Geography Department Courses

This critical thinking course provides a systematic examination of contemporary concepts and processes of human geography in global perspective, including economics, geopolitics, culture, nationalism, urbanization, governance, agriculture, population, and migration.

Study of Earth's natural systems, including the atmosphere, landforms/soils, ecosystems/biomes, hazards, and the hydrosphere, and the interactions between them and human activities using hands-on labs, geospatial technologies, and fieldwork.

Pre-req: GEO 101L (may be taken concurrently).

Lab to accompany Physical Geography lecture exploring earth-sun relationships, maps, atmosphere, climate, weather, hydrologic cycle, the biosphere, soils, landforms, erosion, vulcanism, and rivers.

Pre-req: GEO 101 (may be taken concurrently).

Introduction to GIS concepts including GIS components, spatial and tabular data, database elements, data formats, and map design; hands-on experience with a GIS.

Introduction to photogrammetry and remote sensing through the hands-on investigation of aerial photographs and satellite imagery using the latest technology.

Principles of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS); using your smartphone for Global Positioning Systems (GPS)/GNSS orientation, and data collection.

Students learn to build web maps, share GIS data on the internet, and create web GIS applications.

A systematic examination of world economic geography with a focus on population, agriculture, transportation, land use, urbanization, industry, energy, and the environment.

A survey of the geography of West Virginia including landforms, climate, settlement patterns, population, economics, resources, politics, and environmental changes.

Students explore the physical and human geography of ancient Palestine and assess how geography informs our understanding of people, events, and places described by Jewish and Christian scriptures.

Environmental issues have great emotional, political, and economic significance. The dynamics of global environmental problems, their complex interactions, and effects on potential stakeholders will be examined at the international scale.

Students use GIS, GPS, Remote Sensing, and Drones for map data collection, map creation, map analysis, and to investigate how these tools function for studying human and physical Earth systems.

Explore how the atmosphere works and why weather happens, focusing on energy, clouds, precipitation, winds, and analysis of weather maps, radar, and satellite data.

Pre-req: GEO 230L (may be taken concurrently).

Hands-on laboratory emphasizing measurement of atmospheric conditions using standard meteorological instruments.

Pre-req: GEO 230 (may be taken concurrently).

This course provides the fundamental knowledge to take the FAA Part 107 Remote Pilot exam and how to safely operate as a remote pilot-in-command (RPIC).

Provides an introduction to research methods in geography. Topics addressed include: data sources; sampling; data collection, storage, and management; descriptive measures and data visualization techniques; qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Pre-req: STA 225 with a minimum grade of D or STA 150 with a minimum grade of D or STA 150B with a minimum grade of D or MGT 218 with a minimum grade of D or PSY 223 with a minimum grade of D or SOC 345 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 440 with a minimum grade of D.

Survey of physical, historical, population, economic, political, cultural, and regional geographies of Canada and the United States, including an analysis of the multi-cultural nature of the societies.

World regions examined using a synthesis of physical and human geographical themes including environment, culture, landscape, climate, landforms, globalization, population patterns, urbanization, economies, and political geography.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) principles, techniques, and applications for the social and natural sciences, emphasizing core geographic concepts through an integrated lecture and lab format.

A study of atmospheric conditions on aeronautical operations. Topics include atmospheric properties, aviation hazards including thunderstorms, wind shear, turbulence, and icing, and weather flight resources.

Pre-req: GEO 230 with a minimum grade of D.

A study of the geography of Appalachia, including landforms, climate, settlement patterns, population, economics, resources, politics, and environmental changes.

An examination of the geography of Europe focusing on contemporary issues, including climate, culture, economics, environmental change, everyday life, international relations landforms, language, politics, population, religion, and urbanization.

A systematic and regional survey of world political problems and international relations stressing current geopolitical conflicts.

An examination of contemporary patterns, processes, and problems of population geography in global perspective, including fertility, mortality, demographic change, migration, malnutrition, urbanization, natural resource sustainability, and future projections.

A study of settlement, transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, geopolitics, and natural resources of South and Middle American countries.

Study of the evolution, morphology and land use, functions, and problems of urban areas, with emphasis on governance, planning, and the social and environmental impacts of urbanization.

An examination of contemporary issues and problems in health and medical geography, including the spatial aspects of global health, health care policy, and disease origins, diffusion, and ecology.

An examination of contemporary planning focusing on principles, methods, techniques, and tools; and the political, legal, and ethical contexts of planning.

A study of geographic concepts, methods, and technologies essential for effective teaching of geographic content for K-12 social studies teachers and college educators.

