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The B.S. in Geosciences at the University of Rhode Island is obtained through a combination of:
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General Education courses
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Supporting Science courses
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a Core series of geoscience courses; and
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specialized geoscience and related courses pertaining to the major option.
General Education Courses
The general education course requirement is a
University-wide policy designed to build a basic academic foundation for
all undergraduates. A total
of thirty-seven credits is required.
This is divided in the following manner:
Five courses (totaling 15 credits), apportioned among the fine arts,
literature, and languages (and related culture courses) are required.
Two courses (6 credits) in the social sciences, a writing course,
a communications course, and freshman seminar (URI 101) are also required.
The natural science (6 credits) and mathematics (3 credits) general
education requirements are covered under supporting sciences below.
Courses that meet the general education requirements at the University
of Rhode Island can be found in the catalog.
Supporting Sciences
The B.S. in Geosciences requires 1 year, each, of calculus-based mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology (totaling between 31-35 credits, 9 of which are applicable to the general education requirement). A course in computer science (CSC 201; Introduction to Computer Programming) or a course in statistics (STA 308, Introductory Statistics) is also required. Courses that meet the supporting science requirements are listed here.
Core Geoscience Courses
All Geosciences majors take a suite of courses that are basic to the Geosciences degree. These courses are:
GEO
101 – Freshman Inquiry into the Geosciences (1 credit)
GEO
103 – Understanding the Earth(4 credits)
GEO
203 – Field Geology (3 credits)
GEO
320 – Earth Materials (4 credits)
GEO
321 – Rocks and Geologic Processes (4 credits)
GEO
370 – Structure of the Earth (4 credits)
GEO
450 – Introduction to Sedimentary Geology (4 credits)
GEO 488 – Geological Evolution of North America (4 credits)
GEO
480 – Summer Field Camp (4 – 6 credits).
All majors must take a field course (listed in the URI transcript
as GEO 480, preferably during the summer of the junior or senior year.
Such courses are offered by a variety of different schools around
the country, and usually involve 4 – 6 weeks of intensive rock identification,
mapping, and structural and stratigraphic studies in the field.
To broaden their geological experiences, we encourage our students
to take advantage of one of the many courses offered in the western United
States.
In
addition to the core courses, students must select one of the following
six Geosciences Options:
Suggested Sequence of courses:
Freshman, Fall
Freshman, Spring
GEO
103
GEO option course
BIO 1XX*
BIO 1XX*
CHM 101, 102
CHM 112, 114 or GEO
201
URI 101
MTH 111, if needed,
Gen. Ed. elective
Gen. Ed. elective or an option elective
Sophomore,
Fall Sophomore, Spring
GEO 203
GEO option course
GEO 320
GEO 321
PHY 111, 185
PHY 112, 186
or 203, 273
or 204,274
MTH 131 or 141
MTH 132 or 142
Gen. Ed. Elective
Junior,
Fall
Junior, Spring
GEO
450
GEO 370
GEO option course
STA 308 or CSC 201
Gen. Ed. elective
Gen. Ed.
elective
Gen. Ed. elective
Gen. Ed.
elective
Free elective
Free elective
Senior,
Fall
Senior, Spring
GEO
option elective
GEO 488
Gen. Ed. elective
GEO option elective
Free elective
Gen. Ed. Elective
Free elective
Free elective
Free elective
Free elective
Semester
of GEO option courses and electives may vary depending on the Geology option
selected.
Summer
Field Camp (GEO 480) should be taken during the summer between the junior
and senior years, or the summer following the senior year.
General
education electives should be selected carefully to meet college requirements.
Number of free electives will vary depending on the Geology option
selected and the number of credits for field camp, biology and math courses.
*Students
must take one semester of plant biology choosing either BIO 104a or BIO
112 and one semester of animal biology, either BIO 104b or BIO 113.