GEOG F101X      Expedition Earth: Introduction to Geography      (s)
3 Credits

Introduction to essential concepts and approaches of geographic study. Explores physical, political, economic and cultural geography of major world culture regions. Examines each region in relation to others, and in context of global economic, political and environmental change.

Attributes: UAF GER Social Sciences Req

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F111X      Earth and Environment: Elements of Physical Geography      (n)
4 Credits

Offered Fall

This course explores the processes that create and shape Earth's physical environment. A global systems approach will be used to describe elements of, and interactions between, the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere. A review and application of modern mapping techniques including GIS and GPS will be covered. The topic of global change serves as a capstone topic that integrates course concepts allowing for a comprehensive understanding of Earth surface processes. Lab section includes hands-on activities to reinforce lecture material and three field trips. Special lab fees apply.

Prerequisites: Placement in WRTG F111X; placement in DEVM F105.

Attributes: UAF GER Natural Science Req

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

GEOG F202      Natural Disasters
3 Credits

Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years

Natural disasters are usually the result of the build up and sudden release of energy in the solid earth, atmosphere, or biosphere. Natural "events" typically become disasters when intensive human activity alters the energy dynamics involved, or when the event endangers human life, property, or livelihood. This course examines the natural physical processes that affect the human environment in catastrophic ways. Case studies from around the world, will allow the examination of the complex factors that lead to natural disasters.

Prerequisites: WRTG F111X.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F203      World Economic Geography      (s)
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Study of the world's major economic activities: their physical and cultural bases, spatial growth and distribution patterns, and their significance in interregional and international development.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F207      Research Methods and Statistics in Geography
3 Credits

Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years

Introduction to basic data collection and analysis techniques used in geographic research. Explores a variety of qualitative and quantitative geographic research methods. Includes research design, real-world field-work issues, and hands-on use of tools and computer methods for analysis and visual display of spatial data. Students will gain an appreciation of the wide array of research methods and learn to critically interpret results and conclusions from both quantitative and qualitative perspectives.

Prerequisites: Placement in MATH F113X or MATH F151X.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F222      Fundamentals of Geospatial Sciences
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

This course is an introduction to the principles and applications of geospatial science (remote sensing, GIS and GPS). Fundamental concepts include electromagnetic radiations, map projections, basic computer science, data formats, map-reading and map-making, etc. Practical exercises include field data collections using GPS, photo-interpretation using image processing and GIS software packages.

Prerequisites: GEOG F111X or GEOS F101X.

Cross-listed with GEOS F222.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 2.5 + 1.5 + 0

GEOG F300      Internship in Geography
1-3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Supervised pre-professional experience in a business or agency (public or private). Open to students majoring or minoring in geography only. Course may be repeated for credit up to a maximum of 6 credits.

Prerequisites: GEOG F101X; junior standing with 3.0 GPA; an approved internship plan.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 0 + 0 + 3-10

GEOG F302      Geography of Alaska      (s, a)
3 Credits

Regional, physical and economic geography of Alaska. Special consideration of the state's renewable and nonrenewable resources and of plans for their wise use. Frequent class study of representative maps and visual materials.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F303      Geography of United States and Canada      (s, a)
3 Credits

Offered Fall Even-numbered Years

In-depth examination of the natural, political, cultural, and economic characteristics of the U.S. and Canada and their major sub-regions. Explores contrasts in U.S. and Canadian historical, cultural and political geography; sources of national identity; and interactions with aboriginal peoples. Includes economic and political relationships between the two countries, and the role each has played in current and historical world affairs.

Prerequisites: An introductory geography course or background in United States or Canadian history, social science, or cultures.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F305      Geography of Europe      (W, s)
3 Credits

Offered Spring Even-numbered Years

In-depth examination of the natural, political, cultural and economic characteristics of Europe and its major sub-regions. Explores current political and economic transformations, historical and contemporary world influences, and issues of nationalism and identity.

