Geography

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Geography Courses

Primarily for Undergraduates

044:001 Introduction to Human Geography	4 s.h.
Application of geographic principles to contemporary social, economic, and political problems; urban growth; problems of the ghetto; diffusion of innovations; territoriality and perception. GE: social sciences.

044:003 Introduction to Earth Systems Science	4 s.h.
Elementary principles of physical geography: physics of weather and climate, hydrological systems, geomorphological and geological forces, pedological processes, and ecological processes and patterns; geographic explanation of physical environment, with principles applied to the human use system; environmental pollution and natural hazards. GE: natural sciences.

044:005 Foundations of GIS	3 s.h.
Cartography, map analysis, and geographic information systems; map projections and scale; data collection, remote sensing, and GPS; data structures and organization; cartometry; symbolization and visualization.

044:010 The Contemporary Global System	4 s.h.
Problems of the global system and ways to address them; global economy and environment, state and security, social justice and human rights. GE: foreign civilization and culture or social sciences.

044:011 Population Geography	3 s.h.
Spatial considerations of population growth and distribution; minorities within a population; poverty; housing; social organization and disorganization; social systems, including education, religion, recreation, medical and social services; diffusion of ideas and traits over space. GE: social sciences.

044:015 Introduction to Political Geography	3 s.h.
Emphasis on application of geographical and economic theory in understanding historical development and restructuring of political economies at global, national, and local levels; development of nation states, nationalism, imperialism, geopolitics, economic restructuring, electoral geography.

044:019 Contemporary Environmental Issues	3 s.h.
Political, economic, cultural, technologic, ecological, and ethical issues associated with natural resource and environmental problems, including population, global climate change, food production, tropical deforestation, soil erosion, waste management. GE: social sciences.

044:020 Discovery in Geography	3 s.h.

044:029 First-Year Seminar	1 s.h.
Small discussion class taught by a faculty member; topics chosen by instructor; may include outside activities (e.g., films, lectures, performances, readings, visits to research facilities). Prerequisite: first- or second-semester standing.

044:030 The Global Economy	3 s.h.
Location and spatial organization of the world's major types of economies; agriculture, energy and minerals, manufacturing, transportation; trade and service centers. GE: social sciences.

044:035 World Cities	3 s.h.
Urbanization as a process; specific concepts and theories of urbanization through global patterns, regional urban systems, individual metropolitan areas.

044:094 International Development	3 s.h.
Theories of international development, political economy, development policy and planning; empirical analysis of conditions, policies, experiences of selected Third World countries. Prerequisite: social science GE.

044:100 Readings for Undergraduates	arr.
Supervised readings in geography. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

For Undergraduate and Graduate Students

044:101 Climatology	3 s.h.
Boundary layer processes that drive atmospheric dynamics; exchanges of energy and water at simple and complex surfaces; global climate change records, theories, models; impacts of climate on society. Prerequisite: 044:003 or consent of instructor. Same as 012:104.

044:103 Biogeography	2-3 s.h.
Distribution and abundance of plants and animals, spatial patterns and processes, and temporal dynamics of succession, response to climate change, and evolution; methods applied to the study of vegetation and plant community patterns. Prerequisite: 044:003 or 002:001 or consent of instructor. Same as 002:103.

044:104 Environment and Development	3 s.h.
Environmental impacts of industrial and rural development explored through Third World case studies (Latin America, Africa, South and East Asia); environmental degradation from perspectives of political economy and ecology; class, gender, and indigenous peoples' issues; industry-agriculture linkages.

044:105 Introduction to Environmental Remote Sensing	3 s.h.
Basic concepts and principles of remote sensing; sources of data; georegistration; digital processing and classification of remotely sensed images for extraction of environmental information; linkage of remote sensing techniques with GIS analysis.

044:106 Foundations of GIS	3 s.h.
Cartography, map analysis, and geographic information systems; map projections and scale; data collection, remote sensing, GPS; data structures and organization; cartometry; symbolization and visualization.

044:110 GIS for Environmental Studies: Introduction	3 s.h.
Methods of managing and processing geographic information for environmental analysis; basic concepts, structures, theories of geographic information system (GIS), basic analytical techniques, and hands-on experience in GIS operations. Prerequisite: 044:005 or consent of instructor.

044:112 Mapping American Cities and Regions	3 s.h.
Foundation concepts for GIS-based analysis of urban, social, and economic data for the United States; geo-referenced sources of U.S. national and state data; application to contemporary social issues. Prerequisite: 044:005 or consent of instructor.

044:113 Principles of Geographic Information Systems	3 s.h.
Issues in establishment of geographic information systems: spatial data encoding, raster-vector options, spatial and attribute resolution, cartographic data models, linkages to spatial analysis procedures, display techniques for decision support, institutional setting. Prerequisite: 044:005 or consent of instructor.

044:115 Cultural Geographies of North America	3 s.h.
Historical and contemporary perspectives on the contested cultural geographies of North America; processes underlying the social construction and reproduction of place, region, and place-based identities. Same as 045:116.

