Class Schedules

This course introduces students to geography, a dynamic field that focuses on human-environment interactions, spatial patterns, global connections, and regional differences. Students learn key analytical tools, concepts, and perspectives in geography and then explore the significance of these for understanding our world. Students also gain analytical and critical thinking skills unique to geography that will enrich their education in the liberal arts and propel them along their chosen career path or specialization. Course assignments emphasize hands-on and field-based learning activities. This is one of three introductory course options in geography. This course surveys agricultural development and change, economic growth and decline, migration, population dynamics, urbanization, and other core geography topics. Students explore these issues to understand how human societies organize and interact with their environments and why patterns exist in local places. Students may take only one of GEOG-111, GEOG-113, or GEOG-115 as an introductory course for the Geography major or minor (students can also earn credit equivalent to this course by scoring a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Exam in Human Geography).

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course introduces students to geography, a dynamic field that focuses on human-environment interactions, spatial patterns, global connections, and regional differences. This is one of three introductory course options in geography. In this course, we explore the epistemological and methodological bases of human geography. We start with the histories and paradigms of geography and advance to key geographic concepts such as space, time, place, scale, landscape, system, nature, development, globalization, and risk. We will also survey approaches to practicing human geography and consider vital questions like what data to use, which methods to employ, and what analyses to perform. Course assignments emphasize hands-on and field-based learning activities that aim to empower students to engage with the world around them and produce geographic knowledge. By bringing the "knowing" and the "doing" of human geography together, this course aims to help students appreciate that human geography is not a collection of geographical facts, but an intellectual institution always open to new perspectives and approaches, and constantly evolving with our societies. Students will gain analytical and critical thinking skills unique to geography that will enrich their liberal arts education and propel them along their chosen career paths or specializations. Students may take only one of GEOG-111, GEOG-113, or GEOG-115 as an introductory course for the Geography major or minor (students can also earn credit equivalent to this course by scoring a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Exam in Human Geography).

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course offers an introduction to the patterns and processes that shape Earth's physical environments, with a focus on understanding human interactions within these systems. Topics covered include the fundamental principles of climate and weather, water resources, landforms, earth surface processes, vegetation, and ecosystem dynamics at global and regional scales. We will also learn how the spatial and temporal patterns of these processes are interpreted and understood using maps produced from Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Position System (GPS) and satellite imagery. Using selected studies we will also examine the social forces that interact with many of these systems to gain insights into the broader understanding of the socio-environmental dynamics of these physical environments. The course consists of lectures, discussions, hands-on exercises, field excursions, and exams.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

This course provides an introduction to cartography, visualization, and analyses of geospatial data, as well as hands-on experience with geospatial technologies in the GIS laboratory. Students will learn the basics of mapping/cartography (e.g. scale, projections, map design) and Geographic Information Systems. Students will create maps with commonly used digital data (e.g., aerial photographs, census boundaries, digital elevation models, etc.), and master basic methods of spatial analyses. Both concepts and techniques will be taught in this course. Hands-on assignments include classification of demographic data and query/analysis of vector and raster data. One and one half laboratory hours per week required. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q2

