Departments & Programs
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Bachelor of Science 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 course 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 and another GEOL-G course must be taken.
Area II World Language Competency No world language proficiency is required for a Bachelor of Science degree.
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 CHEM-C 105 / CHEM-C 125, CHEM-C 106 / CHEM-C 126; PHYS-P 201 / PHYS-P 202; BIOL-K 341 / BIOL-K 342; and two Life and Physical Science courses or certain geography courses (see advisor), outside the Department of Earth Sciences at the 300 or 400-level approved by the Department of Earth Sciences. No grade below C- will be accepted in any of these courses.
Area IIID Analytical Reasoning Competency MATH-I 231 / MATH-I 232; CSCI-N 207 or another CSCI course approved by the Department of Earth Sciences; and STAT-I 301 or another statistics 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 GEOL-G 300 level or GEOL-G 400 level course if GEOL-G 205 is used as a second composition course), GEOL-G 335, GEOL-G 221, GEOL-G 222, GEOL-G 334, GEOL-G 323, 12 credits of 300-level or 400-level geology courses, and GEOL-G 420 or another field camp of at least 3 credit hours approved by the Department of Earth Sciences. Forty-six (46) 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 requirement, 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. GEOL-G 420 satisfies the School of Science capstone requirement.
Bachelor of Science Sample Program (120 cr. required)
| Freshman Year | |
| First Semester | |
| SCI-I 120 Windows on Science | 1 |
| GEOL-G 110 Physical Geology/GEOL-G 120 Laboratory | 4 |
| ENG-W 131 Reading,Writing & Inquiry I | 3 |
| CHEM-C 105 Principles of Chemistry I | 3 |
| CHEM-C 125 Experimental Chemistry I | 2 |
| Arts & Humanities Course (choose from list) | 3 |
| Total | 16 |
| Second Semester | |
| COMM-R 110 Fundamentals of Speech Communication | 3 |
| CHEM-C 106 Principles of Chemistry II | 3 |
| CHEM-C 126 Experimental Chemistry II | 2 |
| MATH-I 231 Calculus for the Life Sciences I | 3 |
| CSCI-N 207 or other approved computer course | 3 |
| Total | 14 |
| Sophomore Year | |
| Third Semester | |
| Second Composition Course (GEOL-G 205 recommended) | 3 |
| GEOL-G 221 Introductory Mineralogy | 5 |
| MATH-I 232 Calculus for the Life Sciences II | 3 |
| Social Sciences Course (choose from list) | 3 |
| Total | 14 |
| Fourth Semester | |
| PHYS-P 201 General Physics I | 5 |
| GEOL-G 222 Introductory Petrology | 5 |
| GEOL-G 335 Evolution of Earth and Life | 4 |
| STAT-I 301 Elementary Statistical Methods | 3 |
| Total | 17 |
| Junior Year | |
| Fifth Semester | |
| PHYS-P 202 General Physics II | 5 |
| GEOL-G 323 Structural Geology | 5 |
| GEOL-G 334 Sedimentology and Stratigraphy | 5 |
| Total | 15 |
| Sixth Semester | |
| BIOL-K 341 Ecology and Evolution Lecture/BIOL-K 342 Laboratory | 5 |
| GEOL-G 300/GEOL-G 400 elective | 3 |
| 300-400 level Science or Geography course | 3 |
| Elective | 3 |
| Total | 14 |
| Senior Year | |
| Seventh Semester | |
| GEOL-G 300/GEOL-G 400 elective | 3 |
| GEOL-G 300/GEOL-G 400 elective | 3 |
| Arts & Humanities or Social Sciences (choose from list) | 3 |
| Cultural Understanding Course (choose from list) | 3 |
| Elective | 3 |
| Total | 15 |
| Eighth Semester | |
| GEOL-G 300/GEOL-G 400 elective | 3 |
| GEOL-G 300/GEOL-G 400 elective | 3 |
| 300-400 level Science or Geography course | 3 |
| Elective | 3 |
| GEOL-G 420 Regional Geology Field Trip (Summer) | 3 |
| Total | 15 |
