Our Courses

This course asks you to think critically and geographically about the world in which we live and provides context for understanding contemporary social, political, economic, and ecological changes and how you fit into these larger processes. In addition to focusing on pressing issues particular to individual regions, we stress a variety of topics including race and ethnicity, economic inequality, indigenous peoples, migration, colonialism, climate change, globalization, protest movements, food politics, conservation, and the politics of energy. The course draws upon powerful geographic concepts to examine these topics and link you-as a student, a consumer, a citizen, a worker and a traveler-to the changing world around you.

The course will introduce students to how environmentalists are using documentary films for speaking truth to power. Topics will include how and why documentary films are made and the roles they play in social change efforts on environmental issues. Students will learn how to create their own digital media projects in various documentary formats.

Through a Canadian lens, the course introduces students to the problems of our global food system, and the opportunities to improve it. Using many analytical frameworks and concepts from different disciplines, students examine critically the dimensions of a food system that is health promoting and environmentally sustainable and explore transitional strategies to bring them to reality. The course will give students a strong foundation on which to undertake further or specialised learning in Food Studies, a clear and growing interest for students and a priority for the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change.

This course introduces students to historical and current ideas about land, with an emphasis on Indigenous perspectives. Through analysis of art and media art, students will engage critical approaches by scholars, activists and creatives who challenge dominant modes of power. Students will gain an understanding of treaty relations across Canada, build media analysis skills, and communication skills.

Students examine the ways in which writers, performers and visual artists illuminate, reimagine and intervene in environmental crises and challenges. They critically examine relationships between the arts, humanities and environment through an introduction to a variety of literary and artistic forms and strategies including writing, media, visual art and performance. They develop their own skills, ethics and knowledges in the creative production, presentation and evaluation of their own artistic and critical work in the collaborative context of the class community.

This course provides the foundational understanding of core concepts approaches and methods in environmental management. Drawing on the natural and social sciences, this course examines the role of policy and management strategies in addressing environmental, nature resource and conservation challenges, in ways supportive of sustainable development. It provides an overview of the concepts, knowledge and skills that are needed to be effective in environmental policy and management in government, business and not-for-profit sectors.

The course provides an introduction to the study of ecology with additional aspects of physics, and chemistry that are necessary for the study of environmental problems. It also acquaints students with techniques (including computer techniques) for the description, organization and display of quantitative data.

Students will develop job search strategies, cover letter writing and resume development skills, effective communication skills for interviewing and developing a professional image. This course provides preparation for students who want to enrol in the co-op program. This course is for-credit and is graded on the pass/fail grading scheme. There is a $200 fee associated with this course.

Prerequisite: Students must complete 48-60 credits and meet the cumulative GPA requirements of 5.00 on the 9.00 scale or 2.00 or above on the 4.00 scale for the co-op program.

Enrollment is by permission of the Undergraduate Program Director and/or by the Course Director.

This course explores how human society has transformed the earth system and investigates the social, economic, and political implications of contemporary environmental change. Topics include deforestation, climate change, biodiversity loss and natural disasters such as hurricanes, flooding,  and drought. Internet access is required. Recommended prerequisites: EU/GEOG 1000 6.00, EU/GEOG 1401 3.00 or EU/GEOG 1402 3.00

Students explore the key notions of popular education related to knowledge and power, and various forms of anti-oppression practice addressing racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, ableism, and human/non-human domination in the context of organizations and movements for social and environmental justice in a globalizing and diasporic context. Prerequisite: Third-year or fourth- year standing or by permission of the instructor.

In a world where over 50 per cent of the population lives in urban areas, cities play a significant role in shaping the social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental conditions of people's everyday lives. This course introduces a geographical literature on urbanization. It provides students with a necessary general survey of the characteristics of urban processes and patterns, urban systems and structure, and urban social issues from a geographical perspective.

