Departments & Programs

Geography

Course Descriptions
  • GEOG-G 107 Physical Systems of the Environment (3 cr.) CASE N&M Explores the physical processes of the Earth—its weather, climate, landforms, oceans and ecosystems—and analyzes a range of environmental issues.
  • GEOG-G 109 Weather and Climate (3 cr.) CASE N&M What causes severe weather? What is climate change and why is it occurring? This course introduces the processes responsible for weather and climate, and addresses topics including atmospheric composition and structure, weather patterns, severe weather, and global climate change.
  • GEOG-G 110 Introduction to Human Geography (3 cr.) CASE S&H How do languages, religions, customs, and politics move among local, national, and global scales? How do social and cultural processes shape natural resource use, population, migration, agriculture, industry, and urbanization? This course addresses these questions and introduces human geography.
  • GEOG-G 120 World Regional Geography (3 cr.) CASE S&H How do population dynamics, patterns of urbanization, cultural practices, and geopolitics vary among the major regions of our world? This course explores each region in turn, addressing the dynamic interactions among regional and global social and cultural processes.
  • GEOG-G 185 Global Environmental Change (3 cr.) CASE N&M The scientific basis behind natural and human-induced global environmental changes. Geological perspective of the formation of the earth. Human activities influencing the natural system, including population, deforestation, water usage, acid rain, ozone depletion, smog, and global warming. Subsequent human reactions.
  • GEOG-G 208 Human/Environment Interactions (3 cr.) CASE N&M Just as people shape physical environments through agriculture, development, and resource use, environments shape us. This course focuses on the deeply interconnected ecological, hydrological, climatic, social, cultural, and economic forces at the core of human/environment interactions, and introduces the field of environmental geography.
  • GEOG-G 210 Introductory Political Geography (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: Junior standing or consent of instructor. Considers geopolitics and geographical political economy. Features the role that geography plays in legitimizing political territories from trading blocs to subnational regions to global cities in the global system as a background to current events.
  • GEOG-G 220 Topics in Geography (3 cr.) Examination of a topic from a range of geographic perspectives. Topics will vary. Only 3 credit hours may be applied to the geography major. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • GEOG-G 235 Introductory Geographical Methods (3 cr.) Introduces geographical methodology in the major fields of study within geography (atmospheric sciences, environmental studies, geographic information systems, global studies, and human geography). Topics include map interpretation, paradigms of inquiry, simple statistical methods, instrumentation, introductory computer methods, fieldwork, and case studies.
  • GEOG-G 237 Cartography and Geographic Information (3 cr.) CASE N&M Mapping transforms complex data into easily understandable visual forms, enabling spatial analysis of patterns of commerce, resource use, politics, and transportation. This course introduces spatial analysis of a wide variety of human and physical processes and teaches fundamental skills in map design, including digital cartography.
  • GEOG-G 250 Computer Methods in Geography (3 cr.) P: M118 or M119 or M211, or consent of instructor. Introduction to scientific computing in geography, emphasizing practical applications. Topics include programming concepts, analysis of spatial data, and graphics. Numerous exercises give practical experience with the analysis and interpretation of geographic data. Both high-level programming and software packages are utilized.
  • GEOG-G 302 Introduction to Transportation Analysis (3 cr.) CASE S&H Examination of movement of people, goods, and information over space using spatial analysis and planning techniques.
  • GEOG-G 304 Physical Climatology (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G107 or G109 or consent of instructor. Introduction to the physical basis of the climate system from the global to the local scale, emphasizing the surface energy and water balances. Examples are drawn from forested, agricultural, urban, and aquatic environments, as well as issues related to climate change. Develops skills used to study and quantify climate processes. Credit given for only one of G304 or GEOL-G 340.
  • GEOG-G 305 Environmental Change—Nature and Impact (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G107 or G109 or consent of instructor. An integrated systems approach to examining the forcing, system response, and impacts of environmental change. Specific case studies will be presented in addition to methods of documenting change and identifying natural variability versus change due to anthropogenic forcing.
