Department of Geography
JOHN PICKLES, Chair
Professors
Lawrence E. Band (21) Voit Gilmore Distinguished Professor. Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Hydroecology, Geomorphology
Stephen S. Birdsall (5) Cultural Landscapes, North America
Melinda S. Meade (10) Medical Geography, Population, and Southeast Asia
John Pickles (26) Earl N. Phillips Distinguished Chair of International Studies. International Studies, Regional Development, Geographic Thought, Political Economy
Peter J. Robinson (9) Climatology, Climatic Impacts, Hydroclimatology
Stephen J. Walsh (12) Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Physical
Associate Professors
Altha J. Cravey (17) Latin America, Social
Martin Doyle (27) Hydro-Ecology, Geomorphology, and Environmental Policy
Michael Emch (29) Medical Geography, Spatial Epidemiology, Health and Environment, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing
John W. Florin (8) Population, Medical, Historical Anglo-America
Charles E. Konrad (16) Synoptic Climatology and Meteorology
Scott L. Kirsch (23) Historical and Political Geography; Science, Technology and Environment
Aaron Moody (18) Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Biogeography
Conghe Song (24) GIS, Remote Sensing, Earth Systems Science
Wendy Wolford (25) Latin America, Social Movements
Assistant Professors
Banu Gökariksel (28) Urban, Cultural, and Feminist Geography; Social Theory; Globalization and Modernity; the Middle East and Southeast Asia
Nina Martin (31 ) Urban, Economic and Migration Geography, Globalization and Urban Change, Urban Planning and Policy, Civil Society
Jason Moore (30) Political Ecology, Environmental History, Economic Geography
Gabriela Valdivia (32) Political Ecology, Indigenous Communities, Latin America (Effective July 1, 2009)
Adjunct Faculty
Richard Bilsborrow (Biostatistics), Demography, Development and the Environment, Environment and Society, Research Methods
Ryan Boyles (North Carolina State University), Climate Services, Local and Regional Climatology, Weather and Climate Applications, Observational Sensors and Systems, Data Management
David Easterling (National Climatic Data Center), Climate, Modeling, Observed Climate Variability and Change
Barbara Entwisle (Sociology), Demography, Social Change, GIS and Geographical Approaches in Population Studies
Arturo Escobar (Anthropology), Ecological Anthropology, Social Movements, Political Ecology, Latin America, Complexity
Lawrence Grossberg (Communications Studies), Cultural Studies, Modern and Contemporary Philosophy, Popular Music (Rock Culture) and Popular Culture, Contemporary Political Culture of the United States
Kenneth Hillis (Communication Studies), Place, Space and Landscape, Virtual Geographies, Space and Social and Political Identities
Kevin Hewison (Carolina Asia Center), Globalization and Social Change in Southeast Asia
James H. Johnson Jr. (Kenan-Flagler Business School), Urban and Metropolitan Competitiveness, Business Demographics, Sustainable Economic and Community Development
Jeffrey Lutz (U.S. Department of State) Health, Data Management, Climatology
Carlos Mena (Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador) GIS, Latin America, Population Environment, Remote Sensing, Dynamic Modeling
Ronald Rindfuss (Sociology), Population and Environment, Family, Fertility
Michael J. Welsh (Family Health International), Health/Population and Development, HIV/AIDS Prevention Programs, Reproductive Health Service Delivery and Evaluation Research, Diffusion of Innovation
Research Professor
Stephen Guptill (United States Geological Survey, retired), GIS, Spatial Analysis, Remote Sensing, Health
Professors Emeriti
David G. Basile
Clyde E. Browning
John D. Eyre
Wilbert M. Gesler
Richard J. Kopec
Thomas M. Whitmore
The Department of Geography offers advanced work leading to the master of arts and doctor of philosophy degrees. Both the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees are offered, but the major emphasis of the program is on the Ph.D., even for those not yet possessing an M.A. Incoming students are roughly evenly mixed between those with and without a master's degree.
