Course Requirements
Courses should be selected with the consent of the student’s Geography faculty advisor.
GEO 101
EARTH'S PHYSICAL LANDSCAPE: LITHOSPHERE, HYDROSPHERE, BIOSPHERE
An introduction to the spatial aspects of the three related systems of the Lithosphere (solid earth), Hydrosphere (water), and Biosphere (living organisms).
GEO 210
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
This course explores society-environment relations in case studies drawn from around the world. The course focuses on forces destructive to habitat and biospheres, species loss, global warming, and the tension between "modernization" and environmental sustainability.
GEO 200
SUSTAINABLE URBANISM
This course focuses on the application and meaning of `sustainability? to our discussion and understanding of cities, urban communities, and the urbanization process. The course conceptualizes sustainability as residing at the intersection of political, economic, social, and ecological thinking and examines its utility and flexibility towards urban form and function. The course pursues the topic of urban sustainability through the lenses of scale (e.g., local vs. global), justice (e.g., social vs. ecological), and diversity (e.g., cultural vs. biotic).
GEO 201
GEOPOLITICS
A survey of theories of geopolitics and international relations, the course explores issues of international security and organization, regional integration, and nationalism, state formation and conflict. Historic geopolitical cases from Europe (Northern Ireland, EU, Balkans), the Middle East and North Africa, and the Russian realm, provide opportunities to assess theoretical approaches and profile the security and foreign policy concerns of the U.S.in the new millennium.
GEO 205
JUSTICE, INEQUALITY AND THE URBAN ENVIRONMENT
A theoretical and applied investigation of the social, political, and economic processes influencing the spatial distribution of environmental amenities and harms across the U.S. urban landscape, with particular focus on urban structure and the role of environmental justice struggles in shaping urban policy and the urban landscape. Formerly GEO 120.
GEO 220
THE DYNAMIC OCEAN
Develops the concepts of physical oceanography. Topics include the chemical and physical properties of seawater, the dynamics of ocean currents and circulations, the physics of water waves and tides, the interaction of the ocean with the atmosphere, the formation of coastlines, and the effects of pollution on the ocean. Cross-listed with PHY 220.
Prerequisites:
LSP 120 or HON 180 or (MAT 130 or above) is a prerequisite for this class.
GEO 225
WEATHER AND CLIMATE
The dynamic atmospheric processes which control day-to-day weather and the longer term processes which determine prevailing climatic conditions are the two principal foci of this course. Special topics include weather systems, climate change, global warming, and human impacts on climate. Cross-listed with PHY 225.
Prerequisites:
LSP 120 or HON 180 or (MAT 130 or above) is a prerequisite for this class.
GEO 230
TRANSPORTATION GEOGRAPHY
The course is an introduction to the subfield of transportation geography. Studying transportation and transportation-related phenomena from a spatial-analytic perspective, the course builds upon theories and methods of transportation geography. Systematic study of select case studies at the local and regional level provide opportunities for application of principles.
GEO 260
GLOBALIZATION AND RESOURCES
An exploration of globalization and the politics and flow of natural resources between the developed and developing world, especially since World War II. Using case studies from around the world, the course introduces students to competing paradigms of environmental and resource destruction and to the complexities and contingencies of social and environmental change in the "new" global economy.
GEO 266
THE WORLD ECONOMY
A study of the spatial organization of economic activities. Special topics include static and dynamic models of the space economy, the geography of industrialization, spatial divisions of labor, global commodity chains, and industrial development in peripheral economies. Formerly GEO 366.
GEO 269
POLITICAL ECOLOGY
The course introduces students to the theoretical foundations and evolution of critical Political Ecology and its assessment of environmental change and social vulnerability in the developing world. The course traces the history of the discipline to its early roots in geography, anthropology, and ecology and tracks its emergence as a theoretically sophisticated critique of the global spread of economic development and environmental policy.
GEO 299
THE NATURE OF GEOGRAPHY
An introduction to the epistemology of geographic thought, and the methodologies of the discipline of geography. Formerly GEO 100.
A&S 491
ADMINISTRATIVE THEORY AND BEHAVIOR
This course concerns theoretical concepts and empirical research relating to administrative behavior in organizations with special reference to educational organizations. Concepts are examined within the typical decisional framework of supervisors, chief school business officers, principles, and superintendents, and similar positions in the helping professions. Assignments are individualized.
Prerequisites:
Status as an Advanced Masters Education student is a prerequisite for this class.
GEO 310
GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
Green Infrastructure (GI) goes beyond the conventional conservation efforts of creating and maintaining national and state parks and wildlife refuges. Instead, GI promotes conservation that takes place at different spatial scales to create a network of open spaces out of existing open spaces and green corridors as well as offering strategies for constructing green spaces out of abandoned urban spaces.