Spring 2022 Course Announcements

GEOG 1001
Environmental Systems: Climate and Vegetation

Section 010: Professor Mark Serreze, mark.serreze@colorado.edu
Section 581*: GPTI Meghan Helmberger, meghan.helmberger@colorado.edu

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. 

*Continuing Education (CE) Classes are Billed Separately. If you enroll in both Main Campus and CE classes in the same term, CE tuition will be billed in addition to your Main Campus tuition. This class is not COF eligible.

GEOG 1011
Environmental Systems: Landscapes and Water

Section 010: Dr. John Adler, john.adler@colorado.edu
Section 581*: Dr. Steve Welter, steve.welter@colorado.edu

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.

*Continuing Education (CE) Classes are Billed Separately. If you enroll in both Main Campus and CE classes in the same term, CE tuition will be billed in addition to your Main Campus tuition. This class is not COF eligible.

GEOG 1962
Geographies of Global Change

Section 581*: GPTI Diego Melo, diego.melo@colorado.edu

The course focuses on contemporary issues of the relationship of people to their natural environment. The class has three modules. Module 1 reviews the main consequences for humans of climate change, especially migration, food security and resource scarcities with a focus on Africa. Module 2 examines the interaction of people and nature via the persistent patterns of natural and technological disasters in rich and poor countries. Module 3 examines the power dynamics of gender, race and class as part of environment and development processes involving climate change and environmental justice.

The class is team-taught by three professors who are expert in the respective topics and serves as an introduction to geographic perspectives on matters of contemporary global importance and that involve difficult personal and political choices. The lectures in Spring 2021 are remote while the recitations offer a mix of in-person and remote options.

This class fulfills the Geography MAPS requirement. 

*Continuing Education (CE) Classes are Billed Separately. If you enroll in both Main Campus and CE classes in the same term, CE tuition will be billed in addition to your Main Campus tuition. This class is not COF eligible..

GEOG 1972
Environment-Society Geography

Section 581*: GPTI Phurwa Gurung, phurdhondup.g@colorado.edu
Section 582*: GPTI Phurwa Gurung, phurdhondup.g@colorado.edu

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.

*Continuing Education (CE) Classes are Billed Separately. If you enroll in both Main Campus and CE classes in the same term, CE tuition will be billed in addition to your Main Campus tuition. This class is not COF eligible..

GEOG 1982 
Global Geographies: Societies, Places, Connections

Section 100: Dr. Caitlin Ryan, caitlin.ryan@colorado.edu
Section 581*: Dr. Caitlin Ryan, caitlin.ryan@colorado.edu

This course introduces a comparative and critical framework for understanding world regions. We will examine different regions by looking at their history, geography, and discussing current problems and challenges they face. This includes helping students understand the complexity and interconnectedness of issues such as development, economic growth, income and wealth inequality, colonialism and neocolonialism, political conflict, population, race, and climate change — all in the context of globalization. 

Examples and assignments will link course topics to current events and students' own experiences. 

This course meets the MAPS requirement for social science: Geography. 

*Continuing Education (CE) Classes are Billed Separately. If you enroll in both Main Campus and CE classes in the same term, CE tuition will be billed in addition to your Main Campus tuition. This class is not COF eligible..

GEOG 1992
Human Geographies

Section 581*: GPTI Shruthi Jagadeesh, shruthi.jagadeesh@colorado.edu

The purpose of this course is to introduce you to the core concepts, themes, and concerns of human geography. Human geography is a field that is interested in the social, cultural and political processes that shape and are shaped by the places we inhabit. We will be looking at a range of different processes including globalization and geopolitics, food security, conservation and nature and population dynamics. These topics will allow you to understand some of the complex ways in which we engage with the world and help you to think about local and global relationships as spatial processes.

Developing an understanding of the numerous and interconnected relationships between people and places is increasingly important in our globalizing world. While some see global processes as homogenizing, others experience these processes as exacerbating social, cultural, and economic differences. This course explores both these ideas through several lenses, and gives you the tools to communicate about these processes.

In this course you will work to develop your geographic imagination—that is, a way of seeing and making sense of the interconnectedness of places and people. Along the way, you will also improve your writing and critical thinking skills through written assignments.

This class fulfills the Geography MAPS requirement. 

GEOG 2092
Advanced Introduction to Human Geography

Section 001: Professor Azita Ranjbar, azita.ranjbar@colorado.edu

How do we make sense of humanity’s place in the world, as well as our changing impact on it? What are the causes of uneven development, both between and within different regions? What tools do geographers use to understand and represent human spatiality, and how are these changing?

In this course, we will examine issues of globalization, urbanization, development, migration, natural resource management and the links between landscape and identity. We will use examples from multiple scales, ranging from geopolitical blocs to neighborhood blocks, and from multiple sites around the world. Following Einstein’s advice to explain things “as simply as possible, but not overly so”, the course emphasizes the complexities that make up human geographies, while also teaching tools for unpacking this complexity in the context of social action.

GEOG 2271
Introduction to the Arctic Environment

Section 581*: Dr. Steve Welter, steve.welter@colorado.edu

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.

*Continuing Education (CE) Classes are Billed Separately. If you enroll in both Main Campus and CE classes in the same term, CE tuition will be billed in addition to your Main Campus tuition. This class is not COF eligible..

GEOG 3023
Statistics and Geographic Data

Section 010: Dr. Adam Mahood, adam.mahood@colorado.edu
Section 581: GPTI Francis Naylor, francis.naylor@colorado.edu

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.

*Continuing Education (CE) Classes are Billed Separately. If you enroll in both Main Campus and CE classes in the same term, CE tuition will be billed in addition to your Main Campus tuition. This class is not COF eligible..

GEOG 3053
Geographic Information Science: Mapping

Section 010: 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.

GEOG 3251
Mountain Geography

Section 581*: GPTI Rupak Shrestha, rupak.shrestha@colorado.edu

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.

*Continuing Education (CE) Classes are Billed Separately. If you enroll in both Main Campus and CE classes in the same term, CE tuition will be billed in addition to your Main Campus tuition. This class is not COF eligible..

GEOG 3351
Biogeography

Section 001: Dr. Rachel Isaacs, rachel.isaacs@colorado.edu

“Biodiversity is the totality of all inherited variation in the life forms of Earth, of which we are one species. We study and save it to our great benefit. We ignore and degrade it to our great peril.”  -- E.O. Wilson 

Learn about the evolution and ecology of plants and animals across the globe! Biogeography examines the geography of biological life by employing an interdisciplinary framework. During the course we will delve into the mysteries of endemism and speciation across space and time, covering basic concepts and principles of geographic variation and evolution. This is a student-centric course utilizing a range of learning experiences and instructional approaches. It is a fantastic complement to all upper-level GEOG, ENVS, and EBIO coursework. 

GEOG 3402
Natural Hazards

Section 100: Professor William Travis, william.travis@colorado.edu
Sections *581 & *582: Dr. Samuel Smith, samuel.a.smith@colorado.edu

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.

*Continuing Education (CE) Classes are Billed Separately. If you enroll in both Main Campus and CE classes in the same term, CE tuition will be billed in addition to your Main Campus tuition. This class is not COF eligible..

GEOG 3422
Political Ecology

Section 001: Dr. Heide Bruckner, heide.bruckner@colorado.edu

‘The environment’ figures centrally in our daily lives and academic pursuits, from concerns over climate change and biodiversity loss, to water policy and the environmental consequences of rapid urbanization. Yet we rarely stop to consider the specific historical, political, cultural, and economic contexts of these issues.

A political ecology approach seeks to draw attention to the politics involved in mediating access to resources and in negotiating nature-society relations. This class will consider the power dynamics involved in knowing, managing, and making claims on the environment, including those related to gender, class, race, indigeneity and nationality. We will discuss the creation of political ecology as a specific intellectual perspective, and explore its value for understanding a diversity of topics including water, energy, food systems, urban environmental politics, and conservation in both the global north and global south. You will leave the class with a more complete view of environmental debates and the guiding principles that make political ecology a strong and exciting field.

GEOG 3601 / ATOC 3600 / ENVS 3600
Principles of Climate

Section 001: Professor Peter Blanken, blanken@colorado.edu

This course describes the basic components of the climate system: the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and lithosphere. We will investigate the basic physical processes that determine climate and the link between the components of the climate system. Emphasis is placed on the hydrologic cycle and its role in climate, climate stability, and global change. The theme throughout this course will be an examination of the importance of climate as one of the major forcing functions in environmental change. Both human-induced and natural climate variability will be covered.

GEOG 3612
Geography of American Cities

Section 001: Dr. Heide Bruckner, heide.bruckner@colorado.edu

The 21st century is an urban century with more than 80% of Americans currently living in cities. Cities dominate the economic landscape, and are widely recognized as the epicenter of political activity, creativity, and opportunity. Yet, cities are also the places where inequality is the most visible. The urban environment can be understood as contested territory where differences in power and influence between various socio-economic and racial groups become apparent. This course examines the historical, economic and cultural factors which make cities at once spaces of struggle and possibility. We will apply different theoretical perspectives, ranging from Marxism to community planning, and based on two guiding questions:

• What is the city for?
  • How are urban spaces actively produced, and for what ends?
• Who is the city for?
  • Who is included/excluded in urban spaces, why, and how?

To analyze these questions, we will draw heavily on case studies from around the United States, including Boulder. We will pay special attention to the socio-spatial politics which shape the American urban.

GEOG 3672
Who Runs the World? Sex, Power, and Gender in Geography

Section 001: Professor Azita Ranjbar, azita.ranjbar@colorado.edu

This course will examine how gender and sexuality is constructed locally, nationally, and globally, drawing on conversations about feminist pasts, presents, and futures.

We will focus on how gender intersects with race, class, sexuality, ability, religion, ethnicity, and geopolitical location to structure the lived experiences of women across the globe.

We will apply critical geographic perspectives to gender inequality, exploring the overlaps and differences in women’s and LGBTQ+ struggles as they are shaped by ongoing socio-cultural, political, and economic conditions globally.

GEOG 3682
Geography of International Development

Section 581*: GPTI Gabriella Subia Smith, gabriella.subia.smith@colorado.edu
Section 582*: GPTI Diego Melo, diego.melo@colorado.edu

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.

*Continuing Education (CE) Classes are Billed Separately. If you enroll in both Main Campus and CE classes in the same term, CE tuition will be billed in addition to your Main Campus tuition. This class is not COF eligible.

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: Dr. Caitlin Ryan, caitlin.ryan@colorado.edu

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. Students will read and discuss case studies on global health, conduct a guided semester-long research project on the health of a developing country, and take 3 non- cumulative exams. This is a 4-credit course.

*Continuing Education (CE) Classes are Billed Separately. If you enroll in both Main Campus and CE classes in the same term, CE tuition will be billed in addition to your Main Campus tuition. This class is not COF eligible.

GEOG 3742
Place, Power and Contemporary Culture

Section 581*: GPTI Gabriella Subia Smith, gabriella.subiasmith@colorado.edu

Geography is primarily concerned with understanding the world and our place in it. However, the world as we know it is not absolute, prearranged, or even agreed upon; it is continuously remade through our everyday interactions with place, things and one another. Additionally, our understandings of the world are very much informed by our own perspectives and positions in the world in relation to the perspectives and positions of others. Understanding global inequality, social justice and possibilities for change requires a careful consideration of how these interactions and relationships are shaped by place, power and culture. In this class we will follow some of the major historical, geographic and cultural phenomena that have shaped and continue to shape our world today. From Colonialism to Big Data, we will investigate the larger structures and institutions as well as the situated knowledge and practices that go into making our world.

*Continuing Education (CE) Classes are Billed Separately. If you enroll in both Main Campus and CE classes in the same term, CE tuition will be billed in addition to your Main Campus tuition. This class is not COF eligible.

GEOG 3812
Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean

Section 001: Professor Joe Bryan, jbryan@colorado.edu

"Poor Mexico! So far from God and so close to the United States.” This phrase is often used to characterize not only Mexico’s complicated geopolitical relationship to the United States, but also that of Central America and the Caribbean. This course develops a critical geographical approach to understand this sentiment, analyzing the social relation, physical qualities, and political economic divisions that shape this region. We will focus on the human dimensions of these relationships, developing an understanding of how this region has come to be, the forces that shape it, and its contemporary place in the world.

GEOG 3822
Geography of China

Section 581*: GPTI Fan Li, fan.li@colorado.edu
Section 582*: GPTI Fan Li, fan.li@colorado.edu

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, environment, energy, and climate change.

*Continuing Education (CE) Classes are Billed Separately. If you enroll in both Main Campus and CE classes in the same term, CE tuition will be billed in addition to your Main Campus tuition. This class is not COF eligible.

GEOG 3882
Geography of the Former Soviet Union

Section 001: Professor John O’Loughlin johno@colorado.edu

Russia has been in the news a lot recently, with much attention to Vladimir Putin and his actions. The former Soviet Union is a hugely complex place and is changing rapidly in diverse ways. The course goals are to give students the background to understand contemporary events. We will focus on contemporary Russian geographies with special attention to political, social and environmental developments since 2000. Russian foreign policy and Russian interventions in the 'near abroad' (countries bordering Russia) will be examined as well as internal conflicts around religious identities, civil liberties, and environmental crimes. 

Readings are a mix of academic articles and books/accounts for an educated public. Students will write a book review (of a selection of contemporary works), term paper, 4 short responses/reviews, and a take-home final exam.

GEOG 4002-001/IAFS 4500-008
Topics in Human and Environment/Society Geography: Climate Change-Social Outcomes

Section 001: Professor John O’Loughlin, johno@colorado.edu

There is growing recognition of the punishing effects of climate change, depicted in the recent Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6^th assessment in 2021.  This class will focus on social, political, economic and health outcomes, both evident to date and projected for the next 25 years.   The instructor will present the evidence to date and the projections of global warming, seasonal changes, floods, sea-level rise and other climate changes. With special consideration of the 2015 Paris Climate treaty commitments, actions by various governments will be examined.  The impact on citizens across the globe – including food security, floods, displacements and migrations, and violent outcomes – are key modules of the course. We will document the effects of climate change in both rich and poor countries with examples from China, the United States, sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and the Arctic.   

GEOG 4003/5100
Topics in Geographic Skills – Advanced Remote Sensing

Section 010: Dr. John Adler, john.adler@colorado.edu

The “Advanced Remote Sensing” course is a follow-on to the prerequisite class “Introduction to Remote Sensing” (GEOG/GEOL 4093/5093). Advances in cloud computing, cube satellites, and private space-based earth observation companies have pushed global data collection efforts from various new remote sensing platforms. This course will focus on advanced data analysis techniques from visible, hyperspectral, radar, and lidar systems via neural network algorithms & some traditional methodologies. Commercial and open-sourced software will be utilized to apply spatial and atmospheric corrections to imagery, and by aggregating datasets, we will extract the maximum amount of useful information. Students will be able to apply these advanced techniques to environmental issues that challenge our global community. 

GEOG 4023/5023
Advanced Quantitative Methods for Spatial Data

Section 010: Professor Seth Spielman, seth.spielman@colorado.edu

Methods and models for analyzing spatial data are new and in many cases, quite complex. The special nature of spatial data means that geospatial researchers need to develop tools and methods that are specific to spatial data, but that are easy to combine with other forms of analysis. This course covers a number of techniques aimed at the analysis and understanding of spatial data. We will cover statistical methods that are commonly used in geography including hypothesis tests, linear and non-linear regression, spatial and temporal autocorrelation, spatial modeling, geographically weighted regression, spatial lag and spatial error models, and other geocomputational methods. 

Students will receive exposure to the latest issues, statistical approaches, and application perspectives. Lectures, classroom discussions, reading assignments, and lab exercises will provide students with hands-on training and problem-solving experience. The course will be of interest to students interested in the analysis of geospatial data from a variety of perspectives, including human and natural environments. 

GEOG 4103/5103
Geographic Information Science: Spatial Analytics

Section 010: Instructor Sarah Kelly, sarah.kelly@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 4292/5292
Migration, (Im)migrant Adaptation, and Development

Section 001: Professor Fernando Riosmena, fernando.riosmena@colorado.edu, @riosmenf

Are you interested in understanding why people choose or have no other choice but to migrate, especially across borders? Want to better understand the current refugee “crises” around the world, and whether they are crisis (and of which kind)? Want more elements to assess whether climate change is going to create more displacement in the future (or already is doing so)? Want to understand the root causes of irregular/undocumented migration, and explore the ways in which immigration policy can better manage immigration and avoid irregular movement?

Do you want to get a better sense of the consequences of migration for migrants, the societies they leave, and the places they settle into? Is uprooting worth it for people? Regardless, does it create benefits for those left behind and sending communities more generally? Do immigrants hinder the economic prospects of natives in destinations, or do they take the jobs natives do not want? 

In this course, we will cover all of these issues, examining the theories that explain why people move and learning about important transnational migrations in history and today, very much including flows of refugees, asylum-seekers, and others displaced by political turmoil or violence, as well as by climate and other forms of environmental change. While the second half of the class has more of a U.S. focus, examining historical and contemporary inflows from around the globe, we also cover other very important migration systems, including (with varying degrees of depth) the European Union, Australia, or the Gulf Cooperation Council. For these reasons, this class can either satisfy Global or U.S. Diversity General Education Requirements. 

Contact Professor Fernando Riosmena if you have any questions about the class.

GEOG 4303/5303
Geographic Information Science: Spatial Programming

Section 010: Instructor Philip B. White, philip.white@colorado.edu

Do you want to enter the job market as a competitive GIS modeler with programming skills? This course will help you get there. It focuses on the extension of geographic information systems (GIS) through programming as well as on the development of algorithms for spatial analysis and information extraction in vector and raster data. We will cover different concepts, principles and techniques of programming that help you to solve a variety of spatial problems in physical and human Geography. You will learn how to work with Python for Geoprocessing in ArcGIS as well as for spatial programming in gridded data using numpy, scipy and other open source libraries. Furthermore, you will understand the basic ideas of object-oriented and procedural programming. You will develop skills to explore, handle, manipulate, and model spatial data as well as methods development. Lectures will include numerous demonstrations and hands-on examples as well as algorithmic exercises. In labs you will work on solving typical programming and implementation problems that you will encounter in the real world. During the last weeks of the term students will work in small groups on a proposed project to deepen their programming knowledge, improve their GIS proficiency and train their presentation and communication skills.

Prerequisites: 1) GEOG 4103/5103 or comparable is required. 2) Working experience with ArcGIS 10x. 3) Additional coursework such as GEOG 4203/5203 would be helpful. 4) Programming experience is not a prerequisite.

GEOG 4321/5321
Snow Hydrology

Section 010: Dr. Keith Musselman, keith.musselman@colorado.edu

Are you interested in the various processes related to snow in mid-latitude and polar areas? You will learn the physics and chemistry that underlie processes such as snow metamorphism, and apply this knowledge to real situations, including calculation of basin storage of water, runoff rates, acid snow, and avalanche dynamics. 

The course will cover snow formation in the atmosphere, snow accumulation and distribution, snow metamorphism, avalanche dynamics, snowmelt and runoff, remote sensing of snow properties, and case studies in the Rockies and Sierra Nevada. 

Prerequisites are a physical geography course or equivalent, and a parametric statistics course.

GEOG 4401/5401
Soils Geography

Section 001: Dr. Preston Cumming, preston.cumming@colorado.edu

Soils lie at the intersection of all areas of physical geography. They develop as a result of environmental factors of climate and surface hydrology; on parent material developed from local bedrock and sediments; are modified by local geomorphic processes and topographic relationships; and co-evolve with biotic systems such as plant communities and microorganisms. To many, soils are often thought of as "dirt", but through this class we will realize that soils are the foundation of all terrestrial life. We depend on soils and landscapes for a wide range of ecosystem services (e.g., water and climate regulation, food provision, biodiversity). This course will allow us to gain in-depth understanding on patterns, processes and interactions in time and space between natural soil and landscape forming processes and human interventions. Topics to be covered will be identifying and characterizing elementary aspects of soil formation; discussing basic soil physical, chemical, biological, and morphological properties; explaining the behavior of solis in managed and natural landscapes; and identify soil orders in the US.

Prerequisite: GEOG 1011

GEOG 4403/5403
Geographic Information System: Space Time Analytics

Section 001: Professor Guofeng Cao, guofeng.cao@colorado.edu

We live in a dynamic and ever-changing world. Knowledge of the tools, techniques, and theories behind spatio-temporal data and analysis is therefore essential to understanding the dynamics of most systems on the planet. In this course, we focus on understanding processes (be they human, natural, social, or physical) through data-driven analysis and modeling of patterns in spatio-temporal data. This course is designed to introduce you to a wide range of topics and ideas around observing, modeling, and understanding dynamic systems in Geography, Environmental Science, Climate Science and related fields. As such, we will cover a wide range of topics, including spatio-temporal data, machine-learning, modeling, visualization, time-geography, and various contemporary issues/new directions in spatio-temporal analytics.

This is an advanced course in quantitative and theoretical methods for spatio-temporal analysis. As such, some background in R or Python is highly recommended (though not required).

GEOG 4501/5501
Water Resources and Water Management of Western United States

Section 001: Professor William Travis, william.travis@colorado.edu

This course serves upper-division undergraduate students and grad students. It starts with a broad geographical overview of water resources in the American West, drawing on primary and secondary literature to define the physical and social dimensions of western water and to explicate key elements like regional hydrology (e.g., snowpack and runoff), urban/industrial/agricultural demand and use, and the physical (e.g., dams, canals, and tunnels) and institutional (e.g., water rights, allocation compacts, legal precedents) mechanisms by which water is managed for economic and ecological values. The coursework leads to a capstone project addressing key issues in water managements, with groups investigating subjects such as the effects of climate change, revising the Colorado River Compact, urban-rural interactions, and specific water system case studies. Students will become conversant in detail with selected aspects of western water that can be a base for expertise and career tracks associated with water resources analysis and management.

GEOG 4503/5503
Geographic Information Science: Project Management

Section 001: Instructor Sarah Kelly, sarah.kelly@colorado.edu

Have you taken Cartography or GIS and want to tackle a real project with real data? Are you looking to complete an Honor’s or Master’s thesis which has a mapping/GIS component? Maybe you’re thinking about going out into industry or nonprofit work after you graduate, and want to have a better grasp on how to manage a project from the ground up? Then this class is for you!

You will gain confidence in project planning and scoping, obtaining data, creating a realistic timeline and budget, understanding team dynamics and how it impacts your project’s success, evaluating project progress, and solving issues that will inevitably arise. The class offers an opportunity to work through a project from start to finish, with help and guidance on technical aspects, conceptual approaches, and on effectively communicating results.