This course is an introduction to cartography and is the cornerstone of Geographic Information Science. In this class you will learn basic map design, map interpretation and appreciation. We will explore the nature of spatial data, and learn what maps can and cannot represent. We will study maps as a data source for Geographic Information Systems, and as a graphic tool for scientific visualizations.

A geographic analysis of transportation and its spatial organization. Concepts, models, and analytical methods related to traffic demand, network configuration, and allocation of transport facilities are covered.

A study of elements of weather and climate, methods of climatic classification, and the distribution and characteristics of world climate regions.

Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) principles, techniques, and applications for the social and natural sciences with emphasis on foundational geographic principles in a lecture/lab format.

Students automate GIS analyses and workflows by building repeatable models, programming with Python, and using other concepts and techniques within both desktop and web GIS applications.

Pre-req: GEO 423 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 426 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 429 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 430 with a minimum grade of D or NRRM 423 with a minimum grade of D or NRRM 433 with a minimum grade of D.

This course explores how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used in business for market analysis, site selection, logistics, and data-driven decision-making.

Environmental Applications of GIS raster analysis, including local, neighborhood, and zonal operations, terrain analysis, distance modeling, and surface interpolation, data collection and input, and advanced spatial analysis using GIS.

Pre-req: GEO 426 or GEO 429 or IST 423.

Scientific study of the earth using images and data captured using satellite- or aircraft-borne sensors, with emphasis on issues of acquisition, photogrammetric interpretation, spatial analysis and application.

Pre-req: GEO 110 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 111 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 223 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 326 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 427 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 429 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 430 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 434 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 440 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 454 with a minimum grade of D or NRE 423 with a minimum grade of D.

Application of principles of flood hazards preparation, disaster management, and mitigation using Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

This course equips students with the skills to understand, apply, and critically evaluate geostatistical methods in GIS, emphasizing spatial data analysis, model development, visualization, and real-world problem-solving.

Pre-req: GEO 426 with a minimum grade of C or GEO 423 with a minimum grade of C or NRE 423 with a minimum grade of C.

Study of mesoscale and extreme weather systems, including thunderstorms, squall lines, tornadoes, and winter storms. Emphasizes radar, satellite, and model interpretation for mesoscale weather analysis and forecasting.

This course equips students with the skills to retrieve and analyze weather data, curate information for public dissemination, and create engaging audio-visual content.

Pre-req: GEO 101 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 230 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 355 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 450 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 460 with a minimum grade of D.

Learn FAA rules and safety procedures; prepare for Remote Pilot licensing exam; operate drones to collect remote sensing data; process imagery for analysis; integrate sUAS imagery with existing GIS data.

Introduction to reading weather maps and meteorological analysis techniques including satellite and radar image interpretation and numerical weather prediction.

Cooperative learning experience with regional employer/government agency.

This senior capstone course combines research methods, data collection, and analysis to produce original research on questions and problems in geography. Par I: Pilot Project.

Pre-req: GEO 300 with a minimum grade of D and (GEO 423 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 426 with a minimum grade of D).

This senior capstone course combines research methods, data collection, and analysis to produce original research on questions and problems in geography. Part II.

Pre-req: GEO 426 with a minimum grade of D and (MTH 225 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 440 with a minimum grade of D or MGT 218 with a minimum grade of D or PSY 223 with a minimum grade of D or SOC 345 with a minimum grade of D or ANT 301 with a minimum grade of D or EDF 417 with a minimum grade of D).

A study of the geography of Appalachia, including landforms, climate, settlement patterns, population, economics, resources, politics, and environmental changes.

An examination of the geography of Europe focusing on contemporary issues, including climate, culture, economics, environmental change, everyday life, international relations, landforms, language, politics, population, religion, and urbanization.

An examination of contemporary patterns, processes, and problems of political geography in global perspective, including globalization, colonialism, imperialism, geopolitics, nationalism, diplomacy, international borders, governance, political representation, and future projections.

An examination of contemporary patterns, processes, and problems of population geography in global perspective, including fertility, mortality, demographic change, migration, malnutrition, urbanization, natural resource sustainability, and future projections.

A study of settlement, transportation, manufacturing agriculture, geopolitics and natural resources of South and Middle American countries.

Study of the evolution, morphology and land use, functions, and problems of urban areas, with emphasis on governance, planning, and the social and environmental impacts of urbanization.

An examination of contemporary issues and problems in health and medical geography, including the spatial aspects of global health, health care policy, and disease origins, diffusion, and ecology.

