Ohio State nav bar

Issues, Topics and Careers

Issues and topics

The following is an example of the types of issues and topics students will study within the Urban, Regional and Global Studies specialization.

Political geography

  • Urban development
  • Colonization
  • Voting districts
  • Segregation

Area/location studies

  • North America
  • South Africa
  • Europe
  • Former U.S.S.R.
  • Latin America

Transportation

  • Routing patterns
  • Planning

Globalization

  • Economics
  • Politics

Development

  • Industrialized
  • Developing "Third World"
  • Urbanization

Spatial analysis

  • Statistics
  • Cartography and GIS

Acquired skill sets

Students can expect to acquire and perform the following skills sets within this specialization. Students also should have a solid background in mathematics and the physical sciences.

  • Critical thinking
  • Critical writing
  • Research
  • Strong organizational skills

Technical skills:

  • Quantitative and qualitative data analysis
  • Graphic communication (including map reading and development)
  • Graphics and statistical software packages

Career opportunities

Geographers can find career opportunities in many fields both within and outside the field of geography. Below is a partial listing of careers that students within the Urban, Regional and Global Studies specialization are well-suited and where previous graduates have found employment.

  • Planner: transportation, urban, health services, land use, etc.
  • Real estate appraiser/agent/researcher
  • Shipper/route delivery manager
  • Demographer
  • Commodities broker
  • Area/regional specialist
  • Land development analyst
  • Urban research analyst
  • Archivist/librarian
  • Shopping center developer
  • Business planning manager
  • Public policy analyst
  • Market researcher/analyst
  • Location/site selection expert
  • Economic analyst