Dataset of all U.S. institutions of higher education that offer a degree in geography as of 2021, with information as to the type and level of degrees offered, the program/department name, and, finally, the administrative unit in which geography is housed per institution.
Geography as a discipline spans the arts and sciences, with degrees awarded in either faculty. This academic diversity is reflected by the range of administrative units in which geography is housed. Administrative units, such as colleges, schools, and divisions, group together departments and programs within U.S. institutions of higher education. The structural organization of institutions therefore offers insight into how disciplines are perceived, both in relation to one another and as situated within branches of knowledge. Whether geography is viewed as more of an art or more of a science carries potential implications for funding, geography’s physical location on campus, interdepartmental collaborations and intradepartmental synergies, student advising, curricula, and degree offerings. While my research has focused on geography degree offerings in relation to the subject’s administrative placement, the dataset I created for this study is published here in hopes that readers may use, evolve, and reinterpret its contents to explore these remaining relations.
This dataset lists U.S. institutions of higher education that offer a degree in geography )or geography in combination with one or more subjects) as of 2021. No distinction is made between public and private institutions, or between community colleges and institutions offering four year degrees. An initial list of such institutions of higher education was retrieved from the Interactive Map of the 2020 AAG Guide to Geography Programs in the Americas. The following data were manually gathered from institutional websites: institution name, department name, administrative unit, and degree(s) offered by level and type. Degrees in applied geography were counted. For example, a Master of Arts in Applied Geography was entered as a Master of Arts (MA) degree. Degrees solely in geographic information science were not recorded, although degrees in geographical science were allowed. Department name was left null where only a program in geography existed with the exception of Clark Graduate School of Geography, which was treated as a formal Department of Geography. Along with department name, two additional fields were created. The first indicated whether or not “geography” was included in the department name and the second indicated whether or not the department was specifically a Department of Geography. In instances where degree, department, or administrative unit was ambiguous, institutions were telephoned or e-mailed to verify directory information.
state - U.S. state in which university is geographically located
inst - institution name
prgm - program name
dept - department name (if not null)
admin - administrative unit
geog_name - x if "geography" is in department name
geog_dept - x if geography degree offered within department of geography
AA - x where Associate of Arts degree is offered
ASc - " Asociate of Science "
BS - " Bachelor of Science "
BA - " Bachelor of Arts "
MS - " Master of Science "
MA - " Master of Arts "
PhD - " Doctoral "
disc - disciplines (from AAG dataset)
link - url to program page
If you have questions, you can reach me, Lily Demet, through spacetime at overtherainbowarts@gmail.com