The geography of economic, social, and environmental well-being and inequality. The course will provide an integrated perspective on the causes, interconnections, and consequences across time and space of, among others, globalization, climate change, poverty, employment, migration and urban growth, agricultural productivity, rural development, policies and international trade. Portraits of selected countries and regions will be developed.
Catastrophic Environmental Events (CCE) that are becoming more common i this time of global environmental change and it is essential that today's students be equipped with the knowledge and skills to be leaders as we, as a society, understand the upheaval that these CCEs are causing. Students will examine how CEEs shape human society and ecosystem from the interdisciplinary perspective afforded by the field of Geography. Students will use the latest geographic science concepts and techniques in exploring these events.
A systematic introduction to the processes and associated forms of the atmosphere and earth's surfaces emphasizing the interaction between climatology, hydrology and geomorphology.
A laboratory course to accompany GEOG 201. Analysis of the components of the earth's energy balance using basic instrumentation; weather map interpretation; soil analysis; the application of map and air photo interpretation techniques to landform analysis.
Purpose: increase student knowledge of professional development opportunities in Geography through classroom activities and invited speakers, and to build awareness of career development tools and strategies. The main focus of the class is to prepare students to use the tools needed to pursue professional opportunities, including internships, jobs, and graduate school. Special emphasis will be on résumé building, cover letter writing, communication skills, and job, internship, and graduate school research.
Concepts and principles of Earth observation and remote sensing in relation to photographic, thermal infrared and radar imaging. Methods of obtaining quantitative information from remotely-sensed images. Interpretation of remotely-sensed images emphasizing the study of spatial and environmental relationships.
Cultural geography course on society and sustainability. Culture is the basic building block that is key to sustainability of societies. Course will cover sustainability of societies on different scales, examining local, regional, and worldwide issues. Sustainability will be examined as a key element of environmental sustainability. How societies adjust to rapid world change will be examined as a positive and/or negative factor in sustainability. (Human Geography)
Principles of managing scarce resources in a world where everyone faces tradeoffs across both time and space. Focuses on the relationship between globalization processes and changing patterns of locational advantages, production, trade, population, socioeconomic and environmental grace and sustainability. (Human Geography)
How cities have been produced, consumed, and theorized as complex social, economic, ecological, and political systems; the main debates over geographical interpretations of the urban world; the major forces and inter-dependencies that shape internal spatial structure of the city and drive urban trends and public policy. (Human Geography)
Characteristics and organization of geographic data; creation and use of digital geospatial databases; metadata; spatial data models for thematic mapping and map analysis; use of geographic information system in society, government, and business. Practical training with use of advanced software and geographic databases. (Technical)
Supervised field training to provide career experience. Introduction to professional level activities, demands, opportunities. Placement at a public agency, non-profit organization, or private firm. Participation requires application to the internship advisor in preceding semester.
Supervised field training to provide career experience. Introduction to professional-level activities, demands, opportunities. Placement at a public agency, nonprofit organization, or private firm. Participation requires application to the internship advisor in preceding semester.
Applied introduction to field methods. This class is built around a two week field trip (mid-August) with a base camp in the headwaters of the Potomac River in the mountains of West Virginia. During the camp the following topics are covers: GPS (global positions system), stream hydrology measurements, vegetation classification and ordination, micrometeorlogical measurements, soils, water quality, remote sensing and GIS, local environmental issues, geomophology and paleohistory, and natural and cultural history. (Technical)
Basic issues concerning the natural history of humans from the perspective of the geographer. Basic components of selected behavioral and natural systems, their evolution and adaptation, and survival strategies. (Human Geography)
This course will provide an introduction to modern econometric techniques in general and spatial econometrics in particular. It is designed for senior and graduate students of geography department who may have relatively limited background in statistics, mathematics, and econometrics but are keen to learn this ‘difficult’ subject. This course will use the popular open source statistical computer language R. Its focus is on using statistical computing to produce analytical reports for real-world applications, research papers, and dissertations.
Biogeographical topics of global significance, including a consideration of measurement techniques, and both descriptive and mechanistic modeling. Topics may include: scale in biogeography, climate and vegetation, global carbon cycle, biodiversity, interannual variability in the biosphere, land cover, global biospheric responses to climate change, NASA's Mission to Planet Earth and Earth Observation System. (Physical Geography)
Digital image processing and analysis applied to satellite and aircraft land remote sensing data. Consideration is given to preprocessing steps including calibration and geo registration. Analysis methods include digital image exploration, feature extraction thematic classification, change detection, and biophysical characterization. One or more application examples may be reviewed. (Technical)
Advanced skills of computer mapping using more sophisticated software packages. Map projection evaluation and selection, coordinate system conversion, techniques of quantitative thematic mapping, map design and generalization, hypermedia and animated cartography. Emphasis on designing and making cartographically sound sophisticated thematic maps. (Technical)
Introduces students to the nature and practice of science in physical and human geography, including practical methods for research productivity, professional, societal and ethical obligations of scientists, the philosophy of science, and the scientific literature. Students will prepare and critically evaluate research proposals.
This course covers how to create, test, and publish mobile GIS applications that work across multiple platforms (Android, iOS, and Black Berry Tablet OS) and adapt to a smartphone or tablet display.
This course covers the statistical modeling of spatial data and data analysis that are most useful to geographers and others who use spatial data. It provides the student with more advanced methods with an emphasis on practical techniques for problem solving. Home assignments are designed to help the student understand the fundamental concepts and principles in depth and allow the student to gain experience in the use of S-Plus statistical software and two powerful extensions of ArcGIS: Spatial analyst, and Geostatistical analyst. There is a $40.00 lab fee for this course.
Provide foundations and understanding on various issues related to modeling and simulation in GIS context. It will addresses the concepts, tools, and techniques of GIS modeling, and presents modeling concepts and theory as well as provides opportunities for hands-on model design, construction, and application. The focus will be on raster-based modeling. This course is also application-orientated, particularly in these fields such as terrain modeling, LULC modeling, hydrological modeling, suitability modeling, etc.
This course will provide an introduction to modern econometric techniques in general and spatial econometrics in particular. It is designed for senior and graduate students of geography department who may have relatively limited background in statistics, mathematics, and econometrics but are keen to learn this ‘difficult’ subject. This course will use the popular open source statistical computer language R. Its focus is on using statistical computing to produce analytical reports for real-world applications, research papers, and dissertations.