Learn More and ApplyComputer Science + Geography (BS)

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CDM 2024 Comp Sci and Geo

The CS+GEO BS brings together the two distinct fields of Computer Science and Geography in a multi-disciplinary degree program  that reflects the wide use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies and the application of computational methods in geography and other social sciences.

The CS part of the CS+GEO BS curriculum provides students training in fundamental computational problem-solving skills including thinking abstractly, applying formal logic and mathematics, developing algorithms and data structures, and reasoning about and developing software systems at different levels of abstraction. The GEO part of the CS+GEO BS curriculum provides students training in Geographic Information Systems and digital mapping, spatial analytics, and spatial reasoning to explore phenomena, relationships, and processes that have spatial patterns and distributions. Students in the CS+GEO BS will have a unique multidisciplinary combination of critical intellectual, technical and creative skills that will set them apart.

The program provides students with a coherent and complete education in each field and prepares them to become:

  • software developers with an exceptional expertise in GIS and other application areas of geography and, more broadly, the social sciences, as well as
  • social scientists with expertise in geographic research methods who can leverage and develop technology-based solution to social science questions.

A CS+GEO BS graduate will be ideally suited for many positions requiring knowledge of geospatial technologies that refer to tools contributing to the geographic mapping and analysis of the environment and human societies, including GIS. Since the CS+GEO BS program incorporates the core of the CS BS degree program and the core of the GEO BA degree program, graduates of the program will also be well-prepared to pursue a graduate degree in either field.

Program Requirements Quarter Hours
Liberal Studies 68
Major Requirements 96
Open Electives 28
Total hours required 192

Learning Outcomes

  • Model a computational problem, select appropriate algorithms and data structures for a solution, justify the correctness of the algorithm, and implement an application solving the problem.
  • Analyze and select an algorithm based on system effects.
  • Analyze the efficiency of a computational solution mathematically, and validate the analysis experimentally.
  • Criticize a program on the basis of its maintainability and suggest improvements.
  • Use key concepts, theories, and vocabulary to interpret how socio-cultural, political, economic, and/or environmental phenomena may construct a "space," a "place," a "landscape," a "location," or a "region" as a complex material or symbolic structure.
  • Use qualitative and/or quantitative methodologies to analyze spatial phenomena, and collect, identify, and apply spatial data from either primary or secondary sources to interpret the spatial character of a physical, socio-cultural, or environment-society problem.
  • Interpret spatial patterns of economic inequalities and social injustices and their relation to urban, built, and natural environments.
  • Demonstrate competence in one or more of several geospatial technologies, (i.e. remote sensing, geographical information systems, global navigation satellite systems, etc.) and articulate effectively the results of that use in speech, text, image, or map.
  • Describe and differentiate processes of globalization and their effects on cities, regions, physical systems, cultures, and political divisions.

Honors program requirements can be found in the individual Colleges & Schools section of the University Catalog. Select the appropriate college or school, followed by Undergraduate Academics and scroll down.

Plan of Study Grid
First Year ProgramHours
Chicago Quarter
LSP 110
DISCOVER CHICAGO
or EXPLORE CHICAGO
4
Focal Point
LSP 112 FOCAL POINT SEMINAR 4
Writing
WRD 103 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC I 1 4
WRD 104 COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC II 1 4
Quantitative Reasoning
Not Required
Sophomore Year
Race, Power, and Resistance
LSP 200 SEMINAR ON RACE, POWER, AND RESISTANCE 4
Junior Year
Experiential Learning
Required 4
Senior Year
Capstone
Required 1
1

Students must earn a C- or better in this course. 

Learning Domains

Arts and Literature (AL)

  • 3 Courses Required

Historical Inquiry (HI)

  • 2 Course Required

Math and Computing (MC)

  • Not Required

Philosophical Inquiry (PI)

  • 2 Courses Required

Religious Dimensions (RD)

  • 2 Courses Required

Scientific Inquiry (SI)

  • 1 Course Required
    [1 Lab Course]

Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Inquiry (SCBI)

