content

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
GEOGRAPHY
(GRG)

1013 Fundamentals of Geography [TCCN: GEOG 1300.]
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Introduction to the study of physical and cultural features of the earth and their distributions, causes, and consequences to humans. Topics include landforms, climate, natural resources, population, human behavior in spatial context, economic growth, urbanization, and political systems.

1023 World Regional Geography [TCCN: GEOG 1303.]
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Study of the world’s regions, focusing on salient physical, cultural, economic, and political characteristics, including physiography, climate, natural resources, population, economic structure and development, globalization, urban growth, cultural institutions, and political structure. Regions include North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East/North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Japan, China and East Asia, the Russian Federation, and Australasia. (Formerly GRG 2633. Credit cannot be earned for both GRG 1023 and GRG 2633.)

2613 Physical Geography [TCCN: GEOG 1301.]
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Study of the earth’s major landforms and climatic patterns, the processes giving use to these patterns, and their relationship to human activity. Includes the geomorphology of volcanoes, glaciers, coral reefs, mountains, caves, dunes, and plate tectonics.

2623 Human Geography [TCCN: GEOG 1302.]
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Study of the relationship between the social and spatial aspects of human behavior. Topics include stereotyping of people and places, human proxemics and territoriality, perception of places, environmental perception, spatial diffusion, and human migration.

2633 Introduction to Geographic Methods
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Broad survey of geographic research methods. May include Map Interpretation, Basic Field Techniques, Archival Research Methods, Geographic Information Systems, Computer Cartography, Digital Remote Sensing, and Spatial Statistics. Students will be exposed to ways geographic data is used to address social and environmental problems and will receive some hands-on experience with modern computer-based geographic technologies. This course is strongly recommended before upper-division courses in geographic techniques (GIS, Computer Cartography, Spatial Analysis, or Remote Sensing).

3113 Geography of the United States and Canada
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Selected geographic aspects of the major regions of the United States and Canada, emphasizing current social and economic issues in these regions.

3123 Geography of Latin America
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Selected geographic aspects of Mexico, Central America, the West Indies, and South America, emphasizing economic development and social change.

3133 Geography of Europe
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Survey of the European culture area, including Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and the Baltics. Discussion of historical, urban, political, ethnic, and economic forces shaping the 20th-century geography of Europe, including the European Union and the Russian Federation.

3143 Geography of Mexico
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Investigation of Mexico’s physical and social geography, including climatic and geomorphologic influences, the historical imprint of the Amerindians and the Spanish, population growth and migration, urbanization, political reform, social and cultural change, agriculture and industry, trade liberalization and the impact of NAFTA. May include a field trip to Mexico.

3153 Geography of Texas
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
A topical and regional examination of the physical, cultural, and economic patterns of the state. Includes demographic characteristics, agriculture, mining, manufacturing, selected urban areas, and current social issues. May include a field trip to the nonmetropolitan hinterland of San Antonio.

3213 Cultural Geography
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
A thematic exploration of the nature and distribution of human culture hearths, population, folk culture, popular culture, agriculture, industrialization, languages, and religion. Topics are defined and examined in the context of their manifestations and influences as regions, cultural diffusion, ecology, cultural interaction, and landscapes.

3314 Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
(3-2) 4 hours credit.
An introductory course on the application of the computer to the acquisition, manipulation, analysis, and display of geographic data; overview of projection systems, data acquisition issues, and presentation techniques. Three lecture and two laboratory hours per week. (Formerly GRG 3313. Credit cannot be earned for both GRG 3314 and GRG 3313.)

3323 Spatial Analysis
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Conceptualization, operationalization, and analysis of relationships in geography and the social sciences. Includes the scientific method, research design, sampling, interpretation of spatial patterns, statistics, and univariate and multivariate analysis. Involves use of computer software in the analysis and display of data.

3334 Advanced Geographic Information Systems
(3-2) 4 hours credit. Prerequisite: GRG 3314.
Advanced topics in the use of computer-based analysis of geographic information including data acquisition, modeling complex datasets, and an introduction to scripting to customize an industry-standard software package. (Formerly GRG 3333. Credit cannot be earned for both GRG 3334 and GRG 3333.)

3343 Analytical and Computer Cartography
(2-2) 3 hours credit.
The design, construction, production, and reproduction of maps using computer hardware and software. Topics may include cartographic theory, principles of visual communication, and the techniques of geographic visualization, including 3-D and 4-D modeling and animation.

3423 Geopolitics of Russia and Eurasia
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Multidisciplinary introduction and regional study of the Russian Federation and the Eurasian realm, including the Caucasus, Central Asian nations, Afghanistan, and Mongolia. Both the geography and the politics of this area will be analyzed. Historical and contemporary geopolitical topics include nation-building, regional civilizations, revolution, terrorism, the 19th-century “Great Game,” the rise of the USSR, and the current transition of the Russian Federation to an uncertain future. (Same as POL 3423. Credit cannot be earned for both GRG 3423 and POL 3423.)

3433 The Geography and Politics of the Asian Rim
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
An analysis of the states spanning from the Indian subcontinent through Indo-China to Japan and China. Examination of their physical and social geographies and the regional political dynamics prevalent in the modern era. Selected themes will include population dynamics, cultural hearths, immigration patterns, economic development, and regional integration.

3443 Medical Geography
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
The human ecology of health. Analysis of the cultural/environmental interactions that explain world patterns of disease, their diffusion and treatment.

3453 Population Geography
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Study of the spatial dimensions of population growth, density, and mobility, and the shifts in these patterns as they relate to changes in selected socioeconomic and cultural phenomena.

3513 Urban Geography
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
An examination of the structure, growth, area of influence, economic base, and history of cities, with an emphasis on environmental and social issues. May have a local, national, or international focus.

3523 Introduction to Urban Planning
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
An introduction to the urban public policy, urban dynamics, selected problems, and the role of the master planning process in their management and solution. Issues and themes include poverty, public education, urban growth, municipal and regional government, energy and waste management, historic preservation and urban design, and relationships between transportation and land use.

3533 Geography of Economic Activity
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Investigates the location of agricultural, industrial, retail, and service activities, and transportation flows, through relevant theories and models. Includes case studies of agricultural land use around cities, the urban economic base, shift-share analysis, global impacts on the local economy, and central place principles such as threshold and range. Major focus is on the San Antonio region.

3613 Conservation of Resources
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
A survey of natural resources, environmental policies, global consumption patterns, and the competing values that affect them. Topics include agriculture, water resources, air pollution, waste disposal, land management, wildlife preservation, habitat conservation, biodiversity, energy production, urban sprawl, economic growth, and other selected components of built and natural systems.

3633 Geography of Development
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Survey and analysis of economic growth and social change in different parts of the world, with an emphasis on less-developed countries. Topics may include the definition of development, the major theories of development and underdevelopment, the evolution of global inequalities, the impacts of population growth and migration, the role of agriculture, industry, and transportation in the development, and cultural imperialism and the rise of religious fundamentalism.

3643 Political Geography
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Investigates the role of the political state in society and the evolution of state organization from classical times to the present. Topics may include centrifugal and centripetal forces, geopolitics, territorial morphology, boundaries, core areas, and emerging supranationalism.

3653 Geographic Perspectives on Women
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
The course studies the role of women in the spatial organizations of society. Topics may include analysis of gendered spaces, the importance of gender relations in shaping physical, social, and built environments, and the spatial-economic consequences of gender-based policies.

3713 Weather and Climate
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Analysis of the elements and causes of daily weather, climatic classifications, and climate change. Study of world distributions and components of climate, with studies of air pressure, precipitation, air masses, optical phenomena, and wave cyclones. Regional attention to weather patterns, including tornadoes and hurricanes.

3723 Physiography
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Description and interpretation of relief features of the earth’s surface by examination of regions with particular patterns of landforms and topography.

3733 Urban and Regional Analysis
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
Applied models of urban and regional growth, structure, interaction, influence, and inequality over space, with emphasis on the United States. Stresses practical skills.

4313 Remote Sensing
(2-2) 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: GRG 2633 or GRG 3314 or equivalent.
Introduction to the use of electromagnetic energy to sense objects in the natural and built environment; interpretation and recognition of patterns detected by satellite and aircraft-borne sensors. Application of computer software to the analysis and interpretation of remotely-sensed information.

4911-3 Independent Study
1 to 3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Permission in writing (form available) of the instructor, the student’s advisor, the Department Chair, and the Dean of the College in which the course is offered.
Independent reading, research, discussion, and/or writing under the direction of a faculty member. May be repeated for credit, but not more than 6 semester credit hours of independent study, regardless of discipline, will apply to a bachelor’s degree.

4923 Advanced Research Tutorial
3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Permission in writing (form available) of the instructor, the student’s advisor and the Department Chair.
The tutorial provides students with the opportunity to serve as an apprentice to a professor in order to learn the process of academic research. The student would engage in all aspects of the professor’s research project, potentially including data collection, report writing, joint paper presentations or publications, providing ideal preparation for graduate school.

4933,6 Internship in Geography
3 or 6 hours credit. Prerequisite: Consent of internship coordinator and faculty supervisor.
Supervised experience relevant to geography within selected community organizations. A maximum of 6 semester credit hours may be earned through the internship.

4953 Special Studies in Geography
(3-0) 3 hours credit.
An organized course offering the opportunity for specialized study not normally or not often available as part of the regular course offerings. Special Studies may be repeated for credit when topics vary, but not more than 6 semester credit hours, regardless of discipline, will apply to a bachelor’s degree.

4983 Research Practicum
3 hours credit. Prerequisite: Permission in writing (form available) of the instructor, the student’s advisor and the Department Chair.
The practicum provides students with the opportunity to focus on a specific research issue having practical applications in geography, governance, politics, or policy. Students participate in a hands-on research experience on the issue in a collective research environment. Potential practicum activities could be related to the Social Research Lab, the Media & Elections Studio, and the GIS Lab, for example.

4993 Honors Thesis
3 hours credit. Prerequisites: Enrollment limited to candidates for Honors in Geography during the last two semesters; completion of honors examination and consent of the Honors College.
Supervised research and preparation of an honors thesis. May be repeated once with advisor’s approval.

text size– | + | R |