In this course, the Middle East and North Africa are studied in terms of their physical, cultural, economic, and political geography. Emphasis is placed on the environmental conditions and ecological evolution, population and demographic characteristics, the resource base and major problems in the social, political, and economic transformation of the region.

The growing racial diversity of the United States is evident at all spatial scales, from the individual body, to the household, neighborhood, city, and state. This course examines this topic by first exploring the instability and power of racial categories and the spatiality of racial identities and privilege. We then focus our attention on historical and contemporary patterns of racial mixing, mixed-race partnerships, and multiraciality and think through the challenges that race poses.

This course intends to offer an interdisciplinary perspective on selected contemporary development problems in Africa south of the Sahara. Central to the course will be an examination of the social, economic, and political consequences of colonialism, the physical resource base and ecological crisis, agrarian systems and rural development, gender relations and development, urbanization and industrialization, and the problems and prospects of regional cooperation and integration.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing are essential tools for geographic analysis in both the biophysical and social sciences. This course uses a semester-long project that includes field and laboratory instruction to allow students to develop hands-on skills with spatial data and analysis software. Students will be able to present potential employers with a portfolio containing examples of their ability to develop and execute a GIS/remote sensing application project.

From earthquakes to landscapes, deserts to glaciers, landslides to limestone, this course introduces the surficial and internal processes of the earth. Learn to interpret the geology of your surroundings when traveling to new places and understand how geologic setting influences how people live. Lectures focus on exploring and explaining geological features and processes using concept sketches. Labs focus on mineral and rock identification, map reading, and local field trips.

Because more than seventy percent of our planet is covered by oceans, the study of marine systems is crucial to our understanding of the Earth. In this course, we will examine chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes in the oceans at a variety of scales in time and space. We will explore how the Earth's oceans formed, how they provided the foundations for life, and how they continue to affect weather and climate, stabilize global chemical cycles, interact with the terrestrial environment, and give us access to resources.