Graduate Programs

Greetings, Prospective Graduate Student!
 

Our 2020 Graduate Cohort

Welcome to the UW Department of Geography! We are excited that you are considering the University of Washington for your graduate work. As the director of the graduate program, I look forward to working with you. The pages listed below should answer many of your questions about our graduate programs, but if you have additional questions please do not hesitate to get in touch:

We offer both an M.A. and Ph.D. in Geography and these programs are fashioned at the intersection of several broad research specialties. Following the work of the faculty, graduate students are encouraged to think outside the box of any particular "adjectival" sub-field of human geography. Our programs draw on expertise in the following key areas: critical development and poverty studies; racial capitalism; economic geographies; labor geographies; political ecologies; feminist and queer geographies; carceral and abolition geographies; urban, social, and political geographies; geographic information systems; remote sensing; spatial data science, and critical and humanistic approaches to these technologies and fields. We encourage you to visit faculty members' websites and explore their recent publications to learn more about how each of us engages these themes.

We have an outstanding record of successful graduates. You can read more about their work in their profiles and find details about our diverse fields of interest. You can also find recent publications by both faculty and graduate students. 

Please read about how to apply to our graduate programs, as well as the requirements for our M.A. and Ph.D. programs. Our deadline each year is the weekday closest to December 15, to be considered for autumn quarter admission in the following year. I look forward to speaking with you further about your research interests: please feel free to contact myself or Nell Gross, Director of Academic Services (ngross@uw.edu).

Sincerely, 
Prof. Bo Zhao, Graduate Program Director (zhaobo@uw.edu)

Why choose the UW Department of Geography?

  • A leader in the discipline: For over 80 years the Department of Geography has consistently ranked among the top ten departments in the US. The University of Washington is currently ranked No. 3 among U.S. public universities on the most recent Academic Ranking of World Universities.

  • Financial support: The department is committed to providing funding for new and continuing students throughout their graduate studies with teaching and research assistantships.

  • Interdisciplinary opportunities: Strengthen your research and networks through UW's many possibilities for cross-campus collaboration, including with the Simpson Center for the Humanities and the College of Arts & Sciences Social Science Research Centers.

 

  • Awards and grants: Our outstanding graduate program attracts a diversity of national and international students who engage in original field research and are regularly awarded prestigious grants and fellowships to fund their research and writing. 
     
  • Career options: Our graduate students take up teaching and research positions in the academy as well as in the public and private sectors at the international, national, and regional levels. 

Contact Us

For information about our graduate programs, or for questions related to your application, please contact:

Prof. Bo Zhao, Graduate Program Director (zhaobo@uw.edu)
Nell Gross, Director of Academic Services (ngross@uw.edu)

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