Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Geospatial Techniques

Course Structure

The Bachelor of Arts degree in Geography and Geospatial Techniques is a coursework programme and shall normally take four academic years.

Common courses:

The program offers six of the seven recommended University-wide common courses.

Core courses

There are 46 core courses offered in this programme out of which 3 have a weighting of 6 credit hours each i.e., Research Methods and Field Course, Industrial Attachment and Special Project in Geography, and one, Environmental Impact Assessment and Audit, has a weighting of 4 credit hours.

Elective courses:

There are 28 elective courses in this Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Geospatial Techniques Programme, with both Human and Physical Geography options, shared equally between the 3rd and 4th academic years. One must choose at least two (2) per academic semester.

Total credit hours

The program offers 187 credit hours and thus satisfies Commission for University Education requirement of between 168 and 192 credit hours for a Bachelor’s degree programme.

Each course takes 3 credit hours (a maximum of 45 hours, translating to 15 weeks, where 13 weeks are dedicated to teaching and 2 weeks

to examinations). However, Field Course and Industrial Attachment take 6 credit hours (90 hours) each, while EIAA take 4 credit hours.

FIRST YEAR

Semester I

  1.  CMJ 1100-1 Communication Skill
  2. ZOO 1100-1 HIV/AIDS and Lifestyle Diseases 
  3. SASS 1103-1 Applied Writing Skills
  4. BES 1105-1 Environment and Development
  5. GEO 1103-1 Introduction to the Earth’s Physical Environments
  6. GEO 1104-1 Fundamentals of Geospatial Techniques
  7. GEO 1105-1 History and Philosophy of Geography
  8. GEO 1106-1 Introduction to Remote Sensing and GIS

Semester II

  1. COM 1200-1 Computer and Information Literacy
  2. MAT 1200-1 Quantitative Skills
  3. EPM 1209-1 Human Ecology
  4. GEO 1207-1 Introduction to Human Geography
  5. GEO 1208-1 Geography of Kenya
  6. GEO 1209-1 Introduction to Practical Geography and Fieldwork
  7. GEO 2217-1 Introduction to Land surveying
  8. GEO 2218-1 Population Geography
  9. GEO 1210-1 Introduction to GIS 

SECOND YEAR

Semester I

  1. PHG 2100-1 Critical Thinking Skills
  2.  GEO 2111-1 Introduction to Remote Sensing
  3. GEO 2112-1 Introduction to Cartography and Map Analysis                              
  4. GEO 2113-1 Spatial Organization           
  5. GEO 2114-1 Economic Geography
  6. GEO 2115-1 Rural Geography and Development                   
  7. GEO 2116-1 Geography of Tourism and Travel Management

Semester II

  1. GEO 2217-1 Introduction to Land surveying
  2. GEO 2218-1 Population Geography
  3. GEO 2219-1 Land Use Planning
  4. GEO 2220-1 Hydrology and Watershed Resources
  5. GEO 2221-1 East African Environments
  6. GEO 2222-1 Human Migration and Settlement
  7. GEO 2223-1 Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the Web 

THIRD YEAR

Semester I

  1. GEO 3124-1 Climatology (core)
  2. GEO 3125-1 Quantitative Methods in Geography (core)
  3. GEO 3126-1 Photogrammetry (core)     
  4. GEO 3127-1 Geomorphology (core)      
  5. GEO 3128-1 GPS Concepts and Techniques (core)

Course Structure

  • (Human Geography Option)

Degree specialization electives (6 units)

6. GEO 3129-1 Urban Geography

7. GEO 3130-1 Medical Geography

8. GEO 3131-1 Cultural and Behavioral Geography

9. GEO 3132-1 Geography of Energy

  • (Physical Geography Option)

Degree specialization electives (6 units)

6. GEO 3133-1 Soil Survey and Mapping

7. GEO 3134-1 Biogeography

8. GEO 3135-1 Statistical Applications in Climatology

Semester II

  1. BCM 3200-1 Entrepreneurial and Work Skills                             
  2. BES 3233-1 Environmental Impact Assessments and Audit (core)
  3. GEO 3236-1 Geography of Natural Resources (core)
  4. GEO 3237-1 Research Methods and Field Course in Geography (core)
  5. GEO 3238-1 Industrial Attachment
  6. GEO 3239-1 Advanced Remote Sensing (core)
  • (Human Geography Option)