This foundational, interdisciplinary course introduces students to critical perspectives on environmental justice based in history, art, literature, philosophy, and related humanistic social sciences. In addition to its substantive focus on cultural, conceptual, and historical dimensions of environmental in/justice, the course emphasizes the development of critical reading, thinking and writing skills.

This course covers fundamental concepts and approaches of geographical information systems, remote sensing and global positioning systems. Students also acquire knowledge and skills in descriptive statistics, map design and interpretation, and basic computer cartography. Prerequisite: AP/GEOG 1000 6.00 or AP/GEOG 1400 6.00 or AP/GEOG 1410 6.00 or written permission of the Instructor. Course credit exclusions: AP/GEOG 2350 3.00 (prior to Fall 2013), SC/GEOG 2350 3.00 (prior to Fall 2013), LE/EATS 2610 2.00 (prior to Summer 2013), LE/ENG 2110 2.00 (prior to Summer 2013).PRIOR TO SUMMER 2013: Prerequisite: AP/GEOG 1000 6.00 or AP/GEOG 1400 6.00 or AP/GEOG 1410 6.00 or written permission of the Instructor. Course credit exclusions: AP/GEOG 2350 3.00 (prior to Fall 2013), SC/GEOG 2350 3.00 (prior to Fall 2013), SC/EATS 2610 2.00, SC/ENG 2110 2.00.

This course examines the development and implementation of public policies related to the environment and sustainability. The course will focus on the interaction of institutions, societal forces, ideas and landscape factors in the Canadian environmental policy experience.

An introduction to the structure and functioning of vegetation and soil systems, emphasizing local patterns and processes, methods of description and sampling, dynamic processes, response to environmental change and human disturbance. Field work is emphasized in laboratories. One-day field trip. Prerequisite: AP/GEOG 1400 6.00 or SC/GEOG 1400 6.00 or ES/ENVS 2500 6.00.

The application of economic principles to environmental issues is introduced and critically reviewed. Linkages between economic factors, social processes and natural environments are explored. The use of economic principles in deriving solutions to issues of climate change, resource management, and environmental regulation is examined. This course is intended for students with no background in economics.

This course concentrates on basic principles and fundamental concepts in geomorphology, including energy flows in geomorphic systems, hill slope forms and materials, weathering and landforms, and drainage basin geomorphology and hydrology (with a particular emphasis on Canadian examples).

Prerequisite: AP/GEOG 1400 6.00 or SC/GEOG 1400 6.00 or LE/EATS 1010 3.00.PRIOR TO SUMMER 2013: Prerequisite: AP/GEOG 1400 6.00 or SC/GEOG 1400 6.00 or SC/EATS 1010 3.00.

The course takes students through the physical environment of Canada, its land, sea, and atmosphere. It addresses the country's history as settler colonization of Indigenous territory. It explores the circumstances and lives of Indigenous people. It explores the well-established role of resources exploitation, in its various forms, including the development of a hydrocarbon-based economy, now reaching its limits. The course looks at agro-food systems, including agriculture and fishing. It addresses urbanization, now a key feature of both the settlement pattern and the national economy. It addresses manufacturing and the transformation of the country from an industrial to an increasingly post-industrial economy. For these thematic areas, each deeply connected to the broader program of the EUC faculty, we find regional examples to illustrate and illuminate the material. The course is therefore both a systematic geography of Canada and a regional geography of Canada.

Examines how processes of urbanization result in the unequal spatial and social distribution of environmental goods (e.g., pollution, toxic waste, landfills) in North American cities. It investigates the ways in which cities, as dynamic human ecologies in their own right, have increasingly become sites of environmental contestation, and explores the articulation of social justice, urbanization and environmentalism. Course credit exclusion: AP/HIST 3891 3.00.

Examines the geographic understanding of nature-society relationships. We review popular and scientific theories of environmental change, conflict and conservation, and examine the role that politics and power play in shaping ecological problems and issues. Prerequisites: 54 credits completed including at least three credits in GEOG or permission of the Instructor.

