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  • 3.00 Credits

    This class explores the complexity of a desert environment using a variety of learning materials such as satellite imagery, local to global databases, literature, podcasts, and documentaries. Students will discern the natural forces responsible for creating features of desert landscapes throughout the world. The class also explores how arid environments have shaped cultural practices and the management of resources in areas with little water and those facing climate change. Students will likely participate in brief local field work either during class time or on their own. After taking this class, students will understand why water is scarce in certain places, what forms the unique features of arid lands including those in Utah, and the delicate process of sustaining life in such environments. Prerequisite:    GEO 1060 and GEOG 1000 and GEOG 1500
  • 3.00 Credits

    This course explores polar and high mountain physical environments, how humans interact with them, and the broader roles these places play within global-scale Earth systems. Topics include the causes and consequences of avalanches, polar climate and ozone depletion, basic glaciology, sea ice, and the responses of human physiology to high altitudes. When you finish this course, you will know more about Earth's spectacularly beautiful cold places, and why they matter to the rest of the world. Prerequisite:    GEO 1060 and GEOG 1000 and GEOG 1500
  • 3.00 Credits

    This course explores cities-the urban and suburban places where most of us in the world choose to live. In this course we will study the historical development of cities, the geography of how cities continue to grow and change, and how cities interact with their changing natural environments. When you finish this course, you will understand how cities work and be prepared to participate in a more sustainable urban future.
  • 3.00 Credits

    A geographic analysis of America's past featuring an examination of cultural development in different parts of the United States and how this has produced many distinct regional landscapes throughout the country.
  • 3.00 Credits

    More than anything else, economic activity binds the world's places, resources, producers, consumers, markets, governments, technology, and citizens. This global development produces both extravagant wealth and searing poverty, and it is rapidly exhausting the planet's natural environment. This course takes students from local to global as it explores the stunning force of economic activity. When you finish this course, you will better understand the power and peril of the global economy.
  • 3.00 Credits

    This course examines the geography of the fast-growing and ever-changing state of Utah. Through explorations of public land, water, cities, tourism, environmental issues, population, and political economies this course provides a foundation for understanding Utah and how the state fits in the regional context of the American West. When you finish this course, you will be prepared to engage more thoughtfully with the challenges and opportunities of Utah and the American West.
  • 3.00 Credits

    From Mayan, Aztec, and Incan beginnings to Conquest and Colonization by European powers, and later U.S. hegemony, this region of extraordinary natural beauty and diversity has been the subject of foreign intervention and control. Its contemporary geography is a legacy of the mighty forces that created the Amazon and the Andes as well as the clash of cultures from abroad, and now rapid and transformative change. When you finish this course, you will be able to chart the influences that have shaped this fascinating region.
  • 3.00 Credits

    What is Europe? A hearth of civilization or the home of war, conquest, and global empires? An emerging superstate or a fragmented collection of nations? This course explores the geography of Europe, from its physical environments to its diverse people and historical landscapes, and the geographical origins of current issues, such as the expansion and fracturing of the European Union, the future of NATO, and tensions with nearby countries and regions. When you finish this course, you will better understand the complexities of this historic U.S. ally and trading partner.
  • 3.00 Credits

    This course explores the diverse geographies of East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia-including the powerful and populous countries of China and India. Specifically, the class investigates how each region is following different development paths, is impacted by and influences global geopolitics, and is experiencing changing populations, economies, and environments. When you finish this course, you will be better prepared to engage with a world in which many countries in the Asian region are becoming increasingly influential.
  • 3.00 Credits

    The geography of Africa is one of historical mystique, rapid modernization, and tremendous diversity. This course builds upon a basic understanding of Africa's physical geography and early history to examine continued neocolonial impacts and challenges facing the people of Africa today. In today's increasingly interdependent global community, understanding ethnic diversity, differences in gender, age and class is critical to resolving social, economic, political and environmental problems in both the African context, and in our own interconnected society. When you finish this course, you'll have a full appreciation of Africa's diverse geography.