Departments & Programs
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Bachelor of Arts in Geology
Degree Requirements
First-Year Experience Course Beginning freshmen and transfer students with less than 19 credit hours are required to take SCI-I 120 Windows on Science (1 cr.) or an equivalent first-year experience course.
Area I English Composition and Communication Competency See the School of Science requirements under “Undergraduate Programs” in this bulletin. The second semester of English composition may be satisfied by ENG-W 270, ENG-W 231, ENG-W 230 or ENG-W 350. GEOL-G 205 may satisfy the second writing requirement in Area I, but the 3 credit hours cannot then also be counted as part of the geology credit hours required in Area IV.
Area II World Language Competency First-year proficiency in a modern world language is required for the Bachelor of Arts degree program. See the School of Science requirements under “Undergraduate Programs” in this bulletin.
Area IIIA Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Cultural Understanding Competencies See the School of Science requirements under “Undergraduate Programs” in this bulletin. For the most current list of courses in the areas of Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Understanding, please refer to the IU Indianapolis General Education Curriculum.
Area IIIC Life and Physical Sciences Competency See the School of Science requirements under “Undergraduate Programs” in this bulletin, but all four courses must include laboratories; two of the four courses must include CHEM-C 105 / CHEM-C 125 and CHEM-C 106 / CHEM-C 126 and at least one of the four courses must be in biological sciences. No grade below C- will be accepted in any of these courses.
Area IIID Analytical Reasoning Competency MATH-I 153 / MATH-I 154 or MATH-I 159 and CSCI-N 207 or another CSCI course approved by the Department of Earth Sciences. No grade below C- will be accepted in any of these courses.
Note: Computer Science CSCI-N 100 level courses do not count for credit toward any degree in the School of Science. Also, CSCI-N 241 and CSCI-N 299 do not count in Area IIID, but may count as an elective.
Area IV Geology Concentration Requirements GEOL-G 110, GEOL-G 120, GEOL-G 205 (or 300-level or 400-level GEOL-G course if GEOL-G 205 is used as a second composition course), GEOL-G 335, GEOL-G 221, GEOL-G 222, GEOL-G 334, three 300-level or higher geology courses, and a capstone course (GEOL-G 420, GEOL-G 460, or GEOL-G 495). Thirty-nine (39) credit hours in GEOL-G course work required. Geology majors cannot earn credit for both GEOL-G 221/GEOL-G 222 and GEOL-G 306. Other 100-level courses and 1 - 2 credit courses do not count toward the geology concentration, but may be applied as electives toward the university-required total of 120 credit hours. No grade below C- will be accepted in any of these courses.
Other Requirements
See the School of Science requirements under Undergraduate Programs, Baccalaureate Degree, General Requirements in this bulletin. Three credit hours of GEOL-G 420, GEOL-G 460, or GEOL-G 495 may be used to satisfy the School of Science capstone requirement, with approval by the Department of Earth Sciences.
Bachelor of Arts Sample Program (120 cr. required)
Freshman Year
| First Semester | |
| SCI-I 120 Windows on Science | 1 |
| GEOL-G 110 Physical Geology | 3 |
| GEOL-G 120 Physical Geology Laboratory | 1 |
| CHEM-C 105 Principles of Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM-C 125 Experimental Chemistry I | 2 |
| ENG-W 131 Reading, Writing and Inquiry | 3 |
| MATH-I 153 College Algebra | 3 |
| Total | 16 |
| Second Semester | |
| CHEM-C 106 Principles of Chemistry II | 3 |
| CHEM-C 126 Experimental Chemistry II | 2 |
| MATH-I 154 Trigonometry | 3 |
| COMM-R 110 Fundamentals of Speech Communication | 3 |
| CSCI-N 207 or other approved computer course | 3 |
| Elective (GEOL-G 130 course suggested) | 1 |
| Total | 15 |
Sophomore Year
| Third Semester | |
| Second Composition Course (GEOL-G 205 recommended) | 3 |
| GEOL-G 221 Introductory Mineralogy | 5 |
| Approved Biology course with laboratory | 5 |
| Arts and Humanities (choose from list) | 3 |
| Total | 16 |
| Fourth Semester | |
| GEOL-G 335 Evolution of the Earth and Life | 4 |
| GEOL-G 222 Petrology | 5 |
| Approved Science course with laboratory | 5 |
| Elective (GEOL-G 130 recommended) | 1 |
| Total | 15 |
Junior Year
| Fifth Semester | |
| GEOL-G 300/GEOL-G 400 elective | 3 |
| GEOL-G 334 Principles of Sedimentation and Stratigraphy | 5 |
| Social Sciences Course (choose from list) | 3 |
| World Language Course | 4 |
| Total | 15 |
| Sixth Semester | |
| GEOL-G 300/GEOL-G 400 elective | 3 |
| Arts & Humanities or Social Sciences (choose from list) | 3 |
| World Language Course | 4 |
| Electives | 5 |
| Total | 15 |
Senior Year
| Seventh Semester | |
| GEOL-G 300/GEOL-G 400 electives | 3 |
| World Language Course | 4 |
| Elective | 3 |
| Elective | 3 |
| Elective | 3 |
| Total | 16 |
| Eighth Semester | |
| GEOL-G 300/GEOL-G 400 elective | 3 |
| Geology Capstone Course | 3 |
| Elective | 3 |
| Elective | 3 |
| Total | 12 |
