Undergraduate Courses by Interest
Weather, Storms, Ice, and Climate Change
These courses explore the dynamics of the atmosphere and how humans interact with and are influenced by weather processes and climatic variations. Students will have a fundamental knowledge of meteorology and climatology and how they are connected to activities on earth. Students will examine the collection and analysis of meteorological and paleoclimate data at local, regional, and global scales. Topics include heat, moisture, and wind dynamics of the atmosphere; development and impact of thunderstorms, tornadoes and hurricanes; weather analysis and forecasting; ice core and paleoclimate data; and how humans will adapt to climate change.
- GHY 1010: Global Environmental Systems
- GHY 1011: Global Climate Change
- GHY 1012: Global Change of the Biosphere
- GHY 3005: Global Health & Diseases
- GHY 3100: Weather & Climate
- GHY 3600: Snow & Ice
- PLN 4030: Planning for Climate Resilience
- GHY 4620: Atmospheric Circulation
GIS, Mapping, and Environment
These courses explore how to apply geospatial technologies, including global positioning systems, geographic information systems, and remote sensing, for problem solving in relation to a diverse range of societal and environmental concerns. Students learn a range of analytical and critical methods for cartographic representation, spatial analysis, and geovisualization. Further, students learn about the ethics and values of mapping and geospatial technologies, and integrate their social and technical skills to create projects relevant to their interests (e.g., environmental justice, public health, natural resources).
- GHY 2310: Cartographic Design & Analysis
- GHY/PLN 2812: Geospatial Technology in a Changing World
- GHY 3310: Environmental Remote Sensing
- GHY 3812: Geographic Information Systems
- GHY 3820: GIS for the Environmental & Social Sciences
- GHY 4810: Satellites, Drones, & Spatial Analysis
- GHY 4812: GIS Analysis & Modeling
- GHY 4815: GIS Programming & Databases
- GHY 4816: GIScience & Water Resources
- GHY 4818: Web Mapping
Human Rights, Migration, and Social Justice
These courses explore the spatial aspects of human rights, territoriality, boundaries, voting patterns, nationalism, racism, migration, political development / integration, environmental policy, natural resources, and society. Students will study how to interpret data and trends focusing on space and scale; social struggles and human mobility; racial-ethnic, class, and gender hierarchies; as well as the importance of place, boundaries, environment, territory, and other elements central to human experiences.
- GHY 1020: Exploring People & Places Globally
- GHY 1040: Human Geography & Social Justice
- GHY 2300: Mountain Environments & People
- PLN 2410: Town, City, & Regional Planning
- GHY 2700: Food Justice: Geographic Perspectives
- GHY 3011: Europe Past & Present
- GHY 3013: North Carolina
- GHY 3014: Geography of Latin America
- GHY 3016: Place & the American South
- GHY 3017: Mediterranean Empires & Globalization
- PLN 3040: What is Community?
- GHY 3210: Economic Geography
- GHY 3230: Political Geography & Society
Environment and Conservation
Earth’s natural resources include air, plants, soil, water, and wildlife. Conservation is the care and protection of these resources so that they can persist for future generations. Continued human population growth has led to unsustainable rates of consumption of our natural resources, resulting in a loss of Earth’s biodiversity. In this theme, students will study species and ecosystem diversity, as well as functions of the environment, such as nutrient cycling. Course topics include factors driving biodiversity loss, such as habitat destruction, climate change, invasive species, overexploitation, and pollution.
- GHY 1010: Global Environmental Systems
- GHY 1012: Global Change of the Biosphere
- GHY 2200: National Park Approaches to Animal Preservation
- GHY 2300: Mountain Environments & People
- GHY 3110: Ecoregions & Dynamic Landforms
- GHY 3130: Geography of Biodiversity
- GHY 3320: Environmental Issues in Appalachia
- PLN 4240: Sustainable Transportation Planning
- PLN 4450: Inside the Sustainable City
- PLN 4460: Environmental Policy & Planning
- GHY 4820: Geographical Hydrology