Introduces geographical perspectives on environment and development studies with case studies drawn from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Investigates the origins of the global South in relation to the global North, especially the historical and contemporary processes driving environmental, economic, and cultural change.
A basic introduction to the environmental systems of the Earth's surface, including landforms, soils, and ecosystems and how these systems are affected by global change. Emphasizes the importance of human-Earth relations and a holistic view of environmental systems. Same as ESE 103.
Introduces the basic concepts of social and cultural geography, and the application of these concepts to a variety of topics; mental maps, territoriality, cultural regions, cultural elements and their diffusion, population movement and migration, settlement patterns, environmental hazards, and spatial patterns of social problems.
A survey of major world regions by systematically considering five themes: environment, population and settlement patterns, cultural coherence and diversity, geopolitical fragmentation and unity, and economic and social development. While examining the persistence of unique regions, the course will both scale up to global linkages and scale down to place-specific impacts of globalization processes. Same as ESE 106.
In-depth exploration of global urbanization. Using a comparative regional approach, discuss the recent history of global urbanization, dissect its problems, and offer possible solutions. Approximately ten major regions of the world will be examined, exploring the significant urban patterns and processes, built and natural environments, and social, economic, and cultural landscapes of each.
Introduction to the complex relationship between people and the natural environment from a social science perspective. Explores different approaches to environmental issues, and examines the role of population change, political economy, technologies, environmental policymaking, and social institutions in causing and resolving contemporary social and environmental global issues. Same as ESE 210.
Focuses on geopolitical conflicts over ideology, resources, and territory from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Examines these conflicts from the perspectives of political geography and political theory. Same as GLBL 221.
Investigates the fundamentals of geographic information science as well as the basic skills in the execution of that theoretical knowledge with industry standard software packages. Student will learn the basics of projections and coordinate systems, how geographic information is stored and manipulated, and the theory and practice behind the production of thematic maps. Includes lecture and hands-on laboratory components. Same as ESE 379.
Study of the analytical capabilities of geographic information systems with an emphasis on learning to solve spatial problems in both the vector and raster data formats. Students will develop the skills necessary to answer questions or solve problems in their areas of interest, with particular emphasis on problems and questions that require multiple steps to resolve. Students will learn the fundamental theory behind spatial problem solving, but also learn to execute these procedures with industry-standard software packages. Thus, this class contains both lecture/discussion elements and hands-on laboratory work. Same as ESE 380. Prerequisite: GGIS 379/ESE 379.
Problems and issues surrounding the geographic distribution of populations at the world, regional, and local levels; emphasizes problems associated with population growth and decline, recent population redistribution, births and deaths, and elderly and minority populations.
Supervised independent study of special topics or regions. May be repeated once. Prerequisite: Junior standing; at least one formal course in the topic or region of interest; consent of instructor.
Independent study and research projects for students who are working toward the degree with distinction in geography. Prerequisite: Junior standing; consent of honors adviser.
Supervised, off-campus experience in a field directly pertaining to Geography and/or GIS. A written report is required at the end of the internship relating work accomplishments to the student's program of study. Approved for Letter and S/U grading. May be repeated in separate terms up to 6 hours. Prerequisite: Consent of faculty sponsor and Director of Undergraduate Studies; at least two courses taken within Geography & GIS.
Introduces the conceptual and technical fundamentals of geographic information science as a gateway to advanced study in geographic information science, and cover geographic information science as an interdisciplinary scientific field and geographic information systems as a tool in many application domains. Students will be introduced to unique characteristics of geospatial data in the capture, processing, storage, analysis, communication, and interpretation of geospatial information, which will prepare them to utilize information science techniques and critical spatial-thinking skills to address geospatially-related challenges. 4 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: There are no prerequisites for this course, although familiarity with basic descriptive and inferential statistics as well as some experience with at least one computer scripting/programming language will be helpful.
Intended to introduce students to CyberGIS – Geospatial Information Science and Systems (GIS) based on advanced cyberinfrastructure as well as the state of the art in high-performance computing, big data, and cloud computing in the context of geospatial data science. Students will use CyberGISX, which is an innovative cyberGIS framework for conducting data-intensive, reproducible, and scalable geospatial analytics with Jupyter Notebook as its primary user environment. Students are expected to learn how to develop Jupyter notebooks to analyze and visualize geospatial data using leading-edge cyberGIS software and python libraries. Emphasis is placed on learning the cutting-edge advances of cyberGIS and its underlying geospatial data science principles. Same as GEOL 407. 4 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours.
Systematic analysis of the biophysical processes operating in rivers and watersheds and the interaction of humans on these processes. The course will emphasize the importance of biophysical processes and human interaction with these processes in river and watershed management. Class discussion and a class project will focus on analysis of practical river and watershed problems. 4 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: GGIS 103 or an introductory course in earth or environmental science.