A study of the geographic concepts, methods, and technologies essential for effective teaching of geographic content for K-12 social studies teachers and college educators.

Geographical survey of enviromental changes caused by human activities. Focus on resource availability and use; pollution of air, water, and biosphere; energy problems, and human interaction with natural movement.

An introduction to cartography as the cornerstone of geographic information systems/science. Students will learn GIS-based map making, interpretation, and design. The course explores cartographic techniques to represent and visualize data.

A geographic analysis of transportation and its spatial organization. Concepts, models, and analytical methods related to traffic demand, network configuration, and allocation of transport facilities are covered.

A study of elements of weather and climate, methods of climatic classification, and distribution and characteristics of world climatic regions.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) principles, techniques, and applications for the social and natural sciences, emphasizing core geographic concepts through an integrated lecture and lab format.

Students apply GIS principles and techniques to geoprocess and manipulate geographic data, including topics such as geodatabase management, python scripting, model building, web mapping and data services, and spatial analysis.

Pre-req: GEO 523 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 526 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 529 with a minimum grade of D or GEO 530 with a minimum grade of D or NRRM 523 with a minimum grade of D or NRRM 533 with a minimum grade of D.

This course explores how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used in business for market analysis, site selection, logistics, and data-driven decision-making.

Environmental Applications of GIS raster analysis, including local, neighborhood, and zonal operations, terrain analysis, distance modeling, and surface interpolation, data collection and input, and advanced spatial analysis using GIS.

Pre-req: GEO 526 or GEO 529.

Scientific study of the earth using images and data captured using satellite-or aircraft-borne sensors, with emphasis on issues of acquisition, photogrammetric interpretation, spatial analysis, and application.

Application of principles of flood hazards preparation, disaster management, and mitigation using Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Study of mesoscale and extreme weather systems, including thunderstorms, squall lines, tornadoes, and winter storms. Emphasizes radar, satellite, and model interpretation for mesoscale weather analysis and forecasting.

This course equips students with the skills to retrieve and analyze weather data, curate information for public dissemination, and create engaging audio-visual content.

Learn FAA rules and safety procedures; prepare for Remote Pilot licensing exam; operate drones to collect remote sensing data; process imagery for analysis; integrate sUAS imagery with existing GIS data.

Selected geography subjects to cover unusual geography topics not in the regular course offerings of the department.

Selected geography subjects to cover unusual geography topics not in the regular course offerings of the department.

Selected geography subjects to cover unusual geography topics not in the regular course offerings of the department.

Selected geography subjects to cover unusual geography topics not in the regular course offerings of the department.

Speaker series introducing and sharing knowledge and experiences with geographic focus. Students are to learn from the knowledge and experience of faculty members, graduate students, alumni, and scholars.

Topics in economic geography including industrial location, transportation systems, economic development, international trade relationships and globalism.

Survey of the history, literature, prominent individuals, and major paradigms in geography. Review of the major concepts in geography and an introduction to various methods of geographic inquiry.

Students examine/practice four research methods in geography--qualitative, quantitative, GIScience, and field/lab methods--and learn to choose among them and use them for their own research and analysis.

Selected geography subjects/topics not included in the regular course offerings of the department are considered, using a seminar approach to learning.

Selected geography subjects/topics not included in the regular course offerings of the department are considered, using a seminar approach to learning.

Selected geography subjects/topics not included in the regular course offerings of the department are considered, using a seminar approach to learning.

Geographic aspects of world environmental problems including such topics as global warming, acid rain, energy supplies, population growth and soil depletion.

This seminar course examines regional geographies of North America with an emphasis on the research and methods for delineation of regions.

Use of advanced GIS techniques to solve community-service research problems.

Pre-req: GEO 530.

Configuration and management of geospatial databases. Python scripting for analysis, geoprocessing, and workflow automation within a GIS environment.

This course equips students with the skills to understand, apply, and critically evaluate geostatistical methods in GIS, emphasizing spatial data analysis, model development, visualization, and real-world problem-solving.

Pre-req: GEO 526 with a minimum grade of C or GEO 529 with a minimum grade of C or GEO 530 with a minimum grade of C.

Introduction to reading weather maps and meteorological analysis techniques including satellite and radar image interpretation and numerical weather prediction.

Students compile a Portfolio of work completed during the degree program, complete a written exam project, and create/enhance their Career Profile.

Pre-req: GEO 615 with a minimum grade of C and GEO 616 with a minimum grade of C.

Student will be employed a minimum of 300 hours with an agency approved by geography department. Faculty advisor and agency will consult periodically on student progress.