  • 1 Course Required

Major Requirements

Course Title Quarter Hours
The Modern Language Requirement (MLR)
All students will be required to demonstrate competence in a modern language (i.e., a language other than English) equivalent to the proficiency attained from one year of college-level language study. This Modern Language Requirement (MLR) may be demonstrated by:
placing into 104 or above on the DePaul language placement exam
completing the last course or earning AP or BI credit for the last course in the first-year collegel sequence of any language (e.g., 103 for DePaul language classes)
completing a college course or earning AP or IB credit for a college course beyond the first-year level in any language (e.g., 104 or above for DePaul language classes)
completing the final course of a four-year sequence of the same modern language in high school *
completing a proctored exam by BYU and passing the exam (see the Department of Modern Languages website for registeration details)
completing a proctored Written Proficiency Test (WPT) by Language Testing International (LTI) and achieving a score of Beginner High or above (see the Department of Modern Languages website for registration details)
*Students are strongly encouraged to take the DePaul language placement exam even if they have met the MLR via study of a language in high school. This will ensure continuation of language at the proper level.
Please note: Modern Languages courses with an E-designation are taught in English and may not be applied to the Modern Langague Requirement.
Students who complete an Inter-College Transfer (ICT) to the College will abide by the MLR in place on the effective date of the ICT, regarless of when they first matriculated at DePaul.

Major Requirements

Course Title Quarter Hours
Computer Science Requirements
CSC 241INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE I 14
CSC 242INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE II4
CSC 300DATA STRUCTURES I 14
CSC 301DATA STRUCTURES II4
CSC 321DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF ALGORITHMS4
CSC 373COMPUTER SYSTEMS I4
CSC 374COMPUTER SYSTEMS II4
MAT 140DISCRETE MATHEMATICS I4
MAT 141DISCRETE MATHEMATICS II4
One (1) course from the following:
CONCEPTS OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
DISTRIBUTED SYSTEMS
OBJECT-ORIENTED SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
Eight (8) credit hours from any 300-level courses labelled CSC, CSEC, DSC or SE8
1

Students with one (1) semester of programming experience may take CSC 243 and one (1) Major Elective in lieu of CSC 241 and CSC 242.

Course Title Quarter Hours
Geography Requirements
GEO 101ENVIRONMENTAL GEOGRAPHY4
GEO 103URBANIZATION4
GEO 241GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS I: DIGITAL MAPPING4
GEO 299KNOWLEDGE, PLACE AND POWER4
GEO 391STATISTICAL DATA ANALYSIS FOR GIS4
Twenty-four (24) credit hours, at least four (4) of which must be 300-level from GEO Major Electives.24

Capstone

Course Title Quarter Hours
Choose one (1) course
CSC 394SOFTWARE PROJECTS4
or GEO 300 GEOGRAPHICAL INQUIRY

GEO Major Electives 

Course Title Quarter Hours
URBAN GEOGRAPHY - EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY: THE NATURE-CULTURE INTERFACE
SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOPMENT
GEOPOLITICS
RELIGIOUS GEOGRAPHY
RACE, JUSTICE, AND THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT
INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
BIOGEOGRAPHY
INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND REGIONAL INEQUALITY
WOMEN AND SCIENCE
OCEANOGRAPHY
EARTH'S CHANGING CLIMATE
HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF CHICAGO
COMPARATIVE URBANISM
GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS II: COMMUNITY GIS
EARTH OBSERVATION
GLOBALIZATION AND RESOURCES
WORLD ECONOMY: STATES, MARKETS AND LABOR
CULTURAL AND POLITICAL ECOLOGY
KNOWLEDGE, PLACE AND POWER
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
THE EUROPEAN UNION
SUSTAINABLE URBAN TRANSPORTATION
URBAN PLANNING
URBAN/CITY DESIGN
TOPICS IN ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM
PLACES, HUMANITIES AND GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
EARTH OBSERVATION II
SPATIAL ANALYSIS FOR SUSTAINABILITY
GIS ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH
WEB GIS AND SPATIAL DATA VISUALIZATION ON THE WEB
SPATIAL DATA SCIENCE
WORLD OF WINE
GEOGRAPHY, FOOD AND JUSTICE
SEMINAR IN SELECTED TOPICS

 Open Electives

Open elective credit also is required to meet the minimum graduation requirement of 192 hours.

Program Combination Restrictions

Students pursuing the BS in Computer Science + Geography are forbidden from pursuing the following secondary/double majors: BS Computer Science (all concentrations); BS Game Programming; BS Information Technology; BS Math and Computer Science; BA Geography (all concentrations).

Students pursuing the BS in Computer Science + Geography are also forbidden from pursuing a Minor in the following areas: Geography; Computer Science; Information Technology.