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 tornadoes, hurricanes, and other extreme weather? What is climate change and why is it occurring? Learn about weather, climate, and how they interact.
  • GEOG-G 110 Introduction to Human Geography (3 cr.) CASE S&H How do languages, religions, customs, and politics change from local to global scales? Learn how humans shape geographic patterns of migration, agriculture, industry, and urbanization.
  • GEOG-G 120 Regions of the World (3 cr.) CASE S&H What do bananas, the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and drone warfare have in common? How do economic development, geopolitics, and resource extraction shape current events? Answers to these and other questions are used to explain the roots of contemporary global events.
  • GEOG-G 185 Environmental Change: The End of the World as We Know It? (3 cr.) CASE N&M How has the global environment changed? How are we influencing Earth's natural processes, now and in the future? Learn about climate change, resource consumption, and land use change.
  • GEOG-G 208 Environment and Society (3 cr.) CASE N&M Just as we shape the environment, the environment shapes us. From globalization to food production to climate change, learn how humans and environments interact.
  • GEOG-G 220 Social and Historical Studies Topics in Geography (3 cr.) CASE S&H Exploration of an intriguing topic from a geographic perspective. Topics vary. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • GEOG-G 221 Natural and Mathematical Sciences Topics in Geography (3 cr.) CASE N&M Exploration of an intriguing topic from a geographic perspective. Topics vary. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • GEOG-G 237 Mapping Our World (3 cr.) CASE N&M Mapping lets us visualize our world and see how patterns change across places. For example, we can analyze how a bike-share program changes commuting patterns, or how urban farming emerges in a transforming city. Students learn how to develop digital maps and interpret spatial processes while gaining valuable experience with GIS software.
  • GEOG-G 250 Computing in the Geospatial Sciences (3 cr.) P: One of MATH M118, M119, M211, or an equivalent; or consent of instructor. A first course in scientific computing that emphasizes practical applications in the geospatial and environmental sciences. Requires high-level programming using MATLAB for visualization, data analysis, and modeling. Teaches problem solving through analysis and interpretation of a wide range of environmental and geographic data.
  • GEOG-G 304 Physical Climatology (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: One of G107, G109, G185, or G208; 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 Current Issues in Climate, Land and Environmental Change (3 cr.) CASE N&M An examination of current problems concerning climate, land and environmental change from a geographical perspective. The specific topic to be considered will vary from semester to semester. May be repeated with a different topic for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • GEOG-G 306 Current Issues in Globalization, Development and Justice (3 cr.) CASE S&H An examination of current problems concerning globalization, development and justice 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 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 313 Place and Politics (3 cr.) CASE S&H Geography and spatial relationships shape and are shaped by political processes. What drives the geography of elections and political parties, nationalism, environmental and urban movements, war, imperialism, and borders?
  • 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: G208 or 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 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 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 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 P: G208 or junior standing, or consent of instructor. Can humans restore ecosystems and undo the environmental harm they have caused? To what state/extent should ecosystems be restored? What drives the ecological restoration movement? Investigates the deeply interconnected history, philosophy, ecology, geomorphology, and political economy of restoration through readings, discussions, and fieldwork.
  • GEOG-G 343 Perspectives on Environmental Decisions (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: G208 or junior standing. 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 347 Water Security and Sustainability (3 cr.) CASE N&M Explores cases of water security and sustainability throughout the world, including the western United States and south Asia. Students will develop research and interpretation skills with quantitative, qualitative, and cartographic water data through engagement with research and policy documents and learn how to critique and articulate recommendations for water policy.
  • GEOG-G 350 Field Methods in Physical Geography (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: One of G107, G109, G185, G208; 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 378 The Geography of North Central Asia (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC Examines the geography of the Caucuses and North Central Asia. Focuses on general issues, such as the challenges posed by living in Russia's shadow, environmental degradation and political identity, before turning to an examination of each country.
  • 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 388 Qualitative Methods in Geography (3 cr.) Focuses on and provides practice in the various qualitative methods employed by geographers to solve problems within the geographic landscape. Each methodology is practiced in the field or within the laboratory so that students develop competency using these methods and can then apply them to a research project.
  • GEOG-G 405 Ecological Climatology (3 cr.) CASE N&M P: G307. 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 Development Geography: Critical Perspectives on the Historical and Spatial Rhythms of Capitalism (3 cr.) CASE S&H Why are some places richer than others? Is inequality between classes and regions a necessary part of our economic system? What is the economic and political role of development organizations like the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank? What is the relationship between neoliberalism and globalization? These and related questions are explored through a rigorous examination of global political economy and the history and structure of capitalism.
  • GEOG-G 425 Africa: Contemporary Geography Problems (3 cr.) CASE S&H Examines contemporary geographic problems confronting the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Primarily focus on urbanization, rural-urban migration, unemployment, agriculture, and health care. Also analysis of terrain, resource base, and other aspects of the natural environment.
  • 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 common themes across the countries of Europe and the distinctive cultures that make up the region. Begins with a discussion of the physical landscape of Europe, then explores the cultural and economic landscape of the region.
  • 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 Mobility (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: Junior standing or consent of instructor. Geographers are turning attention to the processes that drive, regulate and accompany various scales of movement, the politics of mobility, and the experience and effect of mobility. A better understanding of mobility helps them investigate processes like globalization, migration, tourism, homelessness, security and transport, international flows as well as micro-scale bodily movements in more nuanced ways.
  • 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 445 Food, Place and War (3 cr.) P: Junior or senior standing or consent of instructor. What is the relationship between war, food and a distinctive sense of place? Uses literary nonfiction, including memoirs and histories, to examine how war shapes what people eat, how they get food, and how they use it to connect to communities and the places they inhabit.
  • GEOG-G 448 Capitalism and Nature (3 cr.) CASE S&H How has nature been appropriated, reworked, and produced under capitalism; conversely, how does the materiality of nature shape the conditions of capitalism? In this seminar, we will investigate how relations between capitalism and nature have evolved from the end of feudalism through the current neoliberal era.
  • GEOG-G 449 Political Ecology (3 cr.) CASE S&H P: G208 and one of G315, 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.) P: Consent of instructor. Individual readings and research in geography. May be repeated for a maximum of 6 credit hours.
  • 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 453 Water and Society (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC Do we control water, or does it control us? Introduces geographic perspectives on the interaction of water and society. Takes the holistic view and asks the big questions about how water shapes, and is shaped by, social, political, and cultural dynamics.
  • 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 463 Political Geography of South Asia (3 cr.) CASE S&H, CASE GCC How and why do farms, rivers, minerals, and forests shape politics? Uses in-depth case studies from South Asia to provide an introduction to theoretical approaches to environmental politics, and to one of the most complex, diverse and fascinating regions of the world.
  • GEOG-G 469 Food and Global Poverty (3 cr.) P: Junior or senior standing, or consent of instructor. How is the production and consumption of food related to poverty and development? Explores how global food systems affect farmers, farmworkers, retailers and consumers; the ways scientific advances changed rural economies in the Third World; and the history of famine and contemporary food security issues.
  • 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 498 Capstone in Geography (3 cr.) P: Senior major in Geography, or consent of instructor. In this capstone course, majors will put their Geography training to work in a collaborative, practically-oriented research project supervised by a faculty member.
  • 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.