Course Description
Interactions between physical systems and human activities, and their effects on environmental quality and sustainability. Geography of population and resource consumption, food production, water and air quality, energy policy, and land/biotic resource management.
Athena Title
Resources Society and Environ
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in GEOG 1125, GEOG 2250H
Non-Traditional Format
This course will be taught 95% or more online. Each topic has a dedicated module consisting of a PPT file of lecture notes, a recorded teaching video, a quiz, and a checklist of items to be completed. Review presentations and final project presentations are to be recorded by students with instructor-provided tools and resources. Each student is expected to have a computer running a Windows operating system or a Macintosh platform that allows the use of interactive technology and internet access. Students will use the eLC software available after registration.
Semester Course Offered
Offered summer semester every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students at the end of the course will be able to 1. Understand the biogeographical foundations of the human environment 2. Compile, organize, analyze and visualize environmental- related data to communicate with a lay audience 3. Become versed in the discourse of sustainability and negotiate the terminology associated with the political ecology of resource use 4. Develop a geoecological footprint essay addressing a real- world problem 5. Realize the inner workings of the social-ecological systems (SES) of the cultural landscapes subjected to urban expansion and biodiversity loss
Topical Outline
1. Wild Nature? Geoliteracy and political ecology amidst global environmental change 2. Population geographies: Resource scarcity and demographic growth 3. Economic geographies: Markets and commodities in the environment 4. Governability and scale: Environmental institutions and the commons 5. Soul geographies: Environmentality, ethics, and deep ecology 6. Resilience and adaptation: Environmental Risks and hazards 7. Developmental geographies: Political economy and the global environment 8. Post-modern geographies: Social construction of nature 9. Carbon sequestration and Trade puzzle 10. Forest transitions and Tree puzzle 11. Rewilding and Wolfe puzzle 12. Nuclear prospects and Uranium puzzle 13. Biodiversity conservation and Tuna puzzle 14. Urban design and Lawn puzzle 15. Water woes and Bottle puzzle 16. Food security and French fry puzzle 17. Digital divides and E-waste puzzle 18. Farmscape transformation and Rural puzzle 19. Sustainable development and Senesce puzzle
General Education Core
CORE II: Physical Sciences