Degree specialization electives (6 units)

  1. GEO 3240-1 Political Geography
  2. GEO 3241-1 Geography of Poverty
  3.  GEO 3242-1 Arid and Semiarid Lands
  4. GEO 3243-1 Spatial Analysis: Principles and Methods
  • (Physical Geography Option)

Degree specialization electives (6 units)

  1. GEO 3243-1 Spatial Analysis: Principles and Methods
  2. GEO 3244-1 Land Surveying
  3. GEO 3245-1 Applied Climatology
  4. GEO 3246-1 Applied Geomorphology

FOURTH YEAR

Semester I

  1. GEO 4147-1 Geo-computing (core)
  2. GEO 4148-1 Geography of Natural Hazards (core)    
  3. GEO 4149-1 Environmental Management (core)
  4. GEO 4150-1 Agricultural Geography (core)
  5. GEO 4151-1 Regional Development Planning (core)
  6. GEO 4152-1 Satellite Image Processing, Interpretation and Applications (core)
  •  (Human Geography Option)

Degree specialization electives (6 units)

  1. GEO 4153-1 Industrial Geography           
  2. GEO 4154-1 Geography of Marketing
  3. GEO 4155-1 Unmanned Aerial Systems Science and Applications
  4. GEO 4156-1 Wetlands Management
  • (Physical Geography Option)

Degree specialization electives (6 units)

  1. GEO 4155-1 Unmanned Aerial Systems Science and Applications             
  2. GEO 4156-1 Wetlands Management                             
  3. GEO 4157-1 Urban Climatology 
  4. GEO 4158-1 Statistical Hydrology    

Semester II

  1. GEO 4259-1 Geography of Development (core)
  2. GEO 4260-1 Geography of Africa (core)
  3. GEO 4261-1 Special Project in Geography (core)
  4. GEO 4262-1 Conservation of Biodiversity (core)
  5. GEO 4263-1 Interactive Cartography and Geo-visualization (core)
  6. GEO 4264-1 GIS and RS Workshop (core)
  • (Human Geography Option)

Degree specialization electives (6 units)

  1. GEO 4265-1 Transport Geography
  2. GEO 4266-1 Waste Management
  3. GEO 4267-1 Urban Planning and Management
  • (Physical Geography Option)

Degree specialization electives (6 units)

  1. GEO 4266-1 Waste Management
  2. GEO 4268-1 Oceanography
  3. GEO 4269-1 Fluvial Geomorphology
  4. GEO 4270-1 Geography of Coastal Environments

Admission Requirements

Minimum University admission requirements

C+ for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) holders

Other considerations for admission requirements

  1. 5 Credit for International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) holders.
  2. Minimum of 24 out of 45 points for international Baccalaureate (IB) holders.
  3. Two (2) principal passes for “A” Levels qualifications holders.
  4. C in KCSE for recognized pre-University qualification holders or recognized diploma holders with minimum of credit C (2.50 on a scale of 4.00) from a recognized institution.
  5. Any other equivalence as determined by the Kenya National Examination Council

Careers

After completion of the programme, the graduates can be employed in a wide range of professions such as mappers of resources for development, cartographers, planners, demographers, conservationists, etc, Other possible areas of employment, engagement and career advancement exist in sectors like the National government, county governments, international organizations, government parastatals, research organizations and the private sector (consultancies). Geography graduates have found jobs with international organisations such as United Nations Environment Programmeme (UNEP), UN- Habitat, United Nations Development Programmeme (UNDP), World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Consultative Group in International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) centres, Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), etc. Transport Geographers have found jobs with the World Health Organisation (WHO) where they work alongside the epidemiologists, while Agricultural Geographers have found jobs with FAO, IFAD among other Agricultural organisations. Geographers also work with International Organisations and NGOs involved in combating desertification and climate change

Fee Structure and Funding

Government Sponsored

Privately Sponsored

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