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course provides an introduction to cartography, visualization, and analyses of geospatial data, as well as hands-on experience with geospatial technologies in the GIS laboratory. Students will learn the basics of mapping/cartography (e.g. scale, projections, map design) and Geographic Information Systems. Students will create maps with commonly used digital data (e.g., aerial photographs, census boundaries, digital elevation models, etc.), and master basic methods of spatial analyses. Both concepts and techniques will be taught in this course. Hands-on assignments include classification of demographic data and query/analysis of vector and raster data. One and one half laboratory hours per week required. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course provides an introduction to cartography, visualization, and analyses of geospatial data, as well as hands-on experience with geospatial technologies in the GIS laboratory. Students will learn the basics of mapping/cartography (e.g. scale, projections, map design) and Geographic Information Systems. Students will create maps with commonly used digital data (e.g., aerial photographs, census boundaries, digital elevation models, etc.), and master basic methods of spatial analyses. Both concepts and techniques will be taught in this course. Hands-on assignments include classification of demographic data and query/analysis of vector and raster data. One and one half laboratory hours per week required. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course introduces you to the study of human-environment interactions from a geographic perspective, with a special emphasis on food and agriculture.  We examine environmental issues in a variety of geographic contexts (Global South and Global North) and the connections between environmental problems in different locations.  Beyond agriculture, we also explore other sectoral issues in relation to farming and food security.  These themes include: human population growth, consumption, biodiversity, climate change, and environmental health.  We try on a number of theoretical lenses from geography's broad human-environment tradition (such as physical geography, cultural ecology, commodity chain analysis, political ecology, resource geography, the human dimensions of global change, hazards geography and environmental justice).  In other words, we not only explore a range of agricultural and environmental issues, but also grapple with theory and how this informs our understanding of the human-environment interface.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course investigates how nations and nationalism affect social identity and the organization of territory in our world. Political geography offers concepts and approaches to help us think through the complex intersections of people, place, and politics that constitute the struggle to create and maintain nation-states. Thus the first part of the course is devoted to enhancing your understanding of core concepts, such as nation, state, territory, sovereignty, scale, borders, and geographical imagination. The ultimate purpose of this first part of the course then is to assemble a framework for understanding why our contemporary organization of territory throughout the world looks the way it does. Equipped with these foundations, we explore topics in the second part of class that help you think critically about the stability of nations and the organization of territory into the nation-state system as well as challenges to these institutions. Toward this end, you will also conduct an independent research project on a single group's attempt to foster national self-determination. Throughout the course, we will bring our investigations to bear on everyday life, exploring how nations and nationalism shape our world in dramatic and mundane ways.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course focuses on one of the world's most vibrant regions, Latin America and the Caribbean. Extending from the Rio Grande to Tierra del Fuego, this world region stretches across diverse landscapes, from tropical rainforests to the snowcapped peaks of the Andes, from mega-cities to verdant plains and sparsely populated deserts. This course is a broad introduction to Latin American environments and peoples from a geographic perspective, with emphasis on human-environment processes. Major topics include the dynamics of climate, physical geography, and natural hazards; how indigenous peoples of the Americas transformed their environments, especially through agriculture; how European colonialism and the Columbian Exchange altered patterns of land use, labor, and trade; the development patterns of modern nation-states within a globalized economy; the environmental and social impacts of commodity production (e.g. coffee in Central America, rubber in the Amazon); challenges to and persistence of small-scale agriculture in the Andean region; the causes and consequences of tropical deforestation; conflicts over land and natural resources; the resilience and political resurgence of indigenous groups and people of African descent, and the evolution of pluriethnic or multinational states; and the causes of mass urbanization and the environmental problems of cities. Along the way, we will examine the human-environment geography of various regions and countries such as The Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, Brazil, the Andean Countries, and Argentina.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course focuses on the foundations of American urban development, from economic development to land use to housing patterns, and examines how and why urban housing markets operate as they do within American metropolitan regions. Topics covered in the course include: the metropolitan economy, land use patterns, urban housing supply and demand, the geography of urban housing markets, racial residential segregation, suburbanization, transportation, and public policy debates. By the end of the course, students will have mastered some of the methods used to describe metropolitan organization and change, and be able to analyze how changes in the economy and society relate to metropolitan land use.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q2

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course focuses on the statistical methods that geographers use to describe and analyze places and themes. Students will learn both descriptive and inferential statistical methods for use in geographical research, including exploratory data analysis techniques, spatial statistics, geographic sampling, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis. The course provides students with experience in the application of statistical methods to spatial problems through the use of statistical software. Students will also learn to evaluate and develop statistical research designs, including preparation and presentation of an original research project. Prerequisite(s): Geography Major or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

