The Geography Program offers opportunities every summer for students to travel abroad, gain valuable fieldwork experience, and earn 3 hours of credit in geography, which can be applied toward elective credit or toward the social sciences component of the general education requirements. The summer geography field course is focused around travel to either Costa Rica or Cuba.

Students gain memorable learning experiences each year, from exotic tropical wildlife and volcanoes in Costa Rica to the Spanish colonial cities and the political landscapes of revolutionary Cuba.

The Costa Rica field course focuses primarily on the physical landscape. The course addresses environmental issues, such as wildlife preservation, sustainable development, and tropical ecology, and geomorphology, especially volcanology and geothermal energy production. Students will see many species of tropical wildlife, tropical raiforest, volcanoes, beaches, and many other natural wonders. A day excursion into the neighboring country of Nicaragua to the Spanish colonial city of Granada will give students an insight into Central American history, culture, and politics.

The Cuba field course focuses primarily on the political, historical, and cultural landscapes. The course will include a survey of Cuba's political history, its vibrant culture, and its wealth of Spanish colonial and neoclassical architecture. Students will visit historical and political monuments and museums and enjoy the Hispanic and Afro-Caribbean richness through music, dance, and traditional religious rituals. They will also be able observe the socialist landscape by visiting schools, clinics, and markets. As travel to Cuba is highly restricted by the U.S. government, this is an especially rare and priviledged opportunity in which students can partake.