Prerequisites: WRTG F111X; WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X; an introductory geography course or background in European history, social science, or culture.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F306      Geography of Russia      (s, a)
3 Credits

Offered Spring Even-numbered Years

Examines the processes that shape the places, regions and landscapes of Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union. Explores the influence of Northern Eurasia's physical geography on Russia's social, political and cultural development; Russia's role in twenty-first century geopolitical and economic affairs; Russia's conflicting spatial identities as expressed through art, literature, architecture and political discourse; and environmental attitudes and practices during the Imperial, Soviet and post-Soviet periods.

Prerequisites: GEOG F101X or HIST F100X; or a course in Russian history or culture.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F307      Weather and Climate      (n, a)
3 Credits

Offered Spring

Weather systems and climate classification. Emphasis on weather system processes, measuring weather variables and physical processes of the atmosphere.

Prerequisites: GEOG F111X.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F309      Digital Cartography and Geovisualization      (s)
4 Credits

Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years

The concepts of map design, layout and presentation to effectively visualize and communicate complex spatial data.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

GEOG F311      Geography of Asia      (W, s)
3 Credits

Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years

Examines the natural, political, cultural, and economic characteristics of China, Japan, India-Pakistan, Southeast Asia, and the Asiatic countries of the Middle East. Explores historical and current political and economic transformations, historical, and contemporary world influences, and foundations of regional political, economic, and military conflicts.

Prerequisites: WRTG F111X; WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X; an introductory geography course or background in Asian history, social science, or culture.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F312      People, Places and Environment: Principles of Human Geography      (s)
3 Credits

Offered Fall

Examines how human activity manifests itself on the earth's surface through the geographic lenses of ethnicity, politics, industry, language, religion, and demographics. Explores spatial patterns, relationships and contrasts between places, origin and diffusion of traits, and human interactions with the environment.

Prerequisites: GEOG F101X.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F338      Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
3 Credits

Offered Fall

Geographic data concepts including mapping systems, data sources, editing data, GIS analysis and computer mapping. Introduction to global positioning systems. GIS applications in natural resources management.

Prerequisites: Knowledge of PCs or Unix workstations desirable.

Cross-listed with NRM F338.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 2 + 3 + 0

GEOG F339      Maps and Landscape Analysis      (n, n)
4 Credits

Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years

This course will build student knowledge and practical experience regarding the visualization and mapping of landform evolution in response to Earth surface processes. A semester long research project will allow students to gain experience in the collection and use of a variety of datasets and equipment used in landscape analysis including ground penetrating radar, real-time-kinimatic GPS, Drones and GIS. Overnight field trip required. Special fees apply.

Prerequisites: GEOG F111X; GEOS F304.

Crosslisted with GEOS F339.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

GEOG F405      Political Geography      (s)
3 Credits

Offered As Demand Warrants

Geographical analysis of the evolution, structure, internal coherence and sources of strength of individual nation states, with emphasis on nations of the Pacific realm and Arctic periphery. Consideration of regional blocs, spheres of influence and potential for international cooperation.

Prerequisites: GEOG F101X.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F410      Geography of the Pacific Rim
3 Credits

Offered Fall Odd-numbered Years

Examines the physical and human geography of the Pacific Rim. Will employ both a global and topical approach and include aspects of environmental, historic, economic, social, and political issues. Regional studies on physical and human geographic attributes of selected countries will be analyzed and compared.

Prerequisites: GEOG F101X; GEOG F111X.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F412      Geography of Climate and Environmental Change      (a)
3 Credits

Offered Fall

Serves as a "synthesis" breadth course focusing on the geography of climate and environmental change. The major concepts of global climate processes and climate change will be reviewed on multiple time scales. The impacts of natural and anthropogenic environmental change will be examined through selected case studies and readings (e.g. permafrost, invasive species, sea ice, fire, urbanization).

Prerequisites: GEOG F307 or ATM F101X or ATM F401.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F418      Biogeography      (a)
3 Credits

Offered Fall

This course explores the geography of life by examining linkages between climate, geomorphology, and ecological communities with emphasis on the biogeography of sub-Arctic, polar and alpine regions.

Prerequisites: NRM F277 or BIOL F371; junior/senior standing.

Cross-listed with BIOL F418.

Stacked with GEOG F618; BIOL F618.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F420      Geopolitics of Energy      (s)
3 Credits

Offered Spring Even-numbered Years

Examines the impacts that energy resource exploration, development, production, and transportation have on the internal politics of various countries in the world, and on international economic and political relationships. Explores the cultural, political, economic, physical, and historical underpinnings of contemporary geopolitical events involving energy resources, and explores possible future scenarios.

Prerequisites: Any of the following courses: GEOG F101X; GEOG F312; GEOG F405; NRM F101; NRM F403; PS F201X; PS F221X; PS F304; PS F323; ECON F235X; ECON F335; ECON F439; ECON F463; junior standing.

Recommended: GEOG F101X.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F427      Polar Geography      (s, a)
3 Credits

Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years

Comparative physical, cultural, political and economic geography of the Circumpolar North and Antarctic regions. Special attention to Arctic natural resource development, climate change in both polar regions and polar geopolitics.

Prerequisites: GEOG F101X or GEOG F111X.

Cross-listed with ACNS F427.

Stacked with GEOG F627; ACNS F627.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F430      Google Earth and Neogeography
3 Credits

Offered Sping

Neogeography describes a new generation of primarily web-based mapping techniques and technologies. This course teaches advanced use of some of the latest neogeography tools, such as Google Earth, Maps Engine and Earth Engine. The skills and techniques learned will be applicable in academic, government and industry settings as a way to produce dynamis visualizations from any dataset with a geospatial component, for purposes of data presentation, analysis and research.

Prerequisites: junior standing with completed course work in geographic methods (GEOG F309; GEOG F339; GEOS F304; GEOS F422; GEOS F458; NRM F338; NRM F435).

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F435      GIS Analysis
4 Credits

Offered Spring

GIS analysis of natural resources including spatial query, attribute query, vector, grid, image, topographic and network analysis techniques.

Cross-listed with NRM F435.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 3 + 0

GEOG F454      Comparative Farming and Sustainable Food Systems
3 Credits

Offered Fall

Principles of food systems geography and food security. Cross-cultural examination of dietary traditions, poverty, hunger, equity and food access and distribution. Comparison of multiple varieties and scales of agricultural systems in the context of social, ecological and economic sustainability. Considers Alaskan and other high-latitude food systems, including country food, wild game harvest and rural to urban nutrition transition.

Prerequisites: WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X; junior standing.

Cross-listed with NRM F454 and CCS F454.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F460      The Dynamic Alaska Coastline
3 Credits

Offered Spring Even-numbered Years

Alaska's diverse coastal system provides abundant ecosystem services and globally important resources. This course provides an interdisciplinary perspective on the dynamic coastal landscape of Alaska from Southcentral to the Arctic, and delves into the driving geological, oceanographic and climate processes shaping Alaska's past and present coastline. Through a semester long research projects students will learn how to measure and map coastal changes associated with natural and human perturbations. An overnight field trip will serve as an active learning opportunity to integrate course knowledge with hands-on field work.

Prerequisites: Junior standing; GEOG F111X or GEOS F101X; CHEM F105X or PHYS F103X; NRM F338 or equivalent GIS coursework.

Cross-listed with GEOS F460.

Stacked with GEOS F660; GEOG F660.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F464      Wilderness Management
3 Credits

Offered Spring

Wilderness ecology and land management practices on lands designated as wilderness. Plus, visitor management regimes are analyzed. Both national and international views of wilderness are presented.

Prerequisites: A basic course in ecology; resource management.

Cross-listed with NRM F464.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F478      Ice Age Alaska      (a)
3 Credits

An overview of the paleoenviroments of Alaska including climate, glacier and biotic history including humans. Emphasis on events of the past that have left important legacies on present landscapes. The course begins with two weekend field trips and then surveys key literature describing Alaska's ice-age history. The focus is on Alaska and the Yukon, but topics will range more widely into other parts of the Arctic and its adjacent seas.

Prerequisites: Senior standing in anthropology, biological sciences, Earth science, geography, geoscience, or northern studies.

Cross-listed with GEOS F478.

Stacked with GEOG F678;GEOS F678.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F483      Research Design, Writing and Presentation Methods      (O, W, n)
3 Credits

Offered Fall

This course is designed as a capstone research and professional development course for geography, natural resources management and geoscience majors. Students will focus on designing an individual research project and proposal. This course will provide real world active learning assignments that seek to integrate the knowledge and skills gained through undergraduate work, and prepares students for graduate and professional level projects. The course will focus on scientific writing, and the oral, written and graphical presentation of data and research results.

Prerequisites: COJO F131X or COJO F141X; WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X; junior standing.

Cross-listed with GEOS F483.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F488      Geographic Assessment and Prediction of Natural Hazards
3 Credits

Offered Fall Even-numbered Years

Integrate aspects of physical geography with the human dimension via the study of the assessment and prediction of natural hazards. Guest speakers, case studies, and applied practical exercises will help students transition from content-based courses to applying their knowledge in "real-world" situations, using geographic tools in remote sensing and GIS.

Prerequisites: GEOG F111X.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F490      Geography Seminar      (O, W, s)
3 Credits

Offered Spring

Discussion of geographic thought including past, present and future directions of the discipline. Contributions of geography to science, philosophy and ethics integrated through detailed review of contemporary literature and research.

Prerequisites: COJO F131X or COJO F141X; WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X; senior standing.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F618      Biogeography      (a)
3 Credits

Offered Fall

This course explores the geography of life by examining linkages between climate, geomorphology, and ecological communities with emphasis on the biogeography of sub-Arctic, polar and alpine regions.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Cross-listed with BIOL F618.

Stacked with GEOG F418 and BIOL F418.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F627      Polar Geography      (a)
3 Credits

Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years

Comparative physical, cultural, political and economic geography of the Circumpolar North and Antarctic regions. Special attention to Arctic natural resource development, climate change in both polar regions and polar geopolitics.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Cross-listed with ACNS F627.

Stacked with GEOG F427; ACNS F427.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F656      Sustainable Livelihoods and Community Well-being
3 Credits

Offered Fall

Review the basic principles that govern the sustainability of systems and look at the cultural practices and individual behaviors that enhance or degrade sustainable livelihoods and community well-being. Emphasis is on understanding the historical context of ideas about sustainability, on understanding the nature and magnitude of the social, economic and ecological dimensions of contemporary change, and the "best practices" currently in place for communities to respond effectively to change.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Cross-listed with NRM F656 and CCS F656.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F660      The Dynamic Alaska Coastline
3 Credits

Offered Spring Even-numbered Years

Alaska's diverse coastal system provides abundant ecosystem services and globally important resources. This course provides an interdisciplinary perspective on the dynamic coastal landscape of Alaska from Southcentral to the Arctic, and delves into the driving geological, oceanographic and climate processes shaping Alaska's past and present coastline. Through a semester long research projects students will learn how to measure and map coastal changes associated with natural and human perturbations. An overnight field trip will serve as an active learning opportunity to integrate course knowledge with hands-on field work.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Cross-listed with GEOS F660.

Stacked with GEOG F460;GEOS F460.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F678      Ice Age Alaska      (a)
3 Credits

An overview of the paleoenviroments of Alaska including climate, glacier and biotic history including humans. Emphasis on events of the past that have left important legacies on present landscapes. The course begins with two weekend field trips and then surveys key literature describing Alaska's ice-age history. The focus is on Alaska and the Yukon, but topics will range more widely into other parts of the Arctic and its adjacent seas.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing in anthropology, biological Sciences, Earth science, geography, geoscience, or northern studies.

Cross-listed with GEOS F678.

Stacked with GEOG F478; GEOS F478.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F692      Graduate Seminar
1-3 Credits

Topics in natural resources management and geography explored through readings, student presentations, group discussions and guest speakers.

Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Cross-listed with NRM F692.

Lecture + Lab + Other: 1-3 + 0 + 0

GEOG F699      Thesis
1-12 Credits

Lecture + Lab + Other: 0 + 0 + 0