Active Course List

This course examines basic concepts and components of soils, factors that influence formation and degradation, soil as a natural resource for ecosystems and societies, and the importance of soil conservation to restore functions that reduce erosion, improve water quality and quantity, mitigate climate change, enhance biodiversity, and increase agricultural productivity to feed an expanding population. Students will gain hands-on experience in field and laboratory settings to assess soil quality and quantity, investigate site-specific and landscape-scale impacts to soils, and develop management strategies to protect and improve soils in urban and agricultural systems.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Agribusiness and Food Innovation (BS) | Agricultural Sciences (BS) | Agriculture Minor

This course analyzes the distribution and concentration of plants and animals throughout the world. Emphasis is placed on the role of evolution, tectonics, and physical barriers to the distribution and migration of species. Special emphasis is placed on the role of humans in the modern redistribution of species.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Earth Science (BS)

This course examines the natural processes that operate on our planet and shape the landscape presently. This will be done through a focus on applied exercises, measurements and direct/indirect observations. Through applied projects students will have an understanding of how these processes interact within a variety of Earth Systems.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Earth Science (BS) | Geoarcheology (CERT) | Geology (BS) | Geomorphology and Earth Surface Processes (CERT)

An in-depth investigation into fluvial systems including sediment transport, sediment budget analysis, channel geometry/morphology, drainage basin analysis, geomorphic evolution of fluvial landscapes, hydrology (i.e., runoff generation and channel formation, storm hydrograph and flood analysis, discharge measurements) of fluvial systems, and effects of anthropogenic modification and use of fluvial systems. Registration with completed prereqs or instructor consent.

Prerequisites:

Either Geog 101 or Geol 121 and Geog 315 or 415 are recommended. Or instructor consent.

Graduation Requirements:

Writing Intensive

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Agriculture Minor | Earth Science (BS) | Geoarcheology (CERT) | Geology (BS) | Geomorphology and Earth Surface Processes (CERT)

An interdisciplinary investigation into Quaternary environmental/climatic change and the impact of change on the behavior and evolution of humans. This course has three segments: 1) An examination of natural systems responsible for climatic change, the impact climatic fluctuations have on Earth systems, timing of Quaternary changes, evidence of climatic/environmental change from spatially distant, climatically distinct environments; 2) Investigation into worldwide evidence of human evolution, global dispersion, and adaptation to environmental systems; 3) Introduction into various methodological approaches in Quaternary archeologic, geomorphic, and climatic studies. Focus is on proxy records used for climate/environmental reconstruction, archeologic/geomorphic field methods, geochronologic dating methods.

Prerequisites:

Either GEOG 101 or ANTH 210; We strongly encourage students to take GEOG 315 before enrolling. Geol 121 can be substituted for GEOG 101 with instructor permission.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Agribusiness and Food Innovation (BS) | Earth Science (BS)

Survey of natural resources emphasizing energy, minerals, soils, fisheries, and water resources. Also addresses timber, wetlands, and wildlife on public and private lands.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Agriculture Minor | Earth Science (BS) | Earth Science Minor

Examines national and international economic geographical order and trade activities. Topics include economic development, competition, international trade, and impacts on the environment and people.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

International Relations (BA) | International Relations Minor

This course will introduce students to the multidimensional causes of human migration including immigrant and refugee populations, and their consequences for societies around the world. Students will gain knowledge on the trends and patterns of global migration across diverse geographic, socio-economic, and cultural regions. Additionally, the course will address contemporary issues like migrant and refugee categories; globalization and migrant labor in the economy; role of the state in migration processes; migration policies; migrant identities (race, class, gender, age, citizenship); and migrant rights as they relate to issues of equity and inclusion.

Graduation Requirements:

Diverse Cultures - Purple

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Hypotheses and generalization related to urban functions, structure, land use, distribution, growth, and sometimes decline. Emphasis will be mostly on the United States' urban places.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Introduction to theoretical frameworks for analyzing processes of economic, environmental, and social change in rural regions. Includes basic and advanced geographical principles and techniques for studying non-urban areas. Designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary for carrying out research projects on rural environments.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Agriculture Minor

Spatial problems and structure of governments, focusing on countries of the world and their geographic internal order. Covers such topics as boundary problems, strategic locations, and geopolitical explanations of international and internal relations and conflicts.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

