Featured Undergraduate Course Descriptions
The course descriptions listed here are a subset of the 130+ Geography courses listed in the . The descriptions are to be used as examples as some topics within the course could change depending on the instructor. Please go to the Registrar website to see "" to get the list of courses being offered in the current semester.
GEOG 1001 Environmental Systems 1: Climate and Vegetation
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 (e...
GEOG 2271 Introduction to the Arctic Environment
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...
GEOG 3412 Conservation Practice: Urban Systems: Design. Management. Resilience.
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 driver...
GEOG 3422 Political Ecology
‘The environment’ figures dominantly in our daily lives and academic pursuits—from concerns over climate change and biodiversity loss, to energy policy and agricultural development. Yet we rarely stop to consider how environmental concerns are tied to specific contexts, histories, and power struggles. In this class we do just that, through the lens of political ecology, a growing sub-discipline, which aims to understand the links between people, the environment, and global political economic processes. A po...
GEOG 3511 Introduction to Hydrology
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 ...
GEOG 3601 / ATOC 3600 / ENVS 3600 Principles of Climate
This course describes the basic components of the climate system: the atmosphere, ocean, cyrosphere, 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 huma...
GEOG 3682 Geography of International Development
Today, amid White House efforts to defund the US State Department, regional instabilities from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea, and global corporations increasingly involved in issues 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, ...
GEOG 3742 Place, Power, Culture
Geography in its broadest sense is concerned with understanding the world and our place within it. But this “world” is not simply given; it is fashioned. This course is fundamentally concerned with understanding the process of ‘world-formation’ via a meditation on several abstract and yet essential concepts: Power, Place/Space and Culture/Subjectivity. We spend the bulk of the semester developing the conceptual skills to think through these key terms. We then deploy these new ways of (postmodern) critical t...
GEOG 3742-001 Power, Place, Culture: Biopolitics, War & The State of Exception
Geography in its broadest sense is concerned with understanding the world and our place within it. But this “world” is not simply given; it is fashioned. This course is fundamentally concerned with understanding the process of ‘world-formation’ via a meditation on several abstract and yet essential concepts: Power, Place/Space and Culture/Subjectivity. We spend the bulk of the semester developing the conceptual skills to think through these key terms. We then deploy these new ways of (postmodern) critical t...
GEOG 3822 Geography of China
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 ...
GEOG 3832 Geographies of South Asia
This course will examine the Geographies of South Asia through four interrelated themes: Territory, Trade, Transportation, and Tributaries. Territory will cover the physical geographic characteristics of South Asia, along with the social and political histories that have transformed South Asian geographies. Trade will focus on the economic geographies of South Asia prior, during, and after colonization. Transportation examines the changing geographies of mobility in South Asia from roads to railroads and ai...
GEOG 4100-001 / 5100-003 Earth Analytics: Accelerating discovery with a view from Space
This course will introduce graduate and undergraduate students to major unanswered questions in Earth science and to the analytical tools necessary to undertake exploration of ‘big data’ from a suite of sensors. This course aligns with Earth Lab, a new initiative of the university’s Grand Challenge efforts to use our expertise in space-based observation and exploration to address our world’s most pressing problems. For 50 years, CU-Boulder has been a leader in Earth and Space sciences. We have sent instrume...
GEOG 4103 / 5103 Introduction to Geographic Information Science
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 att...
GEOG 4110 / 5100 Advanced Remote Sensing
The context, perspective, and scale provided by remote sensing observations have made them an invaluable source of data for understanding the Earth System. In the prerequisite introductory course, Remote Sensing of the Environment (GEOG/GEOL 4093/5093), students learned some of the basic physical principals underlying remote sensing and were introduced to some of the key remote sensing capabilities and how they work. This class is designed to build on that foundation by delving deeper into the physics of re...
GEOG 4120 / 5100 Special Topics in Geography: Climate Change and Health
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 variety of epidemiological, risk assessment, and statistical methods used to evaluate the imp...
GEOG 4173 Research Seminar
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 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 q...
