The PhD in Geography is designed to develop the theoretical, conceptual and methodological training necessary for students to make original contributions to geographic knowledge. The University of Kentucky’s Department of Geography is known for high quality research and education in human geography, physical geography, and mapping. Program strengths include close faculty/student interaction, flexibility in designing an appropriate plan of study, and research training in seminar environments.
A variety of philosophical and methodological approaches are encouraged to prepare students for research-oriented careers in universities, government, and industry. Emphasis is placed on theoretical and methodological training and is closely integrated with both breadth and depth in substantive literatures. Student research also is empirically rich, with data regularly acquired through off-campus fieldwork. Members of the faculty are committed to assisting students in disseminating their research through publications in professional journals and presentations at conferences, and in obtaining external funding. Graduate students also gain valuable experience as instructors in undergraduate courses. Rounding out graduate students’ experiences is their active participation in departmental governance and service on departmental committees.
Faculty and student research in the Department focuses on interrelated thematic clusters in accordance with the current interests of graduate students and faculty. The clusters facilitate collaborative scholarship though they typically do not function as formal research teams. The clusters tend to work as loose and overlapping intellectual communities that can incorporate working groups, reading groups, and collaborative projects, and they give a sense of the breadth of the research conducted in the department. The research clusters we presently feature are: Black Geographies, Critical Financial Geographies, Critical Mapping and GIS, Digital Geographies, Environmental Geographies, Political Ecology, Political Geographies, Queer and Feminist Geographies, Social Theory and Urban Geographies. Descriptions of each cluster and their associated faculty are available at https://geography.as.uky.edu/geography-research-clusters
Admission Requirements
We accept applicants holding Master degrees in any field. In addition to UK Graduate school required materials, applicants should also provide
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A statement of goals and objectives in which you discuss your areas of scholarly interest, research directions you wish to pursue, and how your goals fit in with the Department of Geography.
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A current resume or curriculum vitae.
More details are available at https://geography.as.uky.edu/admissions
Degree Requirements
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