Examines the evolution of the world economy as well as the major institutions that have supported it, and interprets the new geography of investment, production and consumption that accompanies it.

This course provides an overview of consumer shopping behaviour, the structure and process of retail location, and various social and economic issues associated with the contemporary retail economy. The geographical perspective is emphasized.

Prerequisites: 54 credits passed, including EU/GEOG 1000 6.00 or written permission of the course director.

The course examines the societal and geographical implications of new technologies, including digitalization, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things. Students address the economic and financial geographies of technological innovation and analyze techno-economic trends emerging from: the growth of personal data; the deployment of machine learning and AI; and the expansion of surveillance / platform capitalism. Format: blended/online (if blended, then students should expect to spend 2 hours online and 1 hour in class)

Explores various Traditional Aboriginal processes of "coming to know" the environment. Students will be guided through an examination of these Aboriginal relationships, as they existed traditionally, through times of critical change, and into the present. The underlying theme of this course will focus on individual, regional, and national ways of "being and becoming" environmentally responsible moving outwards towards a Global responsibility. Prerequisite: Third-year or fourth- year standing or by permission of the instructor.

An examination of the structure and function of vegetation and soil systems. The course focuses on such topics as the adjustment of ecosystems to human modification and the role of biogeography in conservation and resource management. Prerequisites: 54 credits successfully completed, including one of AP/GEOG 1400 6.00 or SC/GEOG 1400 6.00 or ES/ENVS 2420 3.00 or SC/BIOL 2050 4.00.

This course deals with the twin social issues of housing and homelessness. It explores the political economy of housing (financialization, gentrification and the affordability crisis that plagues most cities). The course presents different models of housing provision through state policy, market mechanisms and auto-construction. Causes of homelessness and services assisting the unhoused will be examined.

Regional governance includes the government and civic organization of all aspects of life in an (urban) region. This course introduces concepts of the region, regionalism, regional government, and regional economic development. While the course has an international perspective, there will be a strong focus on historical and current regional governance in the Toronto urban region. Particular attention will be paid to issues related to environmental governance, bioregional issues and watershed planning and management. This course builds on EU/ENVS 2200 3.00 which is recommended. Prerequisite: Third-year or fourth- year standing or by permission of the instructor.

This methods and skills-based course serves as a systematic introduction of common ways of research, learning and practice in cities, regions and planning. As a bridge between the substantive foundations courses of the second year and the specialized fourth year courses, Doing Urban Research is designed to introduce the method, methods and methodologies of urban research and practice.

This course includes a compulsory four-day field trip to either Montreal or a three-day field trip to Buffalo.

This course will survey contemporary social movements addressing environmental questions in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean. Examining how movements frame particular environments as requiring defending, responsibilities for their defense, and strategies for defending them, we will develop a critical perspective on the region's role in shaping what questions count as environmental globally

Placemaking is an inherently political process that is never complete. Every day and across time, places are actively made and remade by people through cultural, discursive, and material practices of ingenuity, transformation, maintenance. Placemaking also occurs in more formalized ways through urban policy and planning at different spatial scales from the neighbourhood, to the district, to the municipality.

Students explore the ways in which performers, artists and writers have imagined decolonizing themselves, their societies and environments across a range of geographic, historical and contemporary sites. Students develop the skills and knowledges to name and debate key concepts emerging from the art and literature of environmental decolonization. They research and analyze examples of visual art, literature and performance and evaluate the contradictory processes behind their production, reception, distribution and exchange in the context of global structures and systems. Drawing on these examples and working with experiential processes students develop, present and evaluate their own decolonial arts projects.

This course acquaints students with literature and advocacy that celebrates 'intersections' between women/gender and nature. Attention is given to various approaches, and biological, social, cultural and spiritual perceptions, through course activities involving experience, reflection, creative representation, reading, discussion, and writing.

How can drawing, painting, photography and filmmaking be used as strategies to help us explore and address challenges? Students will be introduced to arts-based research methods, theories, skills, ethics and practice. Through case studies and hands-on learning, several popular arts-based participatory visual research methods will be explored in relation to how they are being mobilized to tackle intractable social and environmental challenges.

