Doctor of Philosophy Degree Requirements
The student is presumed to possess an appropriate background in geography, approximately equivalent to the MA core program.
CREDIT-HOUR REQUIREMENTS
A minimum of 135 quarter hours of credit is required for the doctoral degree, 45 hours of which may be awarded from the student's MA or MS program, and must include the equivalent of GEOG 3000, 4000, 4020, 4040 and 4900.
EXAMINATIONS
PhD Research Proposal Presentation
Each student is required to prepare and present a research proposal and have it formally approved by the student’s faculty committee. Doctoral students are encouraged to have their proposals presented and approved by the time that a student would be finishing his or her substantive course work, which is equivalent to having completed 110 quarter-hours toward the PhD degree (includes 45 hours from the master’s program). If a doctoral student does not have an approved proposal by the end of the quarter in which the student has completed 110 quarter hours, the student is placed on academic probation and given one additional quarter to have a proposal approved by the student’s committee. If the proposal has not been approved by the end of the quarter following the student’s completion of 110 quarter hours of PhD course work, the student's program will be terminated due to insufficient progress toward the degree. The student may, however, file a petition before the eighth week of that quarter requesting an extension of probationary status for one additional quarter. If this petition is granted, the student must have a proposal approved by the eighth week of the next quarter to continue in the program. If not, the program is automatically terminated. If a student has encountered severe extenuating circumstances beyond the student's control, a petition may be filed to extend probationary status subject to approval by the department chair and departmental director of graduate studies.
Comprehensive Exam
This exam, which includes both written and oral parts, is designed to evaluate the student's work at the University of Denver. This exam is usually scheduled after all substantive course work has been completed, the dissertation proposal has been approved, and at least three quarters prior to expected graduation. Students should consult with committee members to achieve a greater understanding of what will be on the exam. The written portion of the exam can be taken in one of two formats: 1) a written examination conducted in the department usually taken over two days, lasting four hours each day; or 2) a take-home examination where the student has five days to complete the exam. An oral examination is held two weeks after the written exam has been completed. A candidate who fails one or all parts of the comprehensive exam may petition the department for re-examination. Re-examination, if granted by the department, may not be scheduled until the succeeding quarter.
Final Exam
Upon completion of course work, approved proposal, comprehensive exam and the dissertation, each student will undergo a final oral examination. A final examination may not be scheduled until at least the second quarter following the quarter in which the comprehensive exam was successfully completed (the summer may count as a quarter; though no examinations, should be scheduled during the summer). The final oral examination is to be conducted at least three weeks before the end of the quarter in which the degree is to be awarded. The examining committee consists of no fewer than four members chosen from the faculty of the department and related cognate disciplines, or outside the University. There is also an outside chair person who must be a tenured faculty member from another department at the University serving as the University representative.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Required courses:
- GEOG 4000 Fundamental Geographic Perspectives
- GEOG 3000 Advanced Geographic Statistics
- GEOG 4020 Research Methodology
- GEOG 4040 Research Identification
- GEOG 4900 Geography Colloquium
Doctoral program requirements include a course curriculum consisting of at least 32 additional quarter hours of geography courses directed toward the dissertation research; cognitive course work in a related field of at least 12 quarter hours; at least two graduate seminars; demonstrated competency in two research tools; approval of dissertation proposal; and completion of an acceptable dissertation.
The options to meet the tool requirement include languages, geographic information systems, computer cartography, remote sensing and statistics. A comprehensive examination is given after completion of course work and proposal presentation, and an oral defense of the dissertation is required for completion of the degree.
For doctoral programs, research areas are limited to the fields of biogeography, climatology, cultural geography, economic geography, geographic information science, geomorphology, global change, human environment interaction, Latin America, population, quaternary studies, transportation geography and urban geography in accordance with current faculty expertise.