2021-2022 Course List

Visits to the major churches, cathedrals, castles, monuments, museums, and neighborhoods in and around Paris.

Methods and tools of literary research.

Topics will vary.

Topics will vary. May be repeated.

Topics will vary. May be repeated.

Topics will vary. May be repeated.

Topics will vary. Study for credit must be approved by the department prior to departure.

<p>First Year Seminar supports the development of student success skills, such as reading, writing and speaking; helps students gain intellectual confidence; builds in the expectation of academic success; and provides assistance in making the transition to the University.</p>

Goal Areas:

GE-12

An introduction to Geography and its themes of study. The course will familiarize students with where places are located in the world together with their cultural and physical features. Students will be tasked to think critically and diversely about various cultures and features of the modern world.

Goal Areas:

GE-08, GE-10

Diverse Cultures:

Purple

An introduction to the science of understanding earth's physical environment, with focus on the processes that drive fundamental earth systems. Includes investigation of natural hazards, earth-sun relationships, climate and climate change, weather, flora and fauna, soil, landforms, and surfaces processes driven by rivers, glaciers, wind, rock decay, gravity. North American and world-wide examples are used to demonstrate spatial distribution and interrelationships. Some coverage of human-environmental relations.

Goal Areas:

GE-03, GE-10

Cultural aspects of interactions between people and their environment focusing on spatial patterns of population, agriculture, politics, language, religion, industrialization, and urbanization. Emphasis is placed on the processes that create the cultural landscape and on management of land and natural resources.

Goal Areas:

GE-05, GE-08

Diverse Cultures:

Purple

This gateway course introduces students to cutting-edge technologies associated with Geographic Information Science (GISc). Instruction is provided on numerous geographic data collection methods, digital mapping to understand human-environment interactions, terrain mapping for topographical modeling, geospatial data visualization to understand complex processes, geoanalytics to strengthen geospatial thinking, and the challenges of spatio-temporal data. Foundational knowledge is introduced mostly through lectures but there will be plenty of opportunities for hands-on learning and practice. This prepares students for higher-level courses on Cartography, Geographic Information System (GIS), Remote Sensing (RS), and the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) offered by the Department of Geography.

Introduction to the concepts of landscape and place in a variety of geographical writings. Emphasizes works with strong regional overtones. The interaction between the physical and cultural environments is paramount. Field observation and integrating imagery into original student writing documents is also addressed.

Goal Areas:

GE-10

An examination of the processes involved in weather formation. Students will be introduced to weather map analysis, simple forecasting and observational techniques, and weather instruments.

An assignment that is tailored to individual needs of a student. The instructor and the student arrange the type of project for the student, such as a term paper, readings, mapping, field investigation, or computer cartography.

Prerequisites:

Consent 

An examination of the underlying causes of natural disasters occurring over the globe. Focus will be primarily upon weather and climate related disasters. Students will also be exposed to concepts of plate tectonics and how these affect the distribution of earthquakes and volcanism over the planet.

This course will cover elements of the structure of the earth and the variety of landforms found on the earth's surface, with emphasis upon the processes, both past and present, that act upon the surface to create the landforms now visible. Local field trips.

Students will develop a knowledge of the similarities and contrasts in regional landscapes and cultures of the United States.

Differences and similarities in the cultural and natural environments by the world's major regions. Useful survey of world geography for educators and international relations students

Diverse Cultures:

Purple

The course involves the natural and human environments of Minnesota. The physical resources, population history, and current issues are emphasized.

This is a hands-on, exercise-based GIS for Law Enforcement course analyzing the contemporary realities of the spatial and geographic aspects of crime. Students acquire practical tools necessary to conduct effective mapping and spatial analyses of crime using GIS software. Lab activities are designed to benefit those working with public safety and emergency response systems.