See the Fall 2021 Course Schedule page to learn the timing of all fall courses.
GEOG 1001
Environmental Systems: Climate and Vegetation
Section 010: Instructor Dr. Rachel Isaacs, rachel.isaacs@colorado.edu
Section 581: GPTI Meghan Helmberger, meghan.helmberger@colorado.edu
Continuing Education Classes are Billed Separately. See course notes for billing details.
The objective of this course is to provide you with an introduction to the Earth's climate system and patterns of world vegetation. We will emphasize the many linkages and feedbacks between the non-living (abiotic) and living (biotic) components of the earth system.
Topics we will cover include radiation, temperature, winds and pressure, the water cycle, climate change, and biomes. This course will prepare you for subsequent, more specialized courses in climatology, hydrology, ecology, and biogeography (ecosystems and cycles). This is a natural science course, and graphs and basic algebra-level math calculations will be used to help understand the concepts covered.
GEOG 1011
Environmental Systems: Landscapes and Water
Section 010: Professor Katherine Lininger, katherine.lininger@colorado.edu
Section 581: Instructor Steve Welter, steve.welter@colorado.edu
Continuing Education Classes are Billed Separately. See course notes for billing details.
Earth’s landscapes – the natural surfaces composed of rock, soils, water and vegetation – are always changing. These landscapes host life and human activity. Knowledge of how the Earth’s surface changes is necessary to ensure public safety, provide food and water security, and support ecosystem management – and thus this knowledge is relevant to diverse career pursuits.
Topics covered include the basic geologic processes of plate tectonics, volcanoes, and earthquake. We then explore how the land surface is shaped by water and physical processes, focusing on weathering, soils, hydrology, fluvial processes, glaciers, climate change, and human impacts. By the end of the course, you will be familiar with the primary physical processes involved in the formation of the Earth’s landscapes. You should also be able to generally describe how these natural sciences are related to important scientific and societal issues.
GEOG 1972
Environment-Society Geography
Section 100: Professor Yaffa Truelove, yaffa.truelove@colorado.edu
Section 581 & 582: GPTI Diego Melo, diego.melo@colorado.edu
Continuing Education Classes are Billed Separately. See course notes for billing details.
The study of global environmental issues evokes one of the most profound questions of our times: What is, and what ought to be, the relationship between humans and the environment? To answer this, we must also ask: What is “nature” and how do people of different cultures conceptualize it differently? What drives human modification of the earth and its non-human inhabitants, and how are specific groups of people differentially affected by these modifications? What kinds of assumptions have led to the creation of certain environmental problems, and for whom or what are they problems? Topics we will cover include anthropogenic climate change; population and consumption; hazards, ethics, and environmental justice; conservation; wolves; trees/deforestation; food/agriculture, water, and waste. We will draw from examples around the world to critically examine how environmental problems are defined and tackled and what this tells us about nature-society relations more broadly.
This class fulfills a MAPS requirement and a requirement for the Geography Major; it is also a great introduction to “Environment-Society” Geography Track.
GEOG 1992-581
Human Geographies
GPTI Shruthi Jagadeesh, shruthi.jagadeesh@colorado.edu
Continuing Education Classes are Billed Separately. See course notes for billing details.
Examines social, political, economic, and cultural processes creating the geographical worlds in which we live, and how these spatial relationships shape our everyday lives. Studies critical geopolitics, ecological change, international development, population dynamics, urbanization, and migration to explore how these processes work at global scales as well as shape geographies of particular places.
This class fulfills a MAPS requirement and a requirement for the Geography Major; it is also a great introduction to the “Human Geography” Track.
GEOG 2053
Mapping a Changing World
Instructor Sarah Kelly, sarah.kelly@colorado.edu
Do you know how to read maps, know what different types are used for, and where to find data to make maps? Do you want to know when you can trust the information on a map is correct, current, or relevant to some question you have about the world around you? Then this class is for you!
You will learn how maps are used for all sorts of applications (news stories, social media, travel diaries, historical documents, hiking and navigation, web mapping, etc.) You'll learn how to read a topographic map, how to work with map scale and map projections, and about using Internet mapping services, such as creating online maps. You'll work with maps showing the human and physical landscape including population parameters, soils, topography, and much more. We'll talk about maps as propaganda, and as tools of social and political power.
