerning their experience at Towson and their preparation for and satisfaction with their post-Towson professional experience.
Courses and Sequencing
Entry into the program
- Physical Geology
- Honors Physical
- Historical Geology
- Volcanoes and Earthquakes
Core courses
- Mineralogy (Prerequisite: Chem I)
- Environmental Geology
- Structural Geology (Prerequisite: Physics I)
- Petrology of Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks (Prerequisite: Mineralogy)
- Sedimentology and Stratigraphy (Prerequisite: Chem I)
- Introduction to Research (Prerequisites: Phys. Geol, Hist. Geol., 8 upper level geology credits)
- Capstone Project in Geology (Prerequisite: Intro to Research)
Electives
Students are required to take 14-16 credits (usually four courses) of electives, chosen from the following list:- Geomorphology
- Physical Oceanography (Prerequisites: Chem I, Phys I)
- Hydrogeology (Prerequisites: Chem I, Phys I)
- Special Topics in Geology
- Energy Resources
- Soils and Vegetation
- Interpretation of Aerial Photographs
- Introduction to Geographical Information Systems
- Principles of Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing
- General Botany
- Conservation Biology
- Humans, Science and the Chesapeake Bay
- Organic Chemistry
- Chemical and Bacteriological Studies on Water Pollution
- Principles of Physical Chemistry
- Instrumentation in Analytical Chemistry
- Sampling Techniques
- Scientific Modeling and Simulation
- Introduction to Mathematical Physics
- Thermodynamics and Kinetic Theory
- Mechanics I
- Mechanics II
Other required courses
- Chemistry I & II
- Physics I & II
- Calculus I or Calculus for Applications
Capstone
Two course sequence:- Introduction to Research
- Capstone Project in Geology
