Systematically studies political phenomena and their geographic expression, at a variety of spatial scales - national, regional, and international. Major themes include nation-state formation, boundary, territory, and ethnic issues, regional blocs and spheres of influence, and conflicts over access to and use of resources.

Provides a comprehensive introduction to maps, including their design, compilation, and computer production. Introduces students to the principles of abstracting the Earth's surface into spatial databases using GIS, remote sensing, and Global Positioning Satellites.

Cities are dynamic landscapes informed by myriad economic, political, social, environmental, and cultural processes. This course delves into the forces of urbanization and examines how cities have been investigated, built, experienced, and lived in throughout history and around the globe. By accenting a geographic perspective and drawing upon an array of theoretical ideas and empirical examples, this class grapples with the fascinating complexities of the urban context.

Earth's dynamic climate system is rapidly changing. This course will introduce you to the science behind climate change predictions as they apply to past, present, and future changes in our earth's climate. We will also discuss how, over the course of time, we adapted to these changing conditions with a specific focus on water resources and natural disasters, including floods, droughts, and hurricanes that have been predicted to intensify in response to ongoing climate change.

This course covers mineralogical and chemical compositions, classification, genesis, and mode of occurrence of igneous and metamorphic rocks, including relationships between rock-forming processes and global plate tectonics; labs involve the study of representative rock suites in hand specimen and thin section, introduction to analytical techniques and in-depth coverage of mineral optics. One or more field trips required.

This course provides an intensive study of fossils, fossil preservation, relationships between major groups of organisms, depositional environments, sediments, sedimentary rocks, and the processes of sedimentation. We will employ the principles of stratigraphic analysis and correlation to interpret ancient environments and paleoclimate, reconstruct paleogeography, and probe the characteristics of sedimentary basins. Laboratory exercises and field trips will introduce a variety of analytical techniques used to study sedimentary rocks.

This course explores the evolution and interaction of life, rocks, oceans, and air during the past 4 billion years of earth history. Some topics covered are: ice ages and greenhouse atmospheres, continental drift, extinctions and radiations of flora and fauna, the early evolution of earth, absolute and relative dating of rocks, and the geologic time scale. Oral presentations and writing assignments focus on the design and testing of earth science hypotheses, critical analysis of recently published research on earth history, and proposal writing.

Understanding hydrology (the distribution and movement of water at the earth's surface) is critical for resource management and climate modeling. With an eye toward these applications, we will use observational data to explore the components of the water cycle (precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and streamflow) and the physical processes that govern them. Lectures and hands-on computer exercises are aimed at students with interests in earth and environmental science or data science. No previous experience is necessary.