GEOG 4203 / 5203 GIS 2 Modeling Applications
Did your first GIS class create an interest in learning more advanced skills? Are you getting ready to start an undergraduate or graduate research project that requires spatial modeling and analysis, but you’re not sure how to get started? This class is for you! You’ll extend skills and principles, gain confidence in your GIS knowledge, and get hands-on technical experience with the full spectrum of GIS modeling. You will learn to implement line-of-sight models, proximity models, design hydrologic and terr...
GEOG 4271 / 5271 The Arctic Climate System
The Arctic region plays a key role in regulating global climate and is in the midst of rapid change, with impacts on physical, biological and human systems both within and beyond the region. This comprehensive assessment of the Arctic climate system begins with an overview of the Arctic's basic physical characteristics and climatic features. Attention then turns to the atmospheric energy budget, the atmospheric circulation, the surface energy budget, the hydrologic cycle, and the fascinating interactions be...
GEOG 4292 / 5292 Migration, Immigrant Adaptation, and Development
This course is an all-out, in-depth exploration of why, how, when, and where (from/to) people migrate, especially those moving out of their country of birth. We will delve into several theories that aim to understand the economic, social, environmental, and policy "drivers" of different kinds of migration, and how migration stems (or not) from globalization and development processes. We will pay special attention to the current global refugee crisis as well as to the older question of why people oftentimes ...
GEOG 4303 / 5303 GIS Programming for Spatial Analysis
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 ho...
GEOG 4311 Watershed Biochemistry
This course is a quantitative investigation of the physical, chemical, and biological processes that determine the hydrology and hydrochemistry of headwater catchments (watersheds). A watershed is a natural unit of land from which the surface, subsurface and groundwater runoff drain to a common outlet. In this course, the emphasis is on the movement and storage of water, nutrients, and solutes on and in the context of the watershed. This course provides a process-level understanding of watershed biogeochemi...
GEOG 4321 Snow Hydrology
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 propertie...
GEOG 4371 / 5371 Forest Geography
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 field trips, in-class labs, critical thinking, and lectures to give you a strong foundation in forest ecology. When pos...
GEOG 4501 / 5501 Water Resources and Management of the Western U.S.
This course is an overview of the human dimensions of water: the law, policy, economics, management, and valuation of water in the western United States.The West has a completely different legal structure than the East for the administration of water, and a culture that has developed different methods of management and organization around the role of water in our daily lives. We regularly feature working professionals to broaden the range of discussion as we look at the effects of water use, climate change...
GEOG 4712 Political Geography
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 o...
GEOG 4722 / 5722 Field Methods in Human Geography
In this course we will discuss various qualitative methodologies and methods for research in human geography. The readings will provide various techniques and tools for collecting qualitative data. We will discuss the connection between theory and methods and how to critically analyze qualitative research. This course includes a practical engagement with data collection in order to help students develop a nuanced understanding of various methods. Research ethics will be discussed including the role and impo...
GEOG 4742 Topics in Environment & Society: Geographies of Food and Agriculture
Audrey Richards, the great British anthropologist, once pointed out that the need to eat is the most basic and important of all human drives. We need food more frequently and more urgently than we need sex. 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 innovati...
GEOG 4762 Political Islam
“Political Islam” dominates national and global news with popular revolutions, dictatorships, terrorism, jihad, suicide bombings and beheadings, perpetually in the headlines. The “Muslim World” has become synonymous with war, conflict, crisis and violence. As such “Islam,” particularly after 9-11, has become the definitive ‘Other’ of America, driving both the logics of the National Security State and the broader public imaginary of the enemy. Therefore a nuanced, methodologically reflexive and critical unde...
GEOG 4812 Environment & Development in South America
This is a course for students interested in learning about relationships between environment and development in S. America. We will explore the complexity of development practices and efforts to govern natural resource extraction and use, and how relationships between development and the environment shape the way we think of S. America and its “place” in the world. We will use approaches from development geography, political ecology, and Latin American studies coupled with case studies, documentary film, an...