The Department of Geography has faculty strength in five overlapping areas of concentration. These represent areas of active faculty research and coherent foci—not mutually exclusive territories. Indeed, many students and faculty work on projects that span more than one area. So, while intensive training is offered in a number of diverse areas, the program is noted for its integrative and cross-cutting approach. The department's diverse graduate students are pursuing a wide variety of research at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Departmental research specializations include:
Biophysical Geography and Earth Systems Science. Here the biophysical environment is examined as an integrated system emphasizing the linkages and feedbacks between terrestrial and atmospheric form and function. The focus is on the interactions between the structure and composition of the earth's surface, its soils and vegetation, and the atmosphere with those processes that actively cycle energy and material through them.
Geographic Information and Analysis. Here geographic information sciences are applied as an integrated set of spatial digital technologies including tools, techniques, concepts and data sets associated with geographic information systems, remote sensing, data visualization, global positioning systems, spatial analysis and quantitative methods.
Nature-Society Studies and Human-Environment Interactions. Drawing on analytical and theoretical perspectives from ecology, sociocultural processes and values, political ecology, science studies and cultural ecology, UNC-Chapel Hill geographers focus on geographies of environmental change, the political-economic and social contexts of environmental change, human uses of the environment and the consequences of such uses.
Social Spaces. Here UNC-Chapel Hill geographers examine cultural geographies of people, places, regions, landscape and resources, space, identity and representation; social geographies of race, space, gender, urban and community dynamics, rural landscapes and regional change, health, migration, inequality and social movements; economic geographies of agrarian and industrial change, science, technology and regional change, post-socialism, political economy, and globalization and international development; and political geography, geopolitics and political ecology.
Globalization and International Development. Here UNC-Chapel Hill geographers study the consequences of the processes of globalization (and the anti-globalization and global justice movements they have stimulated) that are reshaping the geographies of international and local capital, labor, technology, information, goods and services, and the post-war Fordist geographies of economic, social and political life in the United States and globally.
Graduate students in the department participate in most departmental governance activities and maintain their own organization, the Graduate Association of Geography Students (GAGS). UNC-Chapel Hill professional and graduate students also have an active campus-wide organization. Graduate students have access to extensive research and computing facilities within the department and across campus, and many of our students are involved in specialized departmental research groups. Students and faculty have strong ties to other departments and research centers at UNC-Chapel Hill, including the Carolina Population Center, the Odum Institute for Research in Social Science, the Institute of Latin American Studies (UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University), the Sheps Center for Health Services Research, the Curriculum in Ecology, the Center for Urban and Regional Studies, the Carolina Environmental Program and UNC-Chapel Hill's schools of public health and medicine. There are also opportunities for course work and research associated with nearby Duke University and North Carolina State University. Many students also take advantage of the government and private research facilities in Research Triangle Park.
Incoming graduate students are required to complete three core courses (GEOG 702 ,703 and 704) presenting the foundations of geographical theory, communication and research. Thereafter the program of study is flexible and tailored to the needs of the individual student. Students select the appropriate course work and dissertation topic in consultation with their advisor and research committee.
A large proportion of graduate students receive financial assistance. Sources of aid include teaching assistantships and work on sponsored research projects within the department, University-wide competitive assistantships, nonservice fellowships and merit scholarships, and externally awarded fellowships.
The department occupies the top two floors of newly renovated Saunders Hall and maintains the extensive computational laboratories needed to fulfill its research and teaching mission, with specialized facilities dedicated to spatial analysis and the use of geographic information systems. A wide range of geographic data sets are readily available. An extensive collection of geographic books and periodicals, including an exceptionally strong collection of foreign periodicals, is held in the nearby Davis Library, while Wilson Library houses a large map library.
Courses for Graduates and Advanced Undergraduates
404 ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES II (ENST 406) (4). Principles of analysis of the atmosphere are applied to the analysis of environmental phenomena. The link between the atmosphere and other environmental compartments is explored through environmental case studies. Robinson, Konrad.
410 [110] MODELING OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES (3). Prerequisite, GEOG 110 or equivalent. Use of systems theory and computer modeling to understand general issues in climate, vegetation, geomorphology, soils and hydrology such as crossing time and space scales and linear and dynamical systems. No laboratory. (GISci). Staff.
412 [112] SYNOPTIC METEOROLOGY (3). Prerequisite, GEOG 110 or 111. An analysis of synoptic weather patterns and the processes responsible for them. Climatological aspects of these weather patterns are emphasized. (EES). Konrad, Robinson.