The course focuses on the development of geographic thought and its applications to contemporary social and environmental issues. After an introduction to the historical development of geographic enquiry, the course traces the intellectual history of Western geographic thought in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Particular emphasis is placed on the paradigm shift to 'critical geographies' and its current relevance.

An introduction to the application of GIS to geographical/environmental problems. A broad conceptual overview of GIS approaches and their strengths and limitations. Students gain hands-on experience in the use of raster-based GIS technology with particular reference to resource management and planning topics. Prerequisite: AP/GEOG 2420 3.00 or SC/GEOG 2420 3.00. Course credit exclusions: AP/GEOG 3180 3.00 (prior to Fall 2013), SC/GEOG 3180 3.00 (prior to Fall 2013), ES/ENVS 3520 3.00.

This course deals with conceptual debates on 'Third World' development. It also explores issues of development including economic growth and poverty, resource use, agrarian change, industrial transformation, service-sector development, rural urban inequality, gender relations, neoliberalism and imperialism, and prospects for democracy and macro-level structural social change in the less developed world.Prerequisites: 54 credits successfully completed or written permission of the Instructor.Course credit exclusions: AP/GEOG 4370 3.00.

A critical examination of the links between urban social problems and state policies. The course studies how policy makers, planners and geographers understand and deal with social problems in the contemporary city and evaluates selected planning policies.

This course considers the construction, reproduction, and representation of gender and sexual identities as they intersect with other social differences in space. It introduces students to feminist and queer theorists and geographical scholarship on cis-gender, transgender, and sexualities in order to understand how power dynamics and norms cross-cut and shape social relations through space and across spatial scales.

This course examines the theory and practice of wildlife management in the context of biological conservation. Topics to be covered include adaptive management, habitat analysis, human-wildlife conflict, population modelling, harvest management, conservation of endangered species, and Indigenous co-management. Prerequisite: ES/ENVS 1500 6.00 or EU/ENVS 1500 3.0 or SC/BIOL 1001 3.00

This course reviews the benefits to humans from the ecosystem services provided by natural resources and ecosystem processes. The resiliency of functioning ecosystems and healthy socio-ecological relationships will be discussed. Current theories of resource management, methods, information and decision-making are reviewed critically. Ethical, cultural, social and economic perspectives on natural resource and ecosystem management are explored through case studies.

This course examines the conservation of wildlife and ecosystems at various scales. It reviews the basic principles of ecology, assessment of risk, geographic scale, value and environmental management. It emphasizes applied and theoretical approaches to conservation planning. Emphasis will be placed on comparative analyses of different geopolitical regions and socioeconomic backgrounds. Focus will be on biodiversity and ecosystems defined and managed as a spatial entity. Global conservation planning challenges might be included.

Introduction to the methods in which remote sensing data are collected, processed and analyzed. An emphasis is placed on environmental applications. The synergy between the technologies of remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS) is also stressed.

Prerequisites: AP/GEOG 2420 3.00 or SC/GEOG 2420 3.00 or ES/ENVS 2010 6.00 and one 2000-level environmental studies theme foundation course; or written permission of the Instructor. Course credit exclusions: ES/ENVS 3521 3.00 (prior to Fall 2013). Previously offered as: AP/GEOG 3440 3.00, SC/GEOG 3440 3.00.

An analysis of the geography of plants and animals emphasizing processes that operate at the population level, the origin and diversity of plants and animals, geographic patterns of diversity, and dynamics of species populations from local to continental scales. Prerequisite: AP/GEOG 2500 3.00 or SC/GEOG 2500 3.00 or SC/BIOL 2050 4.00 or SC/BIOL 2050 3.00

This course provides an introduction to the emerging new field of ecological economics. Areas of focus include "local economies" and the appropriate scale of the economy in relation to the environment, the role of discount rates in mediating intergenerational and interspecies equity, environmental valuation, full-cost accounting, environmental risk assessment, alterative environmental policies, and the application of thermodynamic and ecological principles in economic analysis.

