Geography (GEO)

Explores the fundamental characteristics of Earth's physical environment. Emphasizes identifying interrelationships between atmospheric processes involving energy, pressure, and moisture; weather and climate; and terrestrial processes of vegetative biomes, soils, and landscape formation and change. Fulfills elementary certification requirements in education, and USP cross-disciplinary requirement. Lecture: 3 credits (45 contact hours).

Emphasizes basic laboratory studies of identifying interrelationships between atmospheric processes involving energy, pressure, and moisture; weather and climate; and terrestrial processes of vegetative biomes, soils, and landscape formation and change. Laboratory: 1 credit (30 contact hours).

Introduces regional geography with a focus on the world's physical and human landscapes. Emphasizes connections between regions and how each region affects and is affected by global issues such as economic restructuring, food production, and environmental change. Lecture: 3 credits (45 contact hours).

Provides a geographic study of world regions defined conceptually and historically as non-Western. Includes global patterns of social, cultural, economic and political differences between the West and Non-West and the processes key to making the Non-Western world, such as colonialism and imperialism. Considers significant current issues including sustainable development, environment, human rights, and gender relations. Lecture: 3 credits (45 contact hours).

Presents a study of the spatial distributions of significant elements of human occupancy of the earth's surface including basic concepts of diffusion, population, migration, settlement forms, land utilization, and impact of technology on human occupancy of the earth. Lecture: 3 credits (45 contact hours).

Presents a geographic approach to the study of gender relations, emphasizing the role of space and place in shaping the diversity of gender relations throughout the world. Stresses the importance of gender relations in understanding a variety of issues through the application of case study analysis. Includes the design and use of urban and rural environments, "Third World" development, regional economic restructuring, changing political geographies, and migration. Lecture: 3 credits (45 contact hours).

Examines the atmospheric controls associated with local, regional, and global weather and climate variability. Includes fundamental coverage of the physics and chemistry of energy, gases, pressure, and moisture, with a goal to promote an understanding of general weather analysis and forecasting, severe storms, atmospheric pollution, descriptive climatology, and global climate change. Lecture: 3 credits (45 contact hours).

Introduces the study of environmental science and the role of the interrelationship between humans and their environment in contemporary issues. Emphasizes the basic principles of environmental science, functions of ecological systems, contemporary environmental conditions and problems, techniques for investigating these systems, and theories on humanity's place in the world's ecosystems and physical environment. Integrated Lecture: 3 credits (45 contact hours). Integrated Laboratory: 1 credit (15 contact hours).

Introduces specialized topics in the field of geography to meet current trends and investigations of contemporary issues in the discipline. May be repeated to a maximum of six credits under different subtitles. Lecture: 1-3 credits (15-45 contact hours).