Exploration of a topic (to be determined) not covered by the standard curriculum but of interest to faculty and students in a particular semester. *

Relationship between society and the environment. Natural resource use, climate change politics, food and agriculture, energy, water, and sustainability.

Survey of world, urban geography. Major concepts of human geography for non-specialists.

The roles of spatial technologies and data in society and our understanding of space. Emphasis on basic concepts, ethics, access, and privacy. Study and practice of GIS, GPS, remote sensing, cartography, and social media technologies.

Patterns of the physical phenomena at and near the surface of the earth. Surface configuration, climate, vegetation, and soil and their areal interrelationships.

An integrative overview to human geography. Topics include human-environmental relations, demographic change, cultural landscape; urban and agricultural land use and economic restructuring.

Offered through SUAbroad by educational institution outside the United States. Student registers for the course at the foreign institution and is graded according to that institution's practice. SUAbroad works with the SU academic department to assign the appropriate course level, title, and grade for the student's transcript.

Exploration of a topic (to be determined) not covered by the standard curriculum but of interest to faculty and students in a particular semester. *

Biophysical and social contexts of environmental problems and decision making. U.S. and international issues considered, linking local, regional, and global scales of analysis. Case examples include water management, energy policy, global warming, sustainable development.

Focusing on physical processes and patterns of environmental change, changes occurring as a result of human activities, and the social consequences of environmental change.

Participation in a discipline- or subject-related experience. Students must be evaluated by written or oral reports or an examination. Limited to those in good academic standing.

The globalization of culture and the persistence of local cultures around the world. Case studies from different regions of the world examine geographical processes that shape ways of life.

A geographical approach to the political economy of capitalism. Introduces key theories of capital accumulation, uneven development and social struggle. Covers the historical geography of global capitalism and contemporary case studies.

Offered through SUAbroad by educational institution outside the United States. Student registers for the course at the foreign institution and is graded according to that institution's practice. SUAbroad works with the S.U. academic department to assign the appropriate course level, title, and grade for the student's transcript.

Exploration of a problem, or problems, in depth. Individual independent study upon a plan submitted by the student. Admission by consent of supervising instructor(s) and the department.

Selected Topics

Offered regularly through Syracuse Abroad. This traveling seminar examines contested approaches to ¿green¿ infrastructure and culture throughout Scandinavia. Focused on human-nature interactions, the connections between global climate patterns and local politics, and inequalities. Offered only through Syracuse Abroad.

Examination of the reality of systemic environmental inequalities, US and globally, with attention to the experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour in the 21st century. Theoretical frameworks include environmental justice, ecofeminism, human-nature dualisms, agency & intersectionality.

Cultural, social, and regional approaches to understanding the geography of the United States. American national identity and cultural landscape, regional consumer behavior patterns, and current regional issues.

Mapping and public policy for natural and technological hazards. Risk perception, geographic modeling, and vulnerability assessment. Mitigation measures, risk mapping, land-use restrictions, and emergency planning.

Characteristics of river environments, including hydroclimatology, floods, landforms, vegetation, human impacts, and resource management issues.

Physical and human geography of mountain regions. Focus on tectonic, geomorphological, biogeographical, and climatic processes; resource use problems and patterns, conservation, and development; environmental hazards.

An exploration of environmental processes, interactions, and environmental problems in the cold regions of the world, emphasizing the Arctic.

This class examines the political ecologies of economic development in Latin America. In particular, we will focus on the ways in which Latin American environments and natural resources have been (and continue to be) enrolled in projects of regional, national, and local development.

Critical examination, creative exploration, and application of quantitative methods in human geography. Creative use of quantitative geographic analysis on various social and environmental justice issues, covering various methods in spatial statistics, categorical data analysis, research design, and visualization. Additional work for graduate students.

Maps, Power, History (MPH) examines the role and place of maps in the societies that produced and consumed them. We will consider maps as visual embodiments of space that are uniquely human endeavors that produce and reproduce deeply rooted cultural concepts and beliefs and that contribute to the places they depict and represent.