044:122 Environmental Conservation in the U.S.	3 s.h.
Varied natural environments of the United States; problems arising from conflicting land uses; consideration of public land use policy, environmental impacts of different land uses, problems of habitat preservation and endangered species. Prerequisite: 044:003 or 044:019 or consent of instructor.

044:123 Landscape Ecology	3 s.h.
Effects of spatial pattern on spatial processes in ecology; characteristics of matrix, patch, corridor; fragmentation, deforestation, habitat loss; spatial flows of energy, matter, genetic information; relationship to human impact, global climate change. Prerequisite: 044:103 or a 100-level course in ecology.

044:124 Gender and the Environment	3 s.h.
Relationships between gendered human activities and environmental problems in developed and less-developed regional contexts; women's work, environment, development, role of women's activism in environmental movements; science, gender, knowledge of the environment; ecofeminist perspectives. Prerequisite: an introductory environmental studies or women's studies course. Same as 131:124.

044:125 Environmental Impact Analysis	4 s.h.
Environmental impact assessment methodologies; emphasis on cost-benefit-risk, cost-effectiveness and incremental analysis, and overlay and graphic techniques; optimal resource use, system simulation; field trips to local environmental control facilities. Prerequisite: 044:019. Same as 102:125.

044:126 Wetlands: Function, Geography, and Management	3 s.h.
Biotic aspects of water resources production; geographical basis of biophysical processes in drainage basins; spatial aspects of stream ecology; regional characterization of wetland structure and process. Prerequisite: 044:101 or 044:103. Same as 012:126.

044:127 Environmental Quality: Science, Technology, and Policy	3 s.h.
Geographical perspectives in the study and interpretation of chemicals in the environment; environmental standards under existing laws; local, regional, national, international case studies in environment and health; socioeconomic and institutional considerations in designing environmental protection strategies. Prerequisite: 22S:025 or equivalent or consent of instructor.

044:128 GIS for Environmental Studies: Applications	3 s.h.
Applications of geographic information system (GIS) techniques in environmental change analysis (especially land use/cover change), environmental assessment, hazard/risk analysis, environmental decision making. Prerequisite: 044:110 or consent of instructor.

044:131 Geography of Health	1-3 s.h.
Provision of health care in selected countries, with particular reference to the Third World; focus on problems of geographical, economic, cultural accessibility to health services; disease ecology, prospective payment systems, privatization, medical pluralism. Same as 152:131.

044:133 Introduction to Economics of Transportation	3 s.h.
Overview of transportation markets (intercity, rural, urban) and transportation modes (railroads, highways, air carriage, waterways); regulation, finance, physical distribution issues. Same as 06E:145, 102:133.

044:134 Health and Environment: GIS and Spatial	3 s.h.
Use of GIS and spatial analysis methods to focus on three areas: handling spatial data, exploratory spatial data analysis, and causality analysis of geographic phenomena.

044:135 Urban Geography	3 s.h.
Central ideas of modern urban geography, their links to social theory; focus on interrelation between social change, urban environment; evolution of urban systems, emergence of the capitalist city, urban social and residential differentiation, local politics of uneven development.

044:136 Planning Livable Cities	3 s.h.
Same as 102:101.

044:137 Health and Environment: GIS Applications	3 s.h.
Applications of GIS and spatial analysis for studying health outcomes and exposure to environmental contaminants at different geographical scales. Prerequisite: 044:131 or 044:134 or consent of instructor.

044:139 Spatial Analysis and Location Models	3 s.h.
Application of location models within GIS environments to support decision making; small area demographic forecasting, location-allocation models, regionalization problems, shortest path models, other spatial analysis methods used to support spatial decisions. Prerequisite: 044:005.

044:141 Introduction to Geographic Databases	3 s.h.
Prerequisites: 044:005 and undergraduate standing, or graduate standing and consent of instructor.

044:145 Advanced Geographic Remote Sensing	4 s.h.
Theory and practice of remote sensing and digital image processing; practical applications to human-environment interactions. Prerequisite: 044:105.

044:150 Senior Project Seminar	3 s.h.
Development of a research project and preparation of a research report. Offered spring semesters. Prerequisite: senior standing.

044:151 Senior Thesis	3 s.h.
Original research. Prerequisites: senior standing and consent of instructor.

044:161 African Development	3 s.h.
Problems of economic, political, spatial integration in Africa; patterns and processes of economic development and nation building. GE: foreign civilization and culture or social sciences. Prerequisite: 044:094. Same as 030:146.

044:164 The Middle East	3 s.h.
Middle East cultures, political economy, conflict; significance of the Middle East in world affairs, vice versa.

044:170 Geography of Justice	3 s.h.
Geographical analysis of social and environmental justice; justice from various cultural perspectives; cultural struggles over human rights.

044:172 Development Planning and Policy	3 s.h.
Explicit and implicit strategies for economic and social development: origins, goals, formulation, execution, results; policy analysis methods. Prerequisites: 22S:025 and 044:094.

044:174 Health, Work, and Environment	3 s.h.
Same as 175:101.

044:176 Social Consequences of Global Change	3 s.h.
Social consequences of economic, political transformation; urbanization, technological change, and penetration of global capital, their impacts on gender relations, ethnic identity and significance, other social structures.

