Physics, Geology, and Astronomy

UC Foundation Professor Habte Churnet, Head

The Department of Physics, Geology, and Astronomy offers four degree programs for its majors: the B.S. in physics and in biophysics, and the B.S. in geology and in environmental geology. The department also contributes to programs leading to degrees in other sciences, engineering, and professional areas. In addition, the department offers minors in geology and physics, and encourages our students to pursue a minor in any discipline of interest, including education; an education minor could lead to a teaching career at the high-school level.

The mission of the department is to provide students with basic knowledge in the respective disciplines of Earth sciences and physics, and the intellectual skills necessary to become valuable members of society, as they apply their knowledge successfully to graduate studies or professional endeavors. To ensure this, our geology students graduate with a general knowledge of geology and specific knowledge of mineralogy, petrology, sedimentation and stratigraphy, and structural geology, while our physics students graduate with a general knowledge of physics and specific knowledge of mechanics, electromagnetism, thermodynamics, waves and optics, and modern physics, appropriate to the undergraduate level.

The astronomy program is augmented by specialized equipment for astrophotography. The off-campus UTC Clarence T. Jones Observatory provides astronomy presentations to the community at large.

The department offers several introductory courses which fulfill the General Education Natural Science requirement with lectures and corresponding laboratories: PHYS 1030 /PHYS 1030L , PHYS 1040 /PHYS 1040L , PHYS 2300 /PHYS 2300L , PHYS 2310 /PHYS 2310L , GEOL 1110 /GEOL 1110L , GEOL 1120 /GEOL 1120L , GNSC 1110 /GNSC 1110L , and ASTR 1010 /ASTR 1010L , ASTR 1020 /ASTR 1020L all contain a strong laboratory emphasis, and are excellent choices to increase one’s appreciation of nature and the physical universe. GEOL 1160 , GEOL 2250 , GNSC 1150 , and ASTR 1010 are approved general education, non-lab courses in Natural Science.

Within the B.S. Physics degree a student must select one of two concentrations: (1) a physics concentration, or (2) a biophysics concentration. The physics concentration is more appropriate for students who want to pursue careers and further studies in a broad array of fields (including astronomy, geophysics, materials physics, or nuclear physics). The biophysics concentration is appropriate for students who want to pursue careers and post-baccalaureate studies in health-related fields and interdisciplinary graduate programs. The biophysics concentration fulfills all pre-professional requirements for pre-dentistry and pre-medicine, which are described in the pre-professional programs section of the catalog. Students with a physics major that are also seeking licensure to teach Physics in K-12 education should pursue their major through Physics: STEM Education, B.S.