With the rising power of alt-right figures like RFK, Jr. in the health policy of the second Trump administration, the world of public health seems more contested than ever. Although the current atmosphere of partisan polarization may be especially intense, public health and medicine have often been at the center of political conflict. This course traces the origins, causes, and enduring effects of public health controversies and conspiracy theories, past and present, internationally and domestically. We will examine several (in)famous historical episodes: the "Revolt against the Vaccine" in early 20th century Brazil, a reaction of the urban poor to displacement by modern city planning; the Tuskegee syphilis study, an unethical experiment on African-Americans supported by the US government; recurrent controversies over fluoridation of the public water supply, with origins in anti-communist conspiracy theories of the 1950s and 1960s; how sterilization rumors hampered polio vaccination campaigns in Nigeria and Pakistan; and how misinformation about the causes of autism undermines childhood vaccination in the US. Along the way, we explore major themes in public health policy and ethics: What factors promote public trust (or distrust) in science? How can public health officials allay genuine public concerns about the safety of health interventions? What role has the media played in exposing questionable interventions, stirring up conspiracy theories, and setting the parameters of permissible debate? This course also encourages empathetic examination of the many sides of health controversies, including how to avoid methodological pitfalls like confirmation bias, ideological echo chambers, and presentism. Students will put such reasoning and analysis skills to work in a research project using primary source materials on a specific public health controversy of their choice.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course explores the intersections of the economy, labor, value, gender, and everyday life tounderstand the diverse experiences of the socio-political-economy. In the first module of this course,we read and discuss early and influential theories regarding capital, neoliberalism, and “theeconomy” and then interrogate these literatures from a feminist lens. The second module centersaround topics of work and labor – specifically looking at the gendered division of labor, unpaidlabor, affective and emotional labor, and more – within and beyond the neoliberal economy. Thethird module turns to alternative economic futures and looks at theory and empirical examples ofdiverse economies, community economies, degrowth, universal basic-income schemas, and more asalternatives to neoliberalism. The final module of the class turns to non-academic scholarship, suchas films, science fiction, speculative fiction, short essays, memoirs, etc., to understand how creativeindividuals have re-theorized our futures and in what ways these overlap and diverge from academicunderstandings. To engage with these ideas, the course combines, lectures, readings, podcasts, andclass discussions. Some course assignments will include weekly reading responses, podcastrecordings, group work, and a ‘possibilities’ project where students imagine a post-capitalist future.Together, this course encourages us to imagine and practice economies differently, specificallyasking: how might feminist economic geography help us not only critique neoliberalism, but alsocultivate more just, sustainable, and abundant futures?

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Since the last century, Asia has experienced rapid urbanization. It is now home to over half of the world's most populated cities. By 2010, the urban population in the Asia-Pacific region had surpassed the population of the United States and the European Union combined. In this course, we will focus on cities in East, Southeast and South Asia. We will first contextualize the rapid urbanization in the region's changing political economy, and identify urban issues that are unique to this region. We will further explore different theoretical approaches to understand Asian cities; several of them challenge mainstream urban theories rooted in the experiences of West European and North American cities. Upon the completion of this course, students will acquire substantive knowledge on contemporary trends of urban development in Asia, and develop familiarity with related ongoing theoretical debates. In addition, students will conduct individual research projects to develop a deeper and more concrete understanding of the contemporary urbanization processes in Asia.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive introduction to the theory and application of digital imagery data analysis in geographic research. It places a strong emphasis on developing both a conceptual understanding of fundamental remote sensing concepts and practical skills for analyzing human-environmental issues such as deforestation, urban expansion, or other changes in land surface across space or time. The focus is on the interpretation and applications of data from spaceborne systems (e.g. Landsat, Sentinel-2), but other sources of remote sensing data (e.g. unmanned aerial vehicles) will be introduced too. The course structure includes f lecture periods to explore specific remote sensing f concepts, hands-on labs that take students through the major mapping and analysis methods, and individual student projects. A basic understanding of geographic data is recommended to take this class. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course introduces students to the geographic study of development around the world, with a particular emphasis on the Global South. The geographic approach emphasizes: the highly uneven nature of development; processes that link and differentiate various areas of the world; connections between development and the natural resource base; and the power relations inherent in development discourse. The course has three main sections: an introduction to development theory; an investigation of various development themes; and an intense exploration of what works and what doesn't in development practice. While much of the development literature has focused on failure, a specific aim of this course will be to uncover and interrogate success stories.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course builds on skills learned in the introductory Geographic Information Systems (GIS) course, focusing explicitly on geospatial techniques used for analyzing problems in public health. Mainly through lectures, discussions, hands-on lab exercises, and collaborative group work, students will learn to use advanced GIS tools to visualize and analyze public health issues, including: health disparities; neighborhood effects on health; spatial clustering of disease events, such as cancers; environmental health and environmental justice; infectious and vector-borne disease; and accessibility of populations to health care services. The course builds skills in spatial thinking, statistical and epidemiological reasoning, logical inference, critical use of data, geovisualization, and research project design. Students will be required to complete a final independent project on a topic of their choice. Laboratory work is required. Prerequisite(s): GEOG 225 and permission of instructor; completion of GEOG 256 and/or STAT 125 is highly encouraged before taking this course.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course introduces students to advanced topics in remote sensing analysis and is directed to students who want to work on a research project of their own choice. Introduction to some advanced remote sensing techniques such as the use of machine learning algorithms in image classification analysis (e.g. Random Forests) and time series analysis will be provided, but ultimately topics will be defined by students' interest. Advanced remote sensing techniques will be learned using Google Earth Engine (GEE). GEE is a cloud-based geospatial analysis platform that uses JavaScript and that enables large scale processing of satellite and other types of imagery. No previous coding experience is required and given the project-based nature of the class, students can opt to use GEE or another geospatial software for their projects. Students are expected to build a body of literature related to a topic of their choice, lead discussions, analyze data, peer-review other projects, and other steps related to the production of a scientific paper. The ultimate goal is to produce a "research manuscript" by the end of the semester and the majority of the grade will come from completing the steps leading to manuscript production. Prerequisite(s): GEOG 362