  • GEOG-G 306 The Geography of Current Issues (3 cr.) P: Junior standing or consent of instructor. An examination of current problems from a geographical perspective. The specific topic to be considered will vary from semester to semester. May be repeated once with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • GEOG-G 307 Biogeography: The Distribution of Life (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G107 or G109 or G185, or G208. A survey of the present and past distributions of the world's plants and animals, emphasizing ecological explanation of species distributions. Topics include evolution and distribution of major plant and animal groups, world vegetation, plant and animal domestication, introduction of plant and animal pests, destruction of natural communities, and extinction.
  • GEOG-G 314 Urban Geography (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: Junior standing or consent of instructor. Study and interpretation of urban spatial structures, policies, and problems with an emphasis on geographic perspectives. Topics include urban housing markets, racial segregation, homelessness, and urban crime.
  • GEOG-G 315 Environmental Conservation (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: Junior standing or consent of instructor. Conservation of natural resources, including soil, water, wildlife, and forests as interrelated components of the environment emphasizing an ecological approach. Current problems relating to environmental quality.
  • GEOG-G 316 Economic Geography (3 cr.) CASE S&H The course familiarizes students with the global pattern of economic endeavor, and teaches basic economic geographic theory and how location decision making occurs.
  • GEOG-G 320 Population Geography (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: Junior standing or consent of instructor. Study of population growth, compositional change and redistribution at regional, national and global scales. Topics include population pressure, fertility control, aging of societies, AIDS epidemiology, immigration, and population policies.
  • GEOG-G 323 Geography of Latin America (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC A geographic introduction to Latin America: the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, South America. Focus is on elements that give coherence and identity to geographic space in Latin America. Topics include the natural environment, settlement, the agrarian sphere, urbanization and industrialization, regional development issues, and geopolitical themes.
  • GEOG-G 325 Tourism Geography (3 cr.) Tourism studies is a relatively young multidisciplinary field. This course provides an introduction to this field that focuses on the ways that geography studies tourism.
  • GEOG-G 326 Geography of North America (3 cr.) CASE S&H Continental and regional variations in terrain, climate, and economic and social life of the United States and Canada, with emphasis on geographical principles, sources of data, and techniques of investigation.
  • GEOG-G 332 Geographical Globalization (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: G110 or G120 or consent of instructor. The importance of the geopolitical and geo-economic/ecological nature of the global reorganization of the world’s systems. Course moves from the treatment of geographies of global change to a critical examination of the many dimensions of today’s globalizing world—economic, technological, social, political, cultural, a state of affairs that is unruly and unprecedented.
  • GEOG-G 336 Environmental Remote Sensing (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: Consent of instructor. Principles of remote sensing of the earth and its atmosphere, emphasizing satellite data in visible, infrared, and microwave portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Emphasis on practical applications and digital image analysis.
  • GEOG-G 338 Geographic Information Science (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G237 or consent of instructor. Overview of the principles and practices of geographic information systems (GIS). The course will deal with issues of spatial data models, database design, introductory and intermediate GIS operations, and case studies of real-world GIS applications. Laboratory exercises will provide significant hands-on experience. Lecture and laboratory.
  • GEOG-G 341 Ecological Restoration: Science and Politics (3 cr.) CASE S&H Provides a broad overview of the deeply interconnected science and politics of ecological restoration in the United States. Through readings and discussions, covers topics including history, philosophy, ecology, geomorphology, and political economy of restoration.
  • GEOG-G 343 Perspectives on Environmental Decisions (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: G208 or consent of instructor. Reviews social science theoretical frameworks to explain environmental behavior and decisions, and implications for effective environmental management policies and methodologies. Topics include global changes in land/climate systems; sustainable development; property regimes; vulnerability and adaptation; integrative-interdisciplinary methods for environmental management; equity and participatory decision-making, etc.
  • GEOG-G 350 Field Methods in Physical Geography (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G107, G109, or equivalent; or consent of instructor. Use of instrumentation for the measurement, analysis, and interpretation of field data concerning features and processes of the natural environment. Field and laboratory equipment will be used for research projects and environmental monitoring. Practical application of biogeographic, climatological, and hydrological principles.