International Relations (BA) | International Relations Minor

Concepts and theories concerning global and national social problems and the significance of geographic analytic methods for social research. Study of factors related to variations in regional standards of living.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Four major sets of ideas will be covered: (1) Introduction to Spatial Organization, (2) Network Analysis, (3) Allocation Methods, and (4) Urban Transportation. The emphasis is on these approaches to understanding the geography of transport by description, explanation, and normative or optimal methods.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Geographic Information Science (CERT) | Geography (BS) | Geospatial Science (BS) | Social Studies Teaching (BS) Geography

Various excursions to study physical and cultural landscapes inside and outside of Minnesota.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Earth Science (BS) | Earth Science Teaching (5-12) (BS) | Geography (BA) | Geomorphology and Earth Surface Processes (CERT)

Regional geography covering the ecological and human environment of Middle and South America, including the Caribbean. Students can pick specific topics to study in detail. The geographic relations between the USA and Latin America are also covered.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

International Relations (BA) | International Relations Minor

Students will develop a knowledge of the environmental, cultural, historical, and economic geographies of Canada. Readings of bestselling fiction and scholarly works written by Canadians will provide a Canadian perspective on the nation's past, present, and future.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

International Relations (BA) | International Relations Minor

Cultural, environmental, and economic background of Europe west of Russia and Ukraine. Following a general geographic survey, the course will cover major regions and countries.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

International Relations (BA) | International Relations Minor

Examines the physical and human environments of eastern Asia, mainly China, Korea and Japan. The class will be assisted by visual sources and hands-on use of primary documents.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

International Relations (BA) | International Relations Minor

This course covers the basic strategies for field mapping using data acquired from global positioning systems (GPS).

Prerequisites:

GEOG 373 or equivalent

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Agricultural Sciences (BS) | Earth Science (BS) | Geographic Information Science (CERT) | Geography (BS) | Geology (BS) | Geospatial Science (BS) | Social Studies Teaching (BS) Geography

Comprehensive examination of GIS for manipulation and analysis of spatially-referenced data, including data structure and organization, input and output problems, data management, and strategies for analytical work.

Prerequisites:

GEOG 373

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Aviation (BS) Unmanned Aircraft Systems | Geographic Information Science (CERT) | Geography (BS) | Geospatial Science (BS) | Social Studies Teaching (BS) Geography

This is an introductory course on theories and techniques of remote sensing. Focus will be placed on providing students with a general overview of the application of remote sensing to practical problems, and hands-on experience for image processing and analysis.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Aviation (BS) Unmanned Aircraft Systems | Earth Science (BS) | Geographic Information Science (CERT) | Geography (BS) | Geology (BS) | Geospatial Science (BS) | Social Studies Teaching (BS) Geography

This course will introduce students to the fundamental knowledge and techniques of open-source GIS and geospatial data analysis. Students will learn the basic and advanced GIS functions in QGIS, a popular open-source GIS with advanced capabilities. The major topics that will be covered include open source GIS data standards; working with projections and available GIS data; making maps in QGIS; spatial and attribute data query, editing, and manipulation; multi-criteria overlay analysis; raster image styling and analysis; 3D and terrain analysis; spatial pattern analysis; spatial interpolation; automating map creation and complex workflows using processing models; customize and extend QGIS.

Prerequisites:

GEOG 373, GEOG 474

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Aviation (BS) Unmanned Aircraft Systems | Geographic Information Science (CERT) | Geography (BS) | Geospatial Science (BS)

Descriptive statistics, probability, hypothesis testing, introduction to non-parametric statistics, correlation, introduction to regression analysis, spatial statistics, and principles of data representation in graphs and tables.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Biology (BS) Biomedical and Cellular Biology | Biology (BS) Organismal Biology and Ecology | Geographic Information Science (CERT) | Geography (BS) | Geospatial Science (BS) | Social Studies Teaching (BS) Geography

This offering will include a variety of selected technical topics in geography, including but not necessarily limited to manual cartographic drafting and negative scribing, photomechanical techniques in production cartography, aerial photo interpretation, and advanced coverage of digital analysis of satellite-derived remote sensor data and global positioning systems.

Prerequisites:

Consent

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Introduction to theoretical frameworks for spatial analysis and geographic quantitative methods. Includes basic and advanced geographic principles and techniques for studying spatial patterns. Designed to equip students with the skills necessary to carry out research projects that demand advanced statistics.

Areas of Interest:

Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources

Programs:

Geographic Information Science (CERT) | Geography (BS) | Geospatial Science (BS) | Social Studies Teaching (BS) Geography