Examines how geographers design and carry out research, and the different philosophical bases for creating geographical knowledge. A range of approaches will be covered, including research in qualitative human geography, quantitative human geography, and physical geography. PRIOR TO FALL 2014: Course credit exclusion: AP/GEOG 3740 3.00.

This course begins with lectures on field research methodology. The second phase concentrates on defining a field problem, leading to data collection in the field. The final part of the course deals with data analysis, and reviews methodological implications. Includes lectures, seminars and workshops, and a three to four day field trip.Prerequisites: Students must be registered as Honours majors in Geography or Environmental Science and must have successfully completed AP/GEOG 2420 3.00 and one of AP/GEOG 2400 6.00, AP/GEOG 2500 3.00 or AP/GEOG 2600 3.00; or permission of the Instructor. Course credit exclusions: SC/MATH 3330 3.00, AP/GEOG 4540 3.00 (prior to Fall 2012), SC/GEOG 4540 3.00 (prior to Fall 2012).

This course investigates conservation issues in Canada from a political ecology perspective, charting the history of the conservation movement along with some of the most pressing contemporary conservation issues unfolding within Canada including the social, economic, and political geographical processes and contexts from which they have emerged. We will ground our study of these issues by examining a number of conservation-related controversies and projects unfolding in the GTA. This will enable us to better understand how Canadian conservation issues play out within our own communities, both historically and today, how local conservation issues reflect national and global geographical processes, and the innovative ways local groups are working to address these issues. Prerequisites: EU/GEOG 1000 6.00 and 54 credits successfully completed or written permission of the instructor.

This course surveys Black geographies worldwide, with a focus on the Americas. The course covers a diversity of landscapes, past and present: voluntary and forced migration, displacement, segregation, activist occupations, and rural and urban geographies. Taking a critical and feminist approach, the course emphasizes both how racial hierarchies are created and maintained through spatial orders and how Black communities and individuals have always been agents and place-makers.

This course will be offered in partnership with the City of Toronto and all 8 Toronto-area universities and colleges. Its purpose is to introduce pertinent social, environmental, economic and political challenges faced by communities in the city of Toronto and learn about possible policy responses by providing students with access to and information from senior city hall urban policy makers.

Geographical perspectives on the physical processes behind extreme natural events (volcanoes, tsunami, tornadoes, hurricanes) and their impact on people. Many case studies and the literature will be used to understand how physical geography impacts human activities and settlements. Prerequisite: AP/GEOG 2600 3.00 or SC/GEOG 2600 3.00.

This course deals with the historical-geographical specificities of South Asia that are products of its own internal economic-political evolution and physical environmental context as well as of its historical and contemporary linkages to other parts of the world.Prerequisites: 54 credits successfully completed, including at least one of AP/GEOG 1000 6.00 or AP/GEOG 1410 6.00 or AP/SC/GEOG 1400 6.00, or written permission of the course director.

Course credit exclusions: None.

Prior TO FALL 2009: Prerequisites: 54 credits successfully completed, including at least one of AS/GEOG 1000 6.00 or AS/GEOG 1410 6.00 or AS/SC/GEOG 1400 6.00, or written permission of the course director. Course credit exclusion: AS/GEOG 3710 3.00.

This course critically examines the changing geography and depletion of Africa's resources from the precolonial to the present, with an emphasis on current events. The course covers a range of topics, including agriculture, natural resource extraction, migration, the slave trade, and AIDS.

This course examines political, economic, cultural, and environmental change in Asia-Pacific societies (such as China, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines). Emphasis is placed on understanding both historical and recent experiences in the context of regional and global processes. A consistent theme will be to identify the people and places who are the winners and losers in ongoing transformations.

Examines the geographies of productive and reproductive labour at multiple scales, including global, national, regional, