Geography Courses

Geography | Geography Courses | Geosciences Faculty

(All courses carry 3 credits unless otherwise noted.)

100 Global Environmental Change (PS) (2nd sem)

With lab. The natural relationships between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere; human impact on the natural environment. Global environmental issues: global warming, sea-level rise, and ozone depletion in the stratosphere. Global changes of the past also studied to give perspective to forecasted changes. Includes writing exercises.

102 The Human Landscape (SBG)
(both sem)

How people shape the world they live in. Themes and concepts of human geography through the current issues and large questions that guide them. Lectures, labs, and readings on the geographic aspects of cultural diversity, population issuesóoften as they relate to available resources and technology, states vs. nations, the global economy, issues of conservation and/or development, migration and urbanization, human impact on the environment, and how and why social disparities exist in the modern world.

250 Natural Disasters (I) (1st sem)

Introduction to catastrophic natural hazards and their effects on humans and their environment: volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, floods, droughts, hurricanes, catastrophic landslides. Management and relief of disasters; the damage they cause; prevention and prediction.

314 Writing in Geography (2nd sem)

Readings, lecture, group and individual tutorial, exercises, and peer review focusing on critical thinking and geographic writing.

320 Latin America (SBG) (2nd sem)

Survey of spatial and environmental changes of both cultural/human landscapes and physical/social regions. Emphasis on case studies of selected rural and urban communities and landscapes. Population-resource balance, environmental perception and behavior, migration, urban growth, rural marketing systems, and environmental hazards.

330 East Asia (2nd sem)

Geographic exploration of the historical evolution and contemporary development of social, cultural, and economic patterns and processes in East Asia focusing on China and Japan. Contemporary issues such as urbanization, population, economic development, and cultural change and continuity.

332 Southeast Asia (SBG) (1st sem)

The historic and contemporary foundations of Southeast Asian human landscapes and society. How geopolitical, economic and social processes have fostered diasporic movements and redefined the local and global meanings of place, identity, and economy. These themes also examined through the processes of globalization, transnationalism, and trans-culturalism which connect Southeast Asia to Asian American communities in the U.S. Readings, discussions, video, and community-based projects in western Massachusetts enable students to study and experience the growing interconnect-edness of people and places on both sides of the Pacific Rim.

340 Quantitative Methods (R2)

Methods of data analysis and visualization useful in geographic research. Descriptive and inferential statistics through linear regression and analysis of variance, with applications of quantitative methods to spatial data. Examples drawn from both human and physical geography. Extensive use of computers.

352 Computer Mapping

Mapping projects through the use of software mapping packages. Students select their own final projects.

354 Climatology (1st sem)

Fundamentals of the earth/atmosphere energy balance, the hydrologic cycle, atmospheric motion, and the general circulation of the atmosphere. Regional and local climates. How climate affects people's activities and how people influence climate. Climate change, its causes, and its effects. Prerequisite: introductory course in weather and climate (e.g., GEO 100 or ASTRON 105).

360 Economic Geography (SBU)
(2nd sem)

Economic activity around the world, from world market factories in Asia to industrial co-ops in Spain to households in the U.S. and Australia. Paid and unpaid labor, market and nonmarket transactions, capitalist and noncapitalist enterprises. Emphasis on economic diversity and agency.

362 Land Use and Society (SB) (1st sem)

The meaning of land in past and present societies, and the evolution of public involvement in land use management. Land use data and concepts; review of historical emergence of land use controls in response to social needs; current methods and issues of land use management in the U.S.

364 Development

Examines the geographic structure and process of social, economic, and environmental change associated with `development' in the `Third World'. Issues addressed at a global and local scale include population, food production, and the Green Revolution, gender, population mobility and urbanization, and environmental costs of growth.

370 Urban Geography (SBU) (1st sem)

Survey of urban geographical analysis and the development of the world's cities. Theoretical and methodological approaches of urban geography used to explore cities as they shape and are shaped by their social, cultural, economic, and physical contexts. Topics include pre-industrial cities, industrial cities, the evolution of American cities, and contemporary urban issues in both developed and developing countries.

372 Urban Issues (2nd sem)

Contemporary urban issues in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Survey of the cities of Asia, Africa and Latin America as they have developed from traditional forms to modern metropolises housing three out of every five of the world's urban dwellers. The role of culture, society, economy, and politics in shaping urban landscapes. Special topics include the persistence of traditional forms (both physical and social) in contemporary cities, the role of economic globalization in urbanization, and the impacts of contemporary urban planning and development strategies on urban form and functions.

392E Earth System Science (2nd sem)

A look at the Earth system as a whole. Emphasis on the relationships among biological, geological, climatological, and human systems on continental and global scales. The links between these systems illustrated by present-day processes and the geologic record of selected events in Earth system history. Includes computer-based exercises and relies heavily on Internet resources. Prerequisites: previous upper-level courses in biological, geological, physical, or social sciences.

420 The Human Impact on the Natural Environment (2nd sem)

Human geographical perspectives on the historical human transformation of the earth and current environmental issues. Cultural and historical geography, cultural ecology, political ecology, and environmental history used to explore the diverse, regionally variable, and historically dynamic conditions and processes that have shaped past and present human impacts on the environment. Issues include historical environmental change in New England, the destruction and conservation of tropical rain forests, and Himalayan environmental change and conservation.

444 Sense of Place and Environmental Perception

Exploration of the ways different cultural subgroups perceive, organize, and use their space and environment. Emphasis on both individual and group behavior concerning environmental perference and location, debates over "using versus preserving" the environment, response to environmental hazards, migration and adjustment into new environments, and other environmental choices that contribute to the evolution of particular cultural landscapes ranging from the urban built environment to the rural landscapes of the world.

491A Disaster Planning and Emergency Management

Survey of the processes of planning for and managing community and statewide emergencies and disasters. The nature of hazard disaster. Risk mitigation, hazard and vulnerability analysis. How to write an emergency plan. Scenario modeling for planning and management. Practical techniques for managing emergencies; emergency communications. Medical and other specialized emergency management. Introduction to the federal and state disaster management systems. Approximately half the course involves practical exercises, including seminar discussions, exercises, field visit, and collaborative pro-ject work. Recommended for juniors and seniors.

492W Geographic Films (2nd sem)

How film and video are used in geography to illustrate and analyze such topics as how individuals and cultures perceive and interact with the natural environment, form world views, and are attracted to particular kinds of environments; how environmental hazards such as drought, desertification, earthquakes, and tornadoes have an impact on human settlement, and how human migration has an environmental impact on new places ranging from frontier rain forests to the ecology of cities throughout the world.

494A American Indian Geographies

The transformations in the cultural, legal, and political geography of Native Americans over the last five hundred years, exploring changes in the spatial extent of lands, territories, and natural resources under Native American control or jurisdiction. How Euro-American colonialism resulted in changes to this land base and Native American control over natural resources. The importance of law, legislation, and court decisions in the changing legal and political geography of Native Americans. Differences in how Native Americans and Euro-Americans think about nature and land. Cultural differences between Indian and non-Indian over the meaning of nature and how nature should be used.

497S Indigenous Peoples and Conservation

Indigenous peoples' conservation values and practices and their importance for global conservation. Emphasis on indigenous knowledge, cultural values, sacred places, community management of natural resources, and the role of indigenous peoples in the establishment and management of inhabited national parks and other protected areas.

498A Exploring the New England Landscape (1st sem) 6-9 cr

Helps students to gain a "sense of place" from the New England landscape. Emphasis on combining an experiential learning and discovery of "places" with an intellectual understanding of the forcesóboth physical and humanóthat shape those places. The development of attachments to places and nature, and an appreciation of those complex layers of the past superimposed over them: the invisible landscapes of human history, folklore, and ecology.

510 Natural Hazards (1st sem)

Natural hazards as interaction of extreme geophysical events and the spatial organization of human activities. Topics include earthquakes, floods, drought, landslides, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Policy and economic implications of hazards, risk assessment, hazard mapping. Some prior experience of scientific subjects recommended.

530 Population and Environment (1st sem)

Population-resource relationships in context of social science theory and debates over sustainability, theories of population change, political economy of resource degradation, institutional factors in resource management, and carrying capacity concepts applied to conditions in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

560 Geomorphology (2nd sem)

Earth surface processes and resulting landforms including physical and chemical weathering, hillslope, fluvial, eolian, coastal, glacial, and periglacial processes and their relationships to landforms. Term paper or project. Field trips by arrangement. Prerequisites: at least 12 credits in geology, physical geography, or related fields; first-year courses in physics and chemistry recommended.

591R Remote Sensing and Image Analysis

Hands-on introduction to applications of satellite remote sensing in the geosciences. Emphasis on image processing and analysis: georeferencing, radiometric and geometric enhancement, classification, multispectral, multitemporal, and Fourier methods.

594A Introduction to GIS

Hands-on introduction to fundamental concepts and methods of spatial information and analysis. Emphasis on developing skills using geographic information systems to solve typical spatial problems in the geosciences through regular exercises and a larger, final group project.

595A Advanced GIS

Project-based, intensive study of concepts and methods of spatial information, statistics, and analysis using ARC/INFO GIS. Emphasis on applying spatial analysis to complex problems in the geosciences using vector and raster data. Prerequisite: introductory GIS course or consent of instructor.

Geography | Geography Courses | Geosciences Faculty