Theory and practice of sustainable development. Course materials draw upon theoretical and case study material from the social and natural sciences to analyze environment and development relations with emphasis on the Global South. Same as ESE 410. 4 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours.
Examines the use of geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS) with emphasis on their social and political implications. Topics may include critical cartography, social theory, health geography, historical geography, geopolitics, crime mapping, environmental justice, data feminism, environmental change, and science, technology, and society studies (STS). 3 undergraduate hours. 3 graduate hours. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 if topic varies. Prerequisite: GGIS 379 or equivalent.
Examination of recent trends in human and physical geography. Themes include empiricism, logical positivism, regionalism, Marxism, realism, phenomenology, and postmodernism as applied to geographic research. Emerging geographic literature is explored to identify the latest conceptual developments. 4 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours.
Instruction and practice in the basic techniques of map making followed by a consideration of problems involved in the construction of maps for presentation in a reproduced form (i.e., printed, photographed); the selection of proper source materials for the base and body of the map, the compilation and correlation of these materials, and methods of mechanical and photographic reproduction. 4 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours.
Fundamentals of energy-matter interaction mechanisms, and the manifestation of reflected and emitted radiation on photographs and images; introduces characteristics of aerial films and filters, electro-optical scanners, and digital processing; and emphasizes applications in environmental problems. Same as NRES 477. 3 undergraduate hours. 3 graduate hours. Prerequisite: GGIS 280 or STAT 100 or equivalent, or consent of instructor.
Introduces advanced concepts in Geographic Information Science. Course topics may vary. 4 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated in separate terms up to 8 hours, if topics vary. Prerequisite: GGIS 379 or ESE 379 or equivalent.
Focuses on Geographic Information Science (GIScience) principles that underlie the development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software and its intelligent use. Helps students adapt to rapidly changing geospatial technologies. Knowledge gained in this course will be general and, thus, not be limited to any specific software product that may be revised in the future. 4 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite: Graduate standing or instructor approval.
Existing climate variability and likely climate change call for policies to protect vulnerable people who make their livelihoods in a changing environment. Students will explore: 1) causes of climate related stress and disaster; 2) theories of vulnerability and adaptation; 3) practices and policies designed to reduce economic loss, hunger, famine and dislocation in the face of climate trends and events. Focus on multiple policy scales affecting poor and marginal populations, who are disproportionately vulnerable when facing climate stress, drawing on case examples primarily from the developing world. Same as ATMS 446 and SOC 451. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours.
Intended to introduce students to high-performance geospatial computing using python to resolve computational bottlenecks and produce faster and scalable solutions. Students will learn how to use Python on high-performance and parallel computing architecture. Specifically, NumPy, SciPy, Numba, and Cython will be covered to optimize and speed up geospatial computation. Students will use CyberGISX as the primary learning environment, and be expected to learn how to develop such notebooks to address computational challenges in solving geospatial problems. By the end, students will have gained solid knowledge of common Python tools for developing high-performance geospatial computing solutions that can be applied to many applications. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit. Prerequisite: GGIS 407 or equivalent.
The field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made significant progress in recent years, and a number of AI algorithms have even surpassed human ability at tasks such as computer vision, natural language processing and machine translation. The intersection of AI and geospatial analysis is creating massive and unprecedented opportunities for knowledge discovery and innovative applications. A growing number of Geospatial AI and machine learning applications have emerged in a diverse set of disciplines such as geography and geographic information science, agriculture, business, economics, sustainable development, and urban planning. In this course, students will learn a variety of Geospatial AI and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms (e.g., decision trees, and support vector machine) and tools that allow us to investigate and identify patterns, clusters, classes, and anomalies based on various types of geospatial data. The course will include extensive hands-on interactions with geospatial data and applications based on cutting-edge AI and ML techniques. 4 graduate hours. No professional credit. Prerequisite: GGIS 407 or equivalent.
Independent research project or thesis topic development to be supervised by Geography & GIS faculty advisor. 1 to 8 graduate hours. No professional credit. May be repeated in separate semesters. After passing the Preliminary Exam, PhD candidates should register for GGIS 599: Thesis Research instead of this course.
Weekly research presentations by invited speakers and Geography & GIS PhD students on a wide range of topics. Required for all GGIS graduate (excluding PSM) students. 0 graduate hours. 0 professional hours. Approved for S/U grading only. May be repeated in separate terms.
Major individual project that demonstrates the student's ability to solve an advanced geospatial problem or develop a GIS-based application. Student will work closely with a faculty capstone advisor to determine the project focus and expected outcome(s). 4 graduate hours. No professional credit.
Individual research under supervision of members of the faculty in their respective fields. 0 to 16 graduate hours. No professional credit. Approved for S/U grading only. May be repeated.