414 [114] PHYSICAL CLIMATOLOGY (3). The factors causing climates and their spatial variation are considered. Particular attention is paid to climate models and to the nature, causes and impacts of climate change. No laboratory. (EES). Konrad, Robinson.
416 [116] APPLIED CLIMATOLOGY (3). Prerequisite, GEOG 412 or 414. An investigation of the ways climatic information and techniques can be applied to societal problems, such as energy production, food production and health. (EES). Konrad, Robinson.
419 [119] FIELD METHODS IN PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY (3). Involves evaluation of landscapes by examining nature and biophysical elements influencing landscape form and function. Course emphasizes data collection, analysis and interpretation using GIS and field methods. (EES). Doyle, staff.
420 [120] FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY (3). A systematic study of the approaches, key concepts and methods of human geography. Emphasizes the cultural landscape and location analysis within a thematic rather than a regional framework. (Core). Florin.
423 [123] SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY (3). A study of the spatial components of current social problems, such as poverty, race relations, environmental deterioration and pollution, and crime. (GHA). Cravey, staff.
428 [128] URBAN GEOGRAPHY (3). A geographical study of the spatial structure and function of urban settlements. Emphasis is on the regional relations of cities and central place theory. (GHA). Staff.
434 [134] CULTURAL ECOLOGY OF AGRICULTURE, URBANIZATION, AND DISEASE (3). Examines the role of the interactions of cultures, environments and human diseases in the quest for sustainable agriculture by examining the cultural ecology of agriculture systems and their human diseases. (GHA). Meade.
435 [135] ENVIRONMENTAL POLITICS (3). This course brings geographical perspectives on place, space, scale and environmental change to the study of environmental politics. In lectures, texts and student research, students examine topics including environmental health risks, globalization and urban environments, and the role of science in environmental politics. (GHA). Kirsch.
440 [140] EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES (GEOL 502) (3). Prerequisite, GEOG 101 or 110. This course will focus on the processes of soil formation, erosion and landform evolution with an emphasis on the interaction of geomorphic processes with surface hydrology and ecosystems. (EES). Band.
441 [141] INTRODUCTION TO WATERSHED SYSTEMS (3). Prerequisite, GEOG 110. Introduction to the hydrologic and geomorphic processes and forms in watersheds as applied to problems in flood analysis, water quality and interactions with ecosystem processes. Course will cover the structure of drainage networks, nested catchments and distribution and controls of precipitation, evaporation, runoff, soil and groundwater flow. (EES). Band.
442 [142] RIVER PROCESSES (3). Introduction to landforms and processes associated with flowing water at the earth's surface. Hydrology, sedimentology and theories of channel formation and drainage basin evolution. (ESS). Doyle.
444 [144] LANDSCAPE BIOGEOGRAPHY (3). This course is concerned with the application of biogeographical principles and techniques to the study of natural and human-modified landscapes. It includes local and extraregional case studies. (EES). Moody.
445 [145] MEDICAL GEOGRAPHY (3). The human ecology of health is studied by analyzing the cultural/environmental interactions that lie behind world patterns of disease distribution, diffusion and treatment, and the ways these are being altered by development. (GHA). Meade.
446 [146] GEOGRAPHY OF HEALTH CARE DELIVERY (3). This course covers basics, including personnel and facility distributions, accessibility, regionalization and location/allocation modeling; spatial analysis and GIS; and the cultural geography of health care, including humanist and political-economic perspectives. (GHA). Staff.
447 [147] GENDER, SPACE AND PLACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST (ASIA 447, INTS 447) (3). Examines gender, space and place relationships in the modern Middle East. Investigates shifting gender geographies of colonialism, nationalism, modernization and globalization in this region. Gökariksel.
448 [148] TRANSNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIES OF MUSLIM SOCIETIES (INTS 448) (3). Examines modern Muslim geographies that are created by transnational flows, connections and imaginaries that cross national and regional boundaries across the Middle East, Southeast Asia and beyond. Gökariksel.
450 [150] POPULATION GEOGRAPHY (3). A study of the spatial dimensions of population growth, density and movement and of the shifts in these patterns as they relate to changes in selected socioeconomic and cultural phenomena. (GHA). Florin, Meade, Whitmore.
452 [152] MOBILE GEOGRAPHIES: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF MIGRATION (3). This course explores the contemporary experience of migrants. Various theoretical approaches are introduced, with the emphasis on a political-economic approach. (GHA). Cravey.
453 [153] POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY (PWAD 453) (3). The geography of politics is explored at the global, the nation-state and the local scale in separate course units, but the interconnections between these geographical scales are emphasized throughout. (GHA). Cravey, Kirsch.
454 [154] HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES (FOLK 454) (3). A study of selected past geographies of the United States with emphasis on the significant geographic changes in population, cultural and economic conditions through time. (GHA). Florin.
457 [157] RURAL LATIN AMERICA: AGRICULTURE, ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES (3). Prerequisite, GEOG 259 or permission of the instructor. This course explores a systems and cultural-ecological view of agriculture, environment, natural resource and rural development issues in Latin America. It serves as a complement to GEOG 458, Urban Latin America. (Regional). Whitmore.
458 [158] URBAN LATIN AMERICA: POLITICS, ECONOMY AND SOCIETY (3). Prerequisite, GEOG 259 or permission of the instructor. This course examines urban social issues in contemporary Latin America. Cities and their residents will be considered in relation to each other and to North American examples. (Regional). Cravey.
460 [160] GEOGRAPHIES OF ECONOMIC CHANGE (3). This course is designed to explore changing geographies of production and consumption in theory and in practice. Wolford.
464 [164] EUROPE TODAY: TRANSNATIONALISM, GLOBALISMS AND THE GEOGRAPHIES OF PAN-EUROPE (INTS 464) (3). A survey by topic and country of Europe west of Russia. Those features that make Europe a distinct and important region today are emphasized. (Regional). Pickles.
477 [177] INTRODUCTION TO REMOTE SENSING AND DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESSING (3). Prerequisite, GEOG 370 or equivalent. Emphasizes methods of data analysis that offer an automated approach to spatial and nonspatial data synthesis, which combines a system of data capture, storage, management, retrieval, analysis and display. (GISci). Fall. Moody, Song, Walsh.
491 [191] INTRODUCTION TO GIS (PLAN 491) (3). Prerequisite, GEOG 370 or equivalent. Stresses the spatial analysis and modeling capabilities of organizing data within a geographic information system. (GISci). Fall. Moody, Song, Walsh.
577 [178] ADVANCED REMOTE SENSING (3). Prerequisite, GEOG 370, 477 or equivalent. Acquisition, processing and analysis of satellite digital data for the mapping and characterization of land cover types. (GISci). Moody, Song, Walsh.
591 [192] APPLIED ISSUES IN GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS (PLAN 591) (3). Prerequisite, GEOG 370, 491 or equivalent. Applied issues in the use of geographic information systems in terrain analysis, medical geography, biophysical analysis and population geography. (GISci). Walsh, Moody, staff.
593 [193] GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCE PROGRAMMING (3). Prerequisite, GEOG 370 or 491. This course will teach students the elements of GISci software development using major GIS platforms. Students will modularly build a series of applications through the term, culminating in an integrated GIS applications program. Band, Walsh, Song, Liang.
594 [194] GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEMS AND APPLICATIONS (3). Prerequisite, GEOG 370. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) fundamental theory, application design, post processing, integration of GPS data into GIS and GPS application examples (such as public health, business, etc.) will be introduced. Band, Liang, staff.
595 [195] ECOLOGICAL MODELING (3). Prerequisites, STOR 355 (or BIOL 561) or equivalents with the permission of the instructor. This course focuses on modeling the terrestrial forest ecosystems processes, including population dynamics, energy, water, nutrients and carbon flow through the ecosystem. (GISci). Song.
Courses for Graduates
702 [202] CONTEMPORARY GEOGRAPHIC THOUGHT (3). History and philosophy of the geographic discipline, with particular emphasis on developments in recent decades. Kirsch.
703 [203] GEOGRAPHIC RESEARCH DESIGN (3). Introduction to the theory and practice of geographic research. The range of methods available for problem identification and solution are considered through development of specific research proposals. Staff.
704 [204] COMMUNICATING GEOGRAPHY (1). This informal seminar introduces new students to departmental faculty and resources outside the department. Whitmore.
705 [205] ADVANCED QUANTITATIVE METHODS IN GEOGRAPHY (3). Application of selected multivariate statistical techniques to the analysis of geographic phenomena and problems. Moody, Konrad.
710 [210] ADVANCED PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY—BIOGEOSCIENCE (3). Examination of the major processes controlling environmental cycling of material and energy at the landscape level, and development of a quantitative understanding of the physical and ecosystem processes responsible for landscape pattern and evolution. Staff.
711 [211] ADVANCED PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY—HYDROCLIMATOLOGY AND BIOCLIMATOLOGY (3). Examination of topics focused on the atmospheric and the vegetation and land surface parts of the hydrologic cycle at the micro to global spatial scale and short-term to millennial temporal scale. Band, Doyle.
715 [215] LAND USE/LAND COVER DYAMICS AND HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION (3). Examination of topics that integrate social, natural and spatial sciences within the context of human-environment interactions, with an emphasis on landuse/landcover dynamics and spatial digital technologies for linking landscape form and function. Walsh.
720 [220] CULTURAL AND POLITICAL ECOLOGY (3). This course examines the foundations and current literature on cultural and political ecology. Focus is given to the appropriation of "Nature", degradation and deforestation, conservation, famine, postcolonial peasants, resistance, Indigeneit, and property, land distribution and governmentality. Wolford.
760 [260] GEOGRAPHIES OF ECONOMIC CHANGE (3). This course is designed to explore changing geographies of production and consumption in theory and practice. Wolford.
790 [290] SPATIAL ANALYSIS AND COMPUTER MODELING (3). This course introduces students to spatial analysis techniques involving points, lines, areas, surfaces, and nonmetric spaces, as well as programming basic geographic models on microcomputers. Staff.
Seminars for Graduates
801 [301] RESEARCH SEMINAR IN EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE AND BIOPHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY (3). An in-depth seminar devoted to contemporary faculty research topics in earth system science and biophysical geography. Topics and instructors vary. Staff.
802 [302] RESEARCH SEMINAR IN GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCES (3). An in-depth seminar devoted to contemporary faculty research topics in geographic information sciences. Topics and instructors vary. Staff.
803 [303] RESEARCH SEMINAR IN NATURE-SOCIETY STUDIES AND HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS (3). An in-depth seminar devoted to contemporary faculty research topics in nature-society studies and human-environment interactions. Topics and instructors vary. Staff.
804 [304] RESEARCH SEMINAR IN SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY (3). An in-depth seminar devoted to contemporary faculty research topics in social geography. Topics and instructors vary. Staff.
805 [305] RESEARCH SEMINAR IN INTERNATIONAL AREA STUDIES, DEVELOPMENT AND GLOBALIZATION (3). An in-depth seminar devoted to contemporary faculty research topics in international area studies, development and globalization. Topics and instructors vary. Staff.
811 [311] SEMINAR/READINGS IN EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE AND BIOPHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY (3). An in-depth seminar devoted to contemporary readings in earth system science and biophysical geography. Topics and instructors vary. Staff.
812 [312] SEMINAR/READINGS IN GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SCIENCES (3). An in-depth seminar devoted to contemporary readings in geographic information sciences. Topics and instructors vary. Staff.
813 [313] SEMINAR/READINGS IN NATURE-SOCIETY STUDIES AND HUMAN-ENVIRONMENT INTERACTIONS (3). An in-depth seminar devoted to contemporary readings in nature-society studies and human-environment interactions. Topics and instructors vary. Staff.
814 [314] SEMINAR/READINGS IN SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY (3). An in-depth seminar devoted to contemporary readings in social geography. Topics and instructors vary. Staff.
815 [315] SEMINAR/READINGS IN INTERNATIONAL AREA STUDIES, DEVELOPMENT AND GLOBALIZATION (3). An in-depth seminar devoted to contemporary readings in international area studies, development and globalization. Topics and instructors vary. Staff.
Special Work, Theses and Dissertations
900 [299] SPECIAL WORK IN GEOGRAPHY (1–21). Prerequisites, two courses in the one hundred bracket, or permission of the instructor. (On demand.) Staff.
993 [393] MASTER'S THESIS (3–6). Fall or spring. Members of the graduate faculty.
994 [394] DOCTORAL DISSERTATION (3–9). Fall and spring. Members of the graduate faculty.