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The purpose of this course is to understand the practices and concepts that constitute the movement for sustainable cities and investigate the ways urban sustainability initiatives are generated and how they vary geographically. The course adopts a political economy perspective to trace the complex interactions of institutions, politics, and economic systems that shape initiatives for more sustainable cities. Students will work in the first part of the course to enhance their understanding of core concepts and best practices that constitute the professional field of sustainable urban development and assemble a framework for analyzing the ways sustainability initiatives come to fruition and approach the idea of sustainability in a particular way. Equipped with this framework, we then analyze case studies in the second part of course that focus on the meaning of sustainability, its practice internationally, and the ultimate impact of these practices on ecological balance, economic sustainability, and social equity in the urban environment. Toward these ends, students will conduct a semester-long capstone research project that investigates a particular urban sustainability initiative in the world by tracing the political economy of its creation and considering its impact on society, economy, and environment. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course introduces students to geography, a dynamic field that focuses on human-environment interactions, spatial patterns, global connections, and regional differences. Students learn key analytical tools, concepts, and perspectives in geography and then explore the significance of these for understanding our world. Students also gain analytical and critical thinking skills unique to geography that will enrich their education in the liberal arts and propel them along their chosen career path or specialization. Course assignments emphasize hands-on and field-based learning activities. This is one of three introductory course options in geography. This course surveys agricultural development and change, economic growth and decline, migration, population dynamics, urbanization, and other core geography topics. Students explore these issues to understand how human societies organize and interact with their environments and why patterns exist in local places. Students may take only one of GEOG-111, GEOG-113, or GEOG-115 as an introductory course for the Geography major or minor (students can also earn credit equivalent to this course by scoring a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Exam in Human Geography).

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Urban ecology is both a concept and a field of study. It focuses on the interactions between humans, urban ecosystems, and the built environment. With over half of the world's population now living in cities, cities have assumed a critical role in shaping local, regional, and global ecologies. In this course, we will examine the distinctiveness of the interconnected urban biophysical, socio-economic, and political processes. In order to disentangle the complexity of human-environment relations in cities, we will take an interdisciplinary approach and learn theories and concepts in natural science ecology, environmental studies, geography, urban planning, sociology, and public policies. We will use our campus and the Twin Cities as a "living laboratory" and apply these theories and concepts to laboratory exercises, field observation, case studies, and research on contemporary urban sustainability initiatives.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course offers an introduction to the patterns and processes that shape Earth's physical environments, with a focus on understanding human interactions within these systems. Topics covered include the fundamental principles of climate and weather, water resources, landforms, earth surface processes, vegetation, and ecosystem dynamics at global and regional scales. We will also learn how the spatial and temporal patterns of these processes are interpreted and understood using maps produced from Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Position System (GPS) and satellite imagery. Using selected studies we will also examine the social forces that interact with many of these systems to gain insights into the broader understanding of the socio-environmental dynamics of these physical environments. The course consists of lectures, discussions, hands-on exercises, field excursions, and exams.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Natural science and mathematics

Course Materials

This course provides an introduction to cartography, visualization, and analyses of geospatial data, as well as hands-on experience with geospatial technologies in the GIS laboratory. Students will learn the basics of mapping/cartography (e.g. scale, projections, map design) and Geographic Information Systems. Students will create maps with commonly used digital data (e.g., aerial photographs, census boundaries, digital elevation models, etc.), and master basic methods of spatial analyses. Both concepts and techniques will be taught in this course. Hands-on assignments include classification of demographic data and query/analysis of vector and raster data. One and one half laboratory hours per week required. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q2

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course provides an introduction to cartography, visualization, and analyses of geospatial data, as well as hands-on experience with geospatial technologies in the GIS laboratory. Students will learn the basics of mapping/cartography (e.g. scale, projections, map design) and Geographic Information Systems. Students will create maps with commonly used digital data (e.g., aerial photographs, census boundaries, digital elevation models, etc.), and master basic methods of spatial analyses. Both concepts and techniques will be taught in this course. Hands-on assignments include classification of demographic data and query/analysis of vector and raster data. One and one half laboratory hours per week required. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This course provides an introduction to cartography, visualization, and analyses of geospatial data, as well as hands-on experience with geospatial technologies in the GIS laboratory. Students will learn the basics of mapping/cartography (e.g. scale, projections, map design) and Geographic Information Systems. Students will create maps with commonly used digital data (e.g., aerial photographs, census boundaries, digital elevation models, etc.), and master basic methods of spatial analyses. Both concepts and techniques will be taught in this course. Hands-on assignments include classification of demographic data and query/analysis of vector and raster data. One and one half laboratory hours per week required. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This course introduces you to the study of human-environment interactions from a geographic perspective, with a special emphasis on food and agriculture.  We examine environmental issues in a variety of geographic contexts (Global South and Global North) and the connections between environmental problems in different locations.  Beyond agriculture, we also explore other sectoral issues in relation to farming and food security.  These themes include: human population growth, consumption, biodiversity, climate change, and environmental health.  We try on a number of theoretical lenses from geography's broad human-environment tradition (such as physical geography, cultural ecology, commodity chain analysis, political ecology, resource geography, the human dimensions of global change, hazards geography and environmental justice).  In other words, we not only explore a range of agricultural and environmental issues, but also grapple with theory and how this informs our understanding of the human-environment interface.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course provides students a basic understanding of the most important biophysical and social characteristics of the dominant landscapes of the Neotropics. The Neotropical realm refers to the biogeographic region that includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and South America's temperate zone. These areas provide a range of services-both locally and globally-including water sources, climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation. They are also home to various human populations and support the livelihood of local and global human populations. Among others, these include tropical rain forests, Andean páramos, tropical dry forests, wetlands, deserts and temperate forests of southern South America. For each of these landscapes, we will learn the key biophysical processes that govern their functioning. We also study the peoples that live in them including indigenous communities, afro-descendants, and mestizos. Finally, using examples of these areas, we also analyze human-environment interactions including land-use change, biodiversity, resource and cultural conservation, and climate change impacts and responses.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course introduces you to the interdisciplinary study of cities and emphasizes a geographical lens. The central point of the course is to examine how the built environments of cities are shaped by human activity and how, in turn, urban life is shaped by the built environment. The course focuses on American cities and Minneapolis-St. Paul in particular. This course takes advantage of Macalester's location by introducing you to the urban environment of the Twin Cities and connecting you to its history, landscapes, communities, and institutions through case studies, field study exercises, and visits with experts working in organizations and institutions in the local community. This course will demand a lot from you, but it should be a lot of fun and offer a formative learning experience, not only about cities, but about the discipline of geography, the liberal arts, and even yourself. Field work required.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course explores the ways in which diverse groups of people interact with the natural environment to produce the contemporary landscapes (human and physical) and regional differentiation (social and cultural) of the U.S. and Canada. The course emphasizes patterns of human settlement, economic activity, and land use, with special attention given to social and legal issues relevant to Native populations in the U.S. and the historic and current status and development of Native lands. Case studies and a field study to the Boreal Forest region of northern Minnesota will be used to demonstrate broad themes at a more personal scale.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This class goes beyond the superficial media interpretations of the world's second largest region to complicate and ground our understanding of this fascinating continent. As geographers, we will place contemporary African developments in a historical and global context. Africa has a long history of influencing and being influenced by the outside world. Among other issues, we will explore how colonialism, and even more recent 'development' initiatives, have influenced current structures in Africa.  Furthermore, we will examine what restrictions, if any, the current world economic system places on development possibilities for the continent. The course provides a basic background in African history and bio-physical environments, leading to discussion of advanced topics in contemporary African studies. We will cover a broad range of sectoral themes, including: health and population dynamics; food and agriculture; cities and urbanization; rural life; parks and peoples; development and underdevelopment; politics and governance; and sociocultural geography and music.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Whether the twenty-first century will be dominated by the "rising Asia" has spurred recurring debates in policy and academic circles. But what is Asia? How can we understand this diverse region where more than half of the world's population resides? In this course, we will first deconstruct the idea of Asia as a cartographic entity to excavate the layered social-cultural meaning and geographical diversity of the "Asias." We will also place the "Asias" in a global context to reveal how contemporary Asia anchors the changing world political economy and cultural imaginations outside the West. We will begin with important theoretical debates on (East) Asian development that prevailed in the 1980s and 1990s, including discussions about the colonial past, the path-dependency of development and uneven industrialization, regional disparities and mega-urbanization. We will then use these debates as the foundation to explore the contemporary globalizing Asia. What are the important connections between Asian countries, and with other parts of the world? What are the roles of the "Asias" in international governance and geo-politics? Can China replace the United States as the dominant geo-economic power? These are the questions we will explore in this course.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course examines the geographical dimensions of health and disease, emphasizing global and domestic public health issues. Key approaches and themes include the social determinants of health; health equity; how place influences individual health; health equity; epidemiological mapping and spatial analysis; environmental health; environmental justice; the relationship among demographic change, economic development, and population health; the geography of pandemics; the disease ecology approach to infectious and vector-borne diseases; and the challenges of global health governance in the 21st century, with special emphasis on emerging infectious diseases.