The course does not assume previous experience with geographic information systems, statistics or mapping technologies. This course satisfies the mapping requirement for the Geography major, and serves as a great introduction for students considering a Geography major or minor.
GEOG 2271
Introduction to the Arctic Environment
Section 001: Professor Mark Serreze, mark.serreze@colorado.edu
Section 581: Instructor Steve Welter, steve.welter@colorado.edu
Continuing Education Classes are Billed Separately. See course notes for billing details.
The Arctic plays a key role in the global climate system and is a region in the midst of rapid change, encompassing the land, ocean and the atmosphere. In this course you will learn about the highly varied climates and landscapes that characterize the Arctic, the Arctic Ocean and its floating sea ice cover, the Greenland ice sheet, Arctic tundra, snow and permafrost. The course will also emphasize the dramatic changes that are taking place in the Arctic, including rapid warming and a shrinking sea ice cover, and what these changes mean for the rest of the planet.
GEOG 3023
Statistics and Geographic Data
Section 010: Professor Guofeng Cao, guofeng.cao@colorado.edu
Section 581: GPTI Francis Naylor, francis.naylor@colorado.edu
Continuing Education Classes are Billed Separately. See course notes for billing details.
From fitness trackers to Facebook to polls on politics and other issues, our world is flooded with data. Careers in Data Science are in high demand, and technological and societal changes make data available on nearly everything.
In this course, we teach you how to understand and model the relationships between data and your world. You'll learn how to collect data, learn modeling techniques, and develop questions that we can answer with statistical methods. The course is hands-on and will guide you in using the latest statistical software to produce graphics, answer questions, and find patterns about the world around us.
This course does not assume any previous experience with statistics. It satisfies the statistics requirement for the Geography major, and serves as a great introduction to data modeling for any Geography major or minor.
GEOG 3053
Geographic Information Science: Mapping
Section 010: Instructor Sarah Kelly, sarah.kelly@colorado.edu
Section 581: Instructor Dr. Rachel Isaacs, rachel.isaacs@colorado.edu
Continuing Education Classes are Billed Separately. See course notes for billing details.
Do you know how to read maps, know what different types are used for, and where to find data to make maps? Do you want to know when you can trust the information on a map is correct, current, or relevant to some question you have about the world around you? Then this class is for you!
You will learn how maps are used for all sorts of applications (news stories, social media, travel diaries, historical documents, hiking and navigation, web mapping, etc.) You'll learn how to read a topographic map, how to work with map scale and map projections, and about using Internet mapping services, such as creating online maps. You'll work with maps showing the human and physical landscape including population parameters, soils, topography, and
much more. We'll talk about maps as propaganda, and as tools of social and political power.
GEOG 3251
Mountain Geography
Section 001: Professor Peter Blanken, peter.blanken@colorado.edu
Section 581 & 582: GPTI John Bryan Curtis, john.curtis@colorado.edu
Continuing Education Classes are Billed Separately. See course notes for billing details.
The world’s mountains are fascinating and mysterious landscapes. Created by geologic activity, shaped by water and ice, and transformed by vegetation and human activity, mountain landscapes offer a unique perspective into historical and current events. Using mountain landscapes as our study area, this course will examine the interactions and connections among key topics in physical and human geography. Daily presentations and frequent hands-on activities will apply geographic concepts to the Colorado Rockies as well as mountain ranges around the world. To explore our mountain landscapes, local examples will be used to examine how wildfire impacts local forests and human communities, and investigate how historic mining and continuing human activities have shaped the mountain landscapes in our backyard.
GEOG 3402
Natural Hazards
Section 581: Instructor Samuel Smith, samuel.a.smith@colorado.edu
Continuing Education Classes are Billed Separately. See course notes for billing details.
This class examines the interaction of society and natural extremes, with particular attention to exposure, vulnerability, preparedness, mitigation, and recovery from natural disasters. Our social science approach differentiates this class from courses on natural disasters taught as natural science, where the emphasis is on the physical processes (like tectonics and volcanism). We treat the subject as both an academic field of inquiry that provides insight into social structures, human behavior, and environment and society relationships, and as a professional field in which students learn methods and skills that can be applied to careers in environmental and hazards management. While we will briefly cover the physical science of hazards like hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes, the focus is on human geography: how people and institutions perceive and respond to hazards and how development in hazardous areas increases risk. Given the time, we will also briefly examine technological hazards and disasters.
This is a lecture class, with exercises and exams. The material is in four main categories: (1) concepts and principles, including material on the nature of extreme events, social exposure and vulnerability, trends in hazard impacts, and ways to measure and characterize hazards and risks; (2) specific hazards like hurricanes, floods and earthquakes; (3) hazard impact reduction, including mitigation, warning systems; land use; insurance; and recovery; and (4) special topics such as events in the news.
GEOG 3412
Conservation Practice and Resource Management
Lecturer Paul Lander, paul.w.lander@colorado.edu
In an ever-urbanizing world, having an understanding of the systems that support, maintain, and optimize human conditions will be critical in responding to a changing climate.
Through the lens of Resilience, this course looks at the nexus represented by urban settlements: where the demand for productive energy, water, and food systems all come together in support of human endeavors.
This course will utilize lecture, discussion, and exercises to explore both the nature of urban systems, and the primary drivers affecting their look and operation in the future. Students will learn from the Instructor and Guest Professionals, to identify and analyze the forms and functions of different systems, factors leading to their optimization, and trends affecting how they’ll look and operate in the future.
GEOG 3511
Introduction to Hydrology
Professor Holly Barnard, holly.barnard@colorado.edu
This course is about learning both the principles of hydrology as well as the techniques which can be used to solve hydrologic problems. In practice, hydrologists have to quantify rates at which water is exchanged between the atmosphere, land surface, and the oceans. This often involves processing data and solving sets of equations. It is fairly easy to lose sight of the conceptual part of the problem once you focus on techniques.
Thus, one of our other goals is to give you a balanced view of hydrology--one that includes a description of the physical processes as well as a coherent presentation of the theories and techniques which are used in practice.
GEOG 3682
Geography of International Development
Section 001: Instructor Dr. Heide Bruckner, heide.bruckner@colorado.edu
Sections 581 & 582: GPTI Jessica DiCarlo, jessica.dicarlo@colorado.edu
Continuing Education Classes are Billed Separately. See course notes for billing details.
Today, amid rising global debates about migration, regional instabilities from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea, and transnational corporations increasingly involved in everything from poverty to governance to climate change, the politics of international development could not be more urgent.
What is the role of international assistance in a world marked by imperialism and inequity? How do actors in the “global South” deal with livelihood and governance issues that crosscut economics, politics, history and tradition? How is “Development” itself changing as the United States place in the world is increasingly unsettled?
This course uses the lens and tools of human geography to explore these questions. Examining cases from Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim, this course surveys the changing terrain of international development at the dawn of the Twenty-first Century.
GEOG 3692
Introduction to Global Public Health
Section 100: Professor Colleen Reid, colleen.reid@colorado.edu
Section 581: GPTI Ben Barron, ben.barron@colorado.edu
Section 582: Instructor Caitlin Ryan, caitlin.ryan@colorado.edu
Continuing Education Classes are Billed Separately. See course notes for billing details.
This course explores critical issues in global public health through a biosocial lens, incorporating the biological, economic, political, social and cultural influences on health. We take a candid look at the challenges of quantifying health as well as the issues of past health and development initiatives (with a focus on developing countries). We examine the tensions between intellectual property rights and the fundamental need for affordable medicines as played out in the cases of TB and HIV. We delve into the roles of the World Health Organization, nongovernmental organizations and ministries of health in addressing both infectious and non‐communicable diseases. We explore health care systems and consider the essential elements of systems which improve accessibility and quality of care for its citizens. We look at the future priorities of global health, including the impact of climate change on health. By engaging in discussions, structured in class activities and written assignments, students will wrestle with the complexity of issues that make up the rich field of global public health.
GEOG 3742
Place, Power and Contemporary Culture
Section 001: GPTI Phurwa Gurung, phurdhondup.g@colorado.edu
Section 581 & 582: GPTI Gabriella Subia Smith, gabriella.subiasmith@Colorado.EDU
Continuing Education Classes are Billed Separately. See course notes for billing details.
What is power? How are spaces produced through relationships of power? This course approaches power as a spatial concept and introduces students to key theories and contemporary debates in human geography. We will apply critical geographic perspectives on power to topics of: place, landscape and culture; race and social difference; states and territoriality; housing and homelessness; borders and migration; disability and the built environment.
While many of our readings are theoretical, we will explore power dynamics in a range of places including: downtown Boulder, CO; national parks and the outdoors; contentious border sites (such as the Sonoran desert at the US-Mexico border and EU borders in the Mediterranean Sea); cities in both the Global North and South. We will examine power as a cultural and legal tool of access and exclusion in place, and ultimately, as a means of deciding the bounds of knowledge and what counts as truth.
GEOG 3822
Geography of China
Section 001: Professor Timothy Oakes, toakes@colorado.edu
Section 581 & 582: GPTI Fan Li, fan.li@colorado.edu
Continuing Education Classes are Billed Separately. See course notes for billing details.
China is one of the fastest changing countries on earth. With hundreds of new cities under construction, rapidly accumulating wealth among the middle and upper classes, a precarious environment and resource-base, and rising geopolitical ambitions, understanding a changing China is more important now than ever before. Yet as China’s influence grows, it seems to become more misunderstood than ever.
This course aims to explore China’s changes, as well as dispel common myths about contemporary China, through the lens of human geography.
We explore China’s diverse environmental and cultural landscapes, its historical geography, and the challenges of rural development, urbanization, territorial sovereignty, energy, environment, and climate change.
GEOG 4002/5100
Topics in Human and Environment/Society Geography: Climate Change and Health
Professor Colleen Reid, colleen.reid@colorado.edu
Climate change is projected to alter the physical environment in ways that will affect human health globally, regionally, and locally. The choices that society makes to respond to climate change also have health implications. The course will explore the scientific evidence to date of the health impacts associated with a changing climate. We will begin with a brief overview of climate science and will learn about the research methods used to evaluate the impacts of climate change on health at various scales. The public health implications, positive and negative, of efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change will also be elaborated, including discussions of ethical, political, and economic aspects of these efforts.
The course will consist of a variety of lectures, and student-led and professor-led discussions. Students will also have the opportunity to investigate an area within the climate change and health literature of their own particular interest. As the field of climate change and health is inherently interdisciplinary, this course will benefit from a diversity of perspectives and students of physical sciences, natural sciences, social sciences and engineering are encouraged to enroll.
GEOG 4003/5100
Topics In Geographic Skills: Machine Learning and Spatial Data
Professor Morteza Karimzadeh, karimzadeh@colorado.edu
This course will be applied machine learning in the geospatial sciences. We will cover novel approaches to data analysis, modeling and prediction, with focus on application to spatial data. Specific methods covered include logistics regression, support vector machines, time series prediction, and various flavors of deep learning.
It will be a hands on course, with lectures to explain the concepts and interactive lab components to implement the ideas in Jupyter Notebooks and Google Colab environment.
Prior knowledge of programming in general and Python in particular is recommended. Students taking the course will have the first two weeks to strengthen their Python programming skills using the free interactive resources that we will provide (including free DataCamp courses).
GEOG 4043/5043
Advanced Geovisualization and Web Mapping
Professor Morteza Karimzadeh, karimzadeh@colorado.edu
The goal of this course is to provide students with both the conceptual understanding and practical experience needed to design effective geographic representations.
A key focus of the course is on "dynamic" and "interactive" representations of geographically referenced information. Dynamic representations are those that change as a result of user actions or data updates. Topics include: animated and interactive (web) maps, exploratory multivariate spatial data analysis, geovisual analytics, map-enabled decision-support, collaborative geovisualization, dynamic maps to enable learning, and semiotic principles for design of dynamic maps.
This course emphasizes the design of (dynamic or interactive) interfaces to maps rather than maps themselves. From a practical point of view, graduates of this course will be able to design and implement effective interactive map-based representations using web technologies and scripting (JavaScript/HTML/CSS...)
GEOG 4093/5093
GEOL 4093/5093
Remote Sensing of the Environment
Instructor Dr. John Adler, john.adler@colorado.edu
Global environmental change is one of the most pressing international issues of this century. There is a need to monitor the earth’s vital signs from atmospheric ozone to sea level change.
Satellite data sets are critical for monitoring regional and global changes, determine natural variability of Earth systems and addressing fundamental global change issues. The course is designed to introduce students to the techniques of remote sensing measurements of environmental parameters from aircraft and satellite platforms. The course is based on the application of simple physical principles of electromagnetic radiation. Different sensing systems such as electro-optical systems, passive microwave systems, ranging systems, and scattering techniques will be discussed with applications for the atmosphere, cryosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere.
GEOG 4103/5103
Geographic Information Science: Spatial Analytics
Professor Stefan Leyk, stefan.leyk@colorado.edu
Are you ready to bring your GIS skills up to the next level? This course introduces the theoretical concepts and advanced use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It focuses on the nature of geographic information, the management of geospatial data and available methods for geographic analysis and geoprocessing to perform advanced and complex modeling in a GIS environment. Lectures focus on the theoretical basis of GIScience, the understanding of spatial algorithms and the development of a critical attitude toward GIS operations and model outputs. During lab sessions students
will be able to apply the concepts and techniques presented in lectures and become well-trained in using GIS software. The aim of this course is that students understand elementary GIS theory, have a working knowledge of ArcGIS, and be able to develop GIS-based solutions for spatial problems, independently. In short: You will be ready for starting your professional GIS career.
GEOG 4173
Research Seminar
Instructor Dr. Heide Bruckner, heide.bruckner@colorado.edu
Are you a Geography major or minor who is:
- Passionate about a question or topic you want to do true in-depth research on by doing fieldwork and/or collecting/analyzing data others have collected?
- Further interested in learning more about the research and writing process, and which kinds of research make sense for which questions?
- Considering writing an Honors or Senior Thesis and/or thinking about future graduate studies?
This hands-on seminar will introduce you to the craft of research and allow you to explore a question related to a variety of social or natural science subfields. We will give you the tools and guidance for you to explore the issues you find most interesting while giving you time to pursue them. Through lecture, discussion and classroom workshopping, you will learn to outline, develop and then fine-tune your research project. In addition, the course offers practical training in research design and proposal writing, applicable to research but also private and non-profit sectors. This course fulfills the Geography skills requirement and offers crucial preparation for any student interested in graduate school.
GEOG/ENVS 4201
Biometeorology
Professor Peter Blanken, peter.blanken@colorado.edu
Biology + Meteorology = Biometeorology
Those with an interest in exploring how weather affects life will enjoy this course. We will explore how the atmosphere affects plants, animals, and people. Topics ranging from water flow through plants to heat stroke and windchill effects will be covered. Basic high school level mathematical skills are required.
GEOL/GEOG 4241
Principles of Geomorphology
Professor Katherine Lininger, katherine.lininger@colorado.edu
This class investigates the physical forms on Earth’s surface and the processes that shape those forms. The Earth’s surface is modified by water, ice, wind, and biota. Geomorphic science draws from many disciplines, including geology, geography, physics, chemistry, and biology. The lab portion of the course will include quantitative problem solving and field trips to collect and analyze geomorphic data on hill-slopes and streams.
Upon completion of the course, students will have mastered knowledge about diverse surficial geologic processes and landforms, implemented geomorphic analyses through lab exercises and in-class activities, and applied core geomorphic principles to diverse landscapes, including hillslope, glacial, fluvial, eolian, and coastal environments.
GEOG 4371/5371
Forest Geography: Principles and Dynamics
Instructor Dr. Rachel Isaacs rachel.isaacs@colorado.edu
Are you interested in forest ecology and in getting hands-on field experience for a future career in the environment? Have you ever wondered how trees grow so large and live so long? Are you curious about how disturbances such as bark beetles and fire impact our Colorado forests?
If you answered yes, then you should register for Forest Geography! In Forest Geography, we combine a mixture of in-class labs, critical thinking, and lectures to give you a strong foundation in forest ecology. When possible, we try to hold class outside because it is easier to learn about trees when you can see and touch them!
GEOG 4463/5463
Earth Analytics Data Science Bootcamp
Instructor Dr. Leah Wasser, leah.wasser@colorado.edu
This introductory, multidisciplinary course will provide core scientific programming skills required to efficiently work with a suite of earth systems data in Python. The course provides an introduction to the scientific programming, version control and collaboration skills required for efficient workflows. Students learn programming principles like functions and basic automation using loops and syntax. Students also use Git, GitHub, Bash, and Shell for version control and collaborative coding. The course will culminate with a project rather than a final exam. This course is technical. Students will code every day and finish the course with proficiency in using Python and Jupyter notebooks. No programming experience is required to take this course.
In this course students will learn to:
- Write clear, expressive and efficient modular code in Python to process and visualize different data types including spatial, time series and other formats.
- Use programming principles including functions and basic automation with loops and syntax.
- Design and write a basic algorithm to process data.
- Optimize code sharing and reuse through code documentation techniques.
- Employ data management best practices to facilitate efficient workflows and collaboration.
- Use Bash/Shell to navigate the computer directory, create directories and interface with Git/ GitHub.
- Use Git/GitHub and Bash/Shell for version control, reproducible workflows, scientific collaboration and project management.
- Organize documents and directories using sound data management approaches.
- Effectively communicate science and collaborate on interdisciplinary group projects
GEOG 4712/5712
Political Geography
Professor John O'Loughlin, johno@colorado.edu
This course focuses on the international and cross-national perspectives of political geography. It deals with political, economic and social aspects of international relations from a geographical perspective and examines the post Cold War and post 9-11 world. As such, the course has an integrative character and requires basic knowledge about international affairs. Frequent reading of a substantive newspaper or magazine, such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Christian Science Monitor, the Economist or the BBC News webpage (news.bbc.co.uk) would help significantly to acquire (or develop) knowledge of global locations and current events. The course is designed for the upper-division level. It surveys some important aspects of the discipline of political geography but does not engage in a systematic survey of regional issues and conflicts. Instead, case studies of contemporary developments, including the role of nationalism in global South states, the geopolitics of rising powers like China and India, and the causes of environmental and natural resource conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, are used to illustrate key concepts from the lectures and readings.
GEOG 4732/5732
Population Geography
Professor Fernando Riosmena, fernando.riosmena@colorado.edu
This course is an introduction to issues in Human Population Geography, including the study of the basic components of population size/growth and distribution (fertility, mortality, and migration) along with the basics of the mathematics of population change. In addition to surveying some of the most important trends in these (e.g., the HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 pandemics, the opioids epidemic, urbanization in the developing world, international migration to developed nations) we look at specific demographic regimes (most notably, those prevailing previous to and after the Demographic Transition) and their association with development and the environment.
GEOG 4772
The Geography of Food and Agriculture
Instructor Dr. Heide Bruckner, heide.bruckner@colorado.edu
The central place of food in our lives has made food one of the major foci of human existence. How we grow, process, distribute, and consume our food often defines us as a society. In our society, the food system has become the target of enormous critique in the last ten years, and also enormous innovation. How does what we eat define us? What does it mean to eat food made in factories and advertised on television, or to seek out "fresh," local or organic food? How do we use food to define ourselves as men and women, as Americans or punks, or Chinese, as children or adults? What does it mean to eat too much, or too little, and how does it define us as social beings? These are the key questions we'll be asking in this course. This course approaches food from two perspectives. The first is the political economy of food. We will look at food as a commodity, and study where it comes from, how it connects members of different societies and social groups as it travels along the commodity chain, and how it creates social and geopolitical inequalities. We will also study food as culture, including the symbolic meanings of different foods in various world cultures, the role of food in defining gender, national identity, and social class. We'll look at food, memory and place, the relationship between food spaces and gender/race, and the role of food in transnational culture.