All regularly scheduled courses will be taught unless fewer than three students register. If only one or two register, and the material is deemed necessary at the particular stage in a student's program, arrangements can usually be made with the instructor to cover similar material in a reading course. Students should look ahead and urge others to register together for a course that might otherwise have insufficient enrollment. Undergraduates are encouraged to participate in Department seminars and other activities and to seek opportunities for involvement in faculty research projects.

Undergraduate Courses

The Department of the Geophysical Sciences offers undergraduate courses to students interested in the sciences of the earth, atmosphere, and oceans. These courses have been designed not only as the basis for a Bachelor's degree program in the geophysical sciences, but also to permit their use as electives for undergraduate majors in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology or environmental studies. They may be taken singly or in combinations.

Geophysical Sciences faculty also teach course sequences in the Physical Sciences and the Natural Sciences for non-science majors.

Listings and descriptions of course content and prerequisites can be found in the College catalog: Courses and Programs of Study. The College catalog can also be accessed on-line at http://catalogs.uchicago.edu.

Field Courses and Field Trips

The department typically sponsors several trips each year that range in length from one day to five weeks. Destinations of trips have included areas as far afield as Newfoundland; the Canadian Rockies; Baja, California; the Caribbean; and Iceland. The longer trips are designated as undergraduate field courses (GEOS 28001, 28002, 28003, 28004, 28005), and the shorter trips are mostly scheduled in connection with undergraduate and graduate lecture courses. However, all students and faculty are welcome to participate, space permitting.

Graduate Courses

The Department of the Geophysical Sciences offers graduate courses to students interested in atmospheric and oceanic sciences, paleobiology and historical geology, and the solid earth geosciences.

Listings and descriptions of course content and prerequisites can be found in the Graduate Programs in the Divisions Announcements. The graduate catalog can also be accessed on-line at http://catalogs.uchicago.edu.