044:178 Consequences of Global Environmental Change	3 s.h.
Physical components of global change, their relationship to environmental policy concerns; consequences manifested on local, regional, international scales. Prerequisites: 044:003 or 159:008, and 044:019; or consent of instructor.

044:180 Field Methods in Physical Geography	2-4 s.h.
Methods of measuring climate, vegetation, soil, landforms, water; projects in areas including field meteorology, tree-ring sampling, topographic surveying, vegetation sampling, water quality sampling, use of global positioning systems; introduction to research design.

044:181 Field Methods in Social/Environmental Geography	3 s.h.

044:183 Quaternary Environments	3 s.h.
Same as 012:173.

044:186 Soil Genesis and Geomorphology	3 s.h.
Same as 012:136.

044:188 Applied Geostatistics	3 s.h.
Same as 012:178.

044:194 Geographic Perspectives on Development	3 s.h.
Theoretical and empirical studies of the regional development process, with emphasis on developing countries; alternative regional development theories and changes in development theories in the literature of geography, related disciplines. Prerequisites: satisfaction of introductory geography and social change requirements, or consent of instructor.

044:195 Undergraduate Research	arr.
Supervised research in geography. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

044:197 Special Topics	arr.
Contemporary fields of inquiry, such as political economy, regional/African development, biophysical systems, GIS, locational analysis, water resources, economic geography, demographic analysis, environment, urbanization, transportation.

044:199 Honors Thesis	arr.
Original research. Prerequisite: honors standing.

For Graduate Students

044:200 Readings	arr.
Supervised readings by graduate students in topics of their choice. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

044:210 Fundamentals of Geography	3 s.h.
Geography as an academic discipline; history, advances, epistemology, common themes.

044:211 Research and Writing in Geography	3 s.h.
Identification of research areas; research questions and hypotheses; methodological decisions; research proposal and paper writing.

044:215 Module in Spatial Analysis and Modeling	1 s.h.
Research themes in spatial analysis; GIScience, simulation, remote sensing.

044:216 Module in Rural Land Use	1 s.h.
Research themes in land use, water resources, conservation.

044:217 Module in Environmental Policy	1 s.h.
Research themes in environmental justice and policy.

044:218 Module in Health and Environment	1 s.h.
Research themes in health and environment.

044:219 Module in International Development	1 s.h.
Research themes in GIScience and development.

044:225 Environmental/Social Systems Analysis	3 s.h.
Linear optimization and related models; recent applications in water resources management, pollution control, economics, public policy; potential future applications in designing water quality monitoring networks. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

044:227 Environmental Quality: Science, Technology, and Policy	3 s.h.
Geographical perspectives in the study and interpretation of chemicals in the environment; environmental standards under existing laws; local, regional, national, international case studies in environment and health; socioeconomic and institutional considerations in designing environmental protection strategies.

044:265 Planning Sustainable Transportation	1-3 s.h.
Public policy options for improving passenger and commodity movements within and between cities; air, water, land-based transportation modes. Same as 102:265.

044:275 Development Policy and Planning in the Third World	3 s.h.
Development policies and planning in Third World countries; important development problems and alternative perspectives on problems and proposed solutions; interdisciplinary seminar. Same as 07B:275, 034:275, 042:275, 102:275, 113:275.

044:286 Crossing Borders Seminar	2-3 s.h.
Repeatable. Same as 01H:247, 008:231, 013:262, 016:247, 030:242, 035:273, 048:247, 113:247, 129:231, 160:247, 181:247.

044:287 Crossing Borders Proseminar	1 s.h.
Same as 01H:330, 013:260, 016:244, 030:243, 035:271, 048:244, 113:248.

044:296 Topics in Geographic Information Science	3 s.h.
Current theoretical research issues in geographic information science; intensive readings. Repeatable. Prerequisite: 044:113 or consent of instructor.

044:297 Special Topics	arr.
Contemporary fields of inquiry, such as political economy, regional/African development, biophysical systems, GIS, locational analysis, water resources, economic geography, demographic analysis, environment, urbanization, transportation.

044:315 Seminar in Spatial Analysis and Modeling	3 s.h.
Research themes in spatial analysis, GIScience, simulation, remote sensing.

044:316 Seminar in Rural Land Use	3 s.h.
Research on land use, water resources, conservation.

044:317 Seminar in Environmental Policy	3 s.h.
Research on environmental justice and policy.

044:318 Seminar in Health and Environment	3 s.h.
Research on health and environment.

044:319 Seminar in International Development	3 s.h.
Research on GIScience and development.

044:350 Geography Colloquium	arr.

044:415 Research in Spatial Analysis and Modeling	3 s.h.
Directed research in spatial analysis, GIScience, simulation.

044:416 Research in Rural Land Use	3 s.h.
Directed research in land use, water resources, conservation.

044:417 Research in Environmental Policy	3 s.h.
Directed research in environmental justice and policy.

044:418 Research in Health and Environment	3 s.h.
Directed research in health and environment.

044:419 Research in International Development	3 s.h.
Directed research in GIScience and development.

044:441 Research: Locational Analysis	arr.

044:450 Thesis	arr.

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