Through lectures and discussion, the course provides a broad introduction to the many historical geographies of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Atmospheric dynamics emphasizing spatial distributions of energy and moisture at several scales. Weather phenomena, regional climates, and human-induced perturbations and modifications of climate systems. Land-use change, climate change and urban climatologies.

Natural environmental processes in the coastal zone. Emphasis on coastal transformation due to climate variability and change, estuarine pollution and habitat destruction, human modification; and subsequent associated societal hazards and implications.

With late twentieth-century roots in the social sciences, and a strong commitment to social and environmental justice, political ecology is an interdisciplinary and critical approach to the study of society-environment

Geo- political foundations, economic and political developments, European community institutions, integration and external relations.

Broad geographical survey of Southeast Asia, focusing especially on political and economic development from the 19th-century colonial period to the present.

 Critical geographical inquiry into climate change¿s uneven and inequitable impacts globally, investigating various climate injustices and their interconnections across social, political, economic, ecological, and ethical dimensions. Engages with interdisciplinary approaches and concepts of climate justice.

The topic of oil used to explore the concerns of human geography with society, space, and the natural environment. By learning about oil we will cover themes and concepts important to environmental, political, cultural, economic and urban geography.

Visual arts and environmental concern in the U.S. from the early national period to the present. Emphasizing diversity of artists and forms, the changing cultural constructions of nature, and tracing an ecological tradition in art.

The relationship between environmental quality and social justice. Spatial aspects of unequal distribution of environmental risks and benefits. Case studies drawn from urban rural examples in both the United States and the Third World.

Relationship between Americans and the natural environment from the colonial period to the present. Ecological imperialism, technology and nature, resource-management conflicts, urban environments, development of conservation and environmentalism.

Fundamental ideas relating to underlying evolution and implementation of environmental policy in the USA.

Relations between people and animals employing approaches from the social sciences and humanities. Topics include history and geography of animals in America, managing wildlife, zoos, animals in popular culture, pets and companion animals.

Examines sustainability science, communications, and public policy through the lens of climate-what is known about climate change and impacts, what motivates public understanding, and what actions through mitigation and adaptation make progress toward sustainability.

World patterns of production and consumption in the context of regional resources and population problems. Impact of technological change on geographic organization of economic systems. Concepts in economic geography and their policy implications.

Historical development of Europe through its cities. Growth and form of European cities; how they are governed and planned.

Urban images and sense of place. Urbanization and urban growth. Urban functions and form. Social patterns, change, and transformations of urban landscapes. Housing, neighborhood, and land-use change.

Discuss key concepts in urban geography by foregrounding social justice issues across diverse urban contexts. Analyze case studies of urban struggles in various cities in the United States and other parts of the world (e.g. gentrification, immigration, violence, racial capitalism).

Economic and cultural processes of globalization as they affect different groups of men, women, and households; including gender and work, development and environmental change, and redefinitions of masculinity and femininity across the globe.

Climate extremes are becoming more damaging around the world: US disaster costs have increased by more than a factor of 3 since the 1980s. This class will explore the science and impacts of weather disasters from a variety of perspectives, using tools and data from climate science.

Geographic analysis of the political process at a variety of spatial scales - international, intra-national, and urban. Origins of territorial organization and conflicts over access to and use of space.

Critical analyses of international development in theory and practice, especially as it relates to environmental change in complex ways in the Global South. Topics include modernization, participation, community, gender, sustainability, agriculture, trade, water, climate change.

Offered through SUAbroad by educational institution outside the United States. Student registers for the course at the foreign institution and is graded according to that institution's practice. SUAbroad works with the S.U. academic department to assign the appropriate course level, title, and grade for the student's transcript.

An introduction to map design, which includes clarifying communication goals, finding solutions, using graphics to promote an understanding of landscapes and spatial patterns, and exploring aesthetics, conceptual thinking, geometries, and ethics of cartographic representation.

Exploration of various forms of counter-mapping (e.g., indigenous mapping, art mapping, digital mapping, protest mapping, anti-racist mapping) and critical analysis of their scholarly, political, and ethical implications. Mapping exercises that highlight social justice issues.

Basic concepts in spatial data handling. Algorithms and data structures for Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Demonstration of power, potential, and limitations of GIS. Graduate students register for three credits. Undergraduate students register for four credits with required laboratory work.

Descriptive and inferential statistics for use geo-referenced data, spatial autocorrelation, and geostatistics. Geographic examples. Weekly labs. Individualized advanced work and term project.

Effects of geographic information technologies on governments, communities, and individuals. Mapping as an information industry, a political process, a surveillance technology, and a communication medium. Copyright, access, hazard management, national defense, public participation, and privacy.

Exploration of a problem, or problems, in depth. Individual independent study upon a plan submitted by the student. Admission by consent of supervising instructor(s) and the department.

Focuses on the origins, nature, and likely future course of the European Union. More generally, examines five long-range challenges facing contemporary Europe: Demographic decline; Globalization; Civic Integration; Great Power Rivalry; and Sustainable Development. Please note that PSC 396 and PSC 405 cannot both be taken for credit.

Exploration of a topic (to be determined) not covered by the standard curriculum but of interest to faculty and students in a particular semester.

Taught in South Africa through the Organization for Tropical Studies program. Analyze management of wildlife and natural resources within ecological, political, social, historical, and economic context of South Africa.

Critical examination of the social, political and environmental aspects of contemporary agri-food systems. Topics include industrial and alternative agriculture, fisheries, food policy, hunger, health issues and food justice. Involves field-based and mapping assignments.

This course reviews the development of labor geography and the restructuring of work and employment in both advanced and developing capitalist nations, focusing on workers and their collective agency to improve conditions through organizing, within the workplace and in broader community struggles.

Critical geographical analyses of inter-connected and cross-scalar role of water in environment, society, politics and economy globally. Investigates various water-society relationships, water governance, policies, crises, struggles, controversies, conflicts, and water justice, in theory and practice. Additional work required of graduate students.

History of how residents and policy makers have transformed the urban environment over the past two centuries. Topics include coping with disease, drinking water, air and water pollution, urban parks, and cities and climate change.

Investigation of the roots of the Anthropocene as a concept and a geologic epoch; examination of human drivers of and interactions with global environmental change. Additional work required of graduate students.

Field studies seminar examining popular and elite cultural forms that organize life in Britain. Emphasizes interaction with local culture environments to explore contemporary identities and how and why identity and attitude are formed. Offered in London only.

Explores the role of energy resources in shaping historical, social, and political change.

Advanced seminar on authoritarianism and environmental politics, from a global perspective. Contemporary and historical analysis of how authoritarianism intersects environmental issues related to nationalism, the far right, climate change, and post-oil futures.

An introduction to sustainability policy-examining the complex systems approach to sustainable development, comparing conventional approaches and analytical tools for environmental policy, and drawing from case studies and theoretical materials.

Survey of political, cultural, and nature-society geographies of the Middle East; focus on the region's global connections through geopolitics, culture, urban life, and environmental themes.

Critical geographic study of race and racism as formative aspects of sociocultural, economic and political processes. Focus on race/racism's operations across scales, with particular attention to gender, class, culture, colonialism, citizenship, power, and resistance.

This course examines human migration and its sociocultural and political impacts on sending and receiving communities. Focused on the mobility of people, ideas, and commodities, it investigates migration's role in producing and transforming human geographies.

Exploration of the environmental factors that influence the distribution of organisms. Emphasis is on plant distributions and dynamics, and consideration includes both natural and human factors. Additional work required of graduate students.

Comprehensive treatment of the geography of wildfire. Topics include fire behavior, approaches to firefighting, ecological and human impacts of wildfire, geographic and historical variation in fire regimes, and the impacts of climate change on wildfire. Additional work required of graduate students.

Participation in a discipline- or subject-related experience. Students must be evaluated by written or oral reports or an examination. Limited to those in good academic standing.

Memories play a key role in shaping how individuals and communities narrate their identities. Memories are also geographical, embedded in specific places, spaces, and landscapes. This seminar examines how those geographies are made through a wide range of social, cultural, and political practices. Additional work required for graduate students.

This course introduces students to (i) concepts and methodologies of 3D GIS (Geographic Information System) analysis; (ii) typical applications of 3D analysis in urban design and planning; and (iii) basic interface and operations in ArcGIS pro. Additional work required for graduate students.

Techniques and impacts of spatial storytelling from a geohumanities perspective. Ways of conceptualizing space, time, and realities. Study and practice with maps, texts, images, video, and other visualization techniques. Additional work required of graduate students.

Introduction to UAV operations, including FAA airspace, platforms and sensors; flight planning, data collection, image processing, and data analysis for geospatial mapping. Applications and societal impacts, including legal, safety, privacy, ethical issues. Additional work required of graduate students.

Offered through SUAbroad by educational institution outside the United States. Student registers for the course at the foreign institution and is graded according to that institution's practice. SUAbroad works with the S.U. academic department to assign the appropriate course level, title, and grade for the student's transcript

Principles and environmental applications of remote sensing. Uses and limitations of remotely-sensed data; typical image processing operations and analyses; laboratory work and individual term project using remotely-sensed imagery. Additional work required for graduate students. 

Intermediate GIS methods for the study of urban environments and systems. Emphasis on practical and applied uses of GIS, project management and spatial analysis. Laboratory exercises, case studies, and course projects use real world data. Additional work required of graduate students.

Introduces community-based and participatory research methods and participatory GIS, including origins, ethics and challenges. Examines how and why grassroots organizations use GIS and geospatial technologies. Students conduct local research projects. Additional work required of graduate students.

Supervised 135 hour internship in community-based participatory action research. Students work across disciplines and collaborate with community-based organizations to conduct geographic research on contemporary community issues. Additional work required of graduate students. Permission to enroll required.

In-depth exploration of a problem or problems.  Individual independent study upon a plan submitted by the student. Admission by consent of supervising instructor or instructors and the department.

Research and presentations in a selected field of geography. Topic announced each time offered. Primarily for advanced geography majors and minors.

Seminar for senior geography majors graduating with distinction. Individualized and small-group mentoring and directed research.

Completion of an Honors Capstone Project under the supervision of a faculty member.

In-depth studies of selected topics.

Offered only in Santiago. Examines historical/intellectual/ material processes that transformed nature into natural resources to be exploited; ways global political process has guided global responses to environmental problems; Chilean environmental policy over the last 20 years.

Globalization, world economic processes, international development, and policy issues; emphasizing geographical perspectives.

Contemporary cities. Economic growth and decline. Social polarization. Construction of the built environment. Case studies from around the world.

Cities in western civilization through classical, medieval, mercantile, and industrial eras to 1945. Historical geographic meanings of urbanism; social construction of the built environment; and relationships between power, social justice, and urban spatial form.

Contemporary theories and methods. Traditional, historical-materialist, postmodernism, and post-structuralist approaches to landscape. Additional work required of graduate students.

In-depth reading of Marx's Capital to understand: (a) the relationship between political economy and the geographical landscape; (b) the formative role of "Capital" in contemporary geographic theory.

Contemporary debates in feminist geography on the gendered construction of space and the spatial construction of gender.

Reading and special work.

Data types, collection techniques, and processing strategies in natural resource survey. Monitoring and environmental sciences. Basic concepts of GIS data structures and algorithms. Data quality issues. User requirements, management aspects, and implementation experience.

An introduction to the structure and functions of the Internet and its impact on spatial relations from the global to the local. A detailed examination of the World Wide Web and practical training in web page design.