General Education Requirements:
Internationalism

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course focuses on the foundations of American urban development, from economic development to land use to housing patterns, and examines how and why urban housing markets operate as they do within American metropolitan regions. Topics covered in the course include: the metropolitan economy, land use patterns, urban housing supply and demand, the geography of urban housing markets, racial residential segregation, suburbanization, transportation, and public policy debates. By the end of the course, students will have mastered some of the methods used to describe metropolitan organization and change, and be able to analyze how changes in the economy and society relate to metropolitan land use.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q2
Quantitative Thinking Q1

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
Internationalism OR U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course investigates the ways that public spaces in cities function in theory and in practice to support democratic life. Our investigation will critically assess geographer Don Mitchell's provocative claim that we may be seeing "the end of public space." Privatization trends in urban development (including "hostile design") and a narrowing scope of who qualifies as part of "the public" has certainly born out this claim. At the same time, there's also a renewed interest among citizens and urbanists alike in the importance of public space as well as grassroots and professional efforts to re-claim and re-program open space for public purposes and use digital technologies to create new types of space to support public engagement. These tensions prompt questions about how to design socially inclusive public spaces. Such questions are at the heart of this course. Toward this aim, the course examines theoretical and philosophical perspectives regarding the ways in which the design and use of public spaces are thought to support democratic citizenship and build inclusive cities. We will also learn about the social and political institutions that govern the decisions affecting how public spaces are created and managed in a variety of contexts. Our consideration of the "end of public space" thesis will draw extensively on students' field work in the Twin Cities and the course will take several field trips to public spaces in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Students will learn and practice field methods crucial to the study of public spaces. Using frameworks and methods learned in the class, students will complete an independent field study project of a particular public space in the Twin Cities. This will entail routine visits to off-campus locations for several weeks in order to observe and study the use and design of public space. Individual work will be incorporated into A Field Guide to Public Spaces, https://publicspaces.guide, a digital platform for public scholarship concerning public space. Collectively, the projects will inform our critical examination of the claim that in cities today, we are witnessing the end of public space. Fieldwork is required. Prerequisite(s): Geography Major or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive introduction to the theory and application of digital imagery data analysis in geographic research. It places a strong emphasis on developing both a conceptual understanding of fundamental remote sensing concepts and practical skills for analyzing human-environmental issues such as deforestation, urban expansion, or other changes in land surface across space or time. The focus is on the interpretation and applications of data from spaceborne systems (e.g. Landsat, Sentinel-2), but other sources of remote sensing data (e.g. unmanned aerial vehicles) will be introduced too. The course structure includes f lecture periods to explore specific remote sensing f concepts, hands-on labs that take students through the major mapping and analysis methods, and individual student projects. A basic understanding of geographic data is recommended to take this class. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:
Quantitative Thinking Q3

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials

The 21st century is an urban century. Half of the world's population now lives in cities, with the most rapid growth happening in the developing world. The globalized urban processes compel us to rethink existing urban theories as well as the very definition of cities. In this senior capstone seminar, we will explore three strands of scholarly works that expand our knowledge about contemporary global urbanism. The first focuses on the scholarship of neoliberal urbanism, which prioritizes North American and Western European urban experiences and shapes the mainstream thinking of cities. The second consists of on-the-ground variegated contestations, which reveal diverse urban living experiences and propose alternative approaches to the capitalist urbanization process. Finally, there is the scholarship challenging mainstream urban theories with a different epistemological stance. Among other things, it seeks to re-conceptualize urbanization from the global South. In addition to studying these important ways of thinking about global urbanism, students will conduct individual research projects to develop a deeper and more concrete understanding of the contemporary urbanization processes.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA

Distribution Requirements:
Social science

Course Materials