  • GEOG-G 369 The Geography of Food (3 cr.) CASE S&H Promotes understanding of the history and geographic distribution of the world's food cultures. Focuses on the material aspects of food and food's relationship to society. Increases knowledge of food and cultures through reading, discussion and cooking.
  • GEOG-G 380 Cultural Geography (3 cr.) CASE S&H Familiarizes students with the basic concepts and ideas that underpin the study of cultural geography, including the history of cultural geography, the constitution of the cultural landscape, and how landscape fractures across the lines of ethnicity, gender, and age.
  • GEOG-G 405 Ecological Climatology (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G107 or G109. Surveys the relationship between climate and vegetation and explores the consequences of human impacts. Examines the role of climate on vegetation patterns, agricultural crops, and select ecosystems and in turn, the influence of vegetation on climate.
  • GEOG-G 407 Climate Dynamics (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G304. Climate and its inter-annual and longer-term variations from the perspectives of theory, observations and modeling. Topics include: climate sensitivity, stability and feedbacks; sea-air-land-ice interactions; teleconnections and their regional expression; drought; climate reconstruction and prediction using numerical models.
  • GEOG-G 411 Sustainable Development Systems (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: G208 or consent of instructor. An examination of the notion of sustainable development and its meaning as well as the manner in which it has been implemented in the areas of resources, agriculture, water, transport, cities, and tourism. How such systems can be implemented in developing and developed countries will also be examined.
  • GEOG-G 415 Advanced Urban Geography (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: G314 or consent of instructor. An in-depth examination of modern cities, growth dynamics, and sustainability. Explores a range of contemporary socioeconomic topics in an urban setting, including housing markets, segregation, crime, telecommunication, transportation, and regional development. Basic geographic models and spatial statistics are used to explore differences in urban areas.
  • GEOG-G 417 Geography and Development (3 cr.) CASE S&H Geographic perspective on the processes of development in the Third World with emphasis on neoliberalism and globalization, commodity chains, transnational corporations, multilateral organizations, labor relations, NGOs, consumption practices, sustainability, gender, and culture. Examination of alternative theories of the development process.
  • GEOG-G 427 Russia and Its Neighbors (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC Geographic problems and prospects of the former republics of the Soviet Union with an emphasis on political geography, environmental issues, population, urbanization, energy, and the location of economic activity.
  • GEOG-G 428 Geography of Europe (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC Emphasizes two interrelated topics within western Europe: common themes across the countries of Europe, and the distinctive cultures that make up the region. The course begins with a discussion of the physical landscape of Europe then takes up the cultural and economic landscape of the region. The course ends with a discussion of the various cultural regions within Europe.
  • GEOG-G 436 Advanced Remote Sensing: Digital Image Processing (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G336 or consent of instructor. Advanced remote sensing theory and digital image processing techniques with an emphasis on environmental applications. Hands-on computer exercises provide significant experience in introductory digital image processing for extraction of qualitative and quantitative information about the Earth’s terrestrial environments.
  • GEOG-G 438 Advanced Geographic Information Science (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G338 or consent of instructor. Intermediate and advanced topics in geographic information science and spatial analysis techniques using GIS software. This advanced course is for upper-division undergraduates and graduates who seek a greater understanding of this rapidly developing field and to learn how to construct, manage, and analyze their own GIS data and models.
  • GEOG-G 439 Seminar in Geographic Information Science (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G336, G338, and G436 or G438. Applications of geographic information science principles in the collection and analysis of spatial data. Integration of GIS, remote sensing, and/or GPS technologies. Review of current literature on techniques, theory, technology, and applications with an emphasis on environmental issues. Discussions, laboratory, and research project. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • GEOG-G 440 Topics in Environmental Geography (1-3 cr.) P: G305 or G315 or consent of instructor. Selected topics focus on the human dimensions of environmental change/conservation. Example focus topics: population-environment interactions, transport-environment interactions, and urban-environment interactions. May be repeated four times with a different topic for a maximum of 12 credit hours.
  • GEOG-G 441 Migration and Population Redistribution (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: G314, G320, or consent of instructor. Study of international, regional, and intraurban migration using micro- and macro-level approaches, and the impacts of population redistribution on origin and destination. Topics include illegal immigration to the U.S., rural to urban migration in LDCs, international migration and refugees, and gender differences in migration behavior.
  • GEOG-G 444 Climate Change Impacts (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G109 or G304, or permission of the instructor. Increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases are causing climate to change at an unprecedented rate. This course will explain how and why anthropogenic activity is causing climate to change, how this impacts society and options for adaptation and mitigation, plus the potential to reduce climate change through geoengineering.
  • GEOG-G 449 Political Ecology (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: G315, G320, G341 or G343, or consent of instructor. An introduction to political ecology, an approach which focuses on the political-economic context of natural resource conflicts with particular attention to issues of equity, justice, and power. Covers the theoretical lineage of political ecology, its development over the last twenty years, and current hot topics in the field.
  • GEOG-G 450 Undergraduate Readings and Research in Geography (1-3 cr.; max of 6 cr.) P: Consent of instructor. Individual readings and research in geography. 6 cr. max.
  • GEOG-G 451 Water Resources (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G107 or G109 and at least one 300-level physical/biological science course, or consent of instructor. Introduction to hydrological processes occurring at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Principles of water resources such as infiltration, runoff, surface- and groundwater flow will be explored. Topics covered also include the environmental, economic, and social implications of floods, droughts, dams, and water usage as well as current and future issues in water quality, water pollution, and water–resource regulation.
  • GEOG-G 452 Tree-Ring Science (3 cr.) Examines the science of dendrochronology. Developing a scientific understanding of the information recorded by trees is essential to our quest to better understand natural and human processes.
  • GEOG-G 460 Internship in Geographical Analysis (1-6 cr.) P: Consent of instructor. Faculty-directed study of geographical problems based on an internship experience. Student’s area of placement must be related to major field of study and may involve staff work or research. Maximum of 3 credit hours will count toward major. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours. Credit not given for both G400 and G460.
  • GEOG-G 461 Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: G208 or consent of instructor. Introduction to global environmental change (GEC), focusing on the human causes and consequences of biophysical transformations of land systems. Emphasis on socioeconomic, political, institutional, and environmental dimensions of land change; tropical forests, grasslands, and urbanizing areas; international environmental regimes; spatial methodologies in GEC research, and integrated approaches.
  • GEOG-G 477 Topics in Climatology (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G109 or G304, or consent of instructor. Selected topics in applied climatology, climate change, climate impacts, climate modeling, field methods, quantitative analysis, or related subjects. May be repeated once for credit with a different topic.
  • GEOG-G 478 Global Change, Food, and Farming Systems (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: G208 or consent of instructor. Introduction to food production and consumption systems, emphasizing linkages to land use and social change on food/farming system sustainability. Topics include urbanization, population growth, and economic liberalization; farming livelihoods, gender, and poverty; biotechnology; agro-ecology, global health.
  • GEOG-G 488 Applied Spatial Statistics (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: 6 credit hours of geography or consent of instructor. Extension of traditional statistical analysis to spatial data. Spatial means and spatial variances, the examination of differences in samples over space, spatial autocorrelation, nearest neighbor analysis, map comparison techniques. Emphasis is on practical applications.
  • GEOG-G 489 Advanced Geospatial Data Analysis (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: An introductory course in statistics. Advanced methods of data analysis for evaluating spatial heterogeneity and spatial dependence. Topics include global and local spatial autocorrelation, point pattern analysis, spatial cluster analysis, spatial regression analysis, and other multivariate approaches. Lecture and lab format with regular use of software. Emphasis on geographic applications.
  • GEOG-G 499 Honors Research in Geography (3 cr.) P: G450, at least 18 credit hours in geography, a minimum 3.500 GPA in geography with a minimum 3.300 GPA overall, and consent of honors advisor. Training in research and scholarly writing, culminating in an honors thesis to be written under the direction of a faculty member. An oral examination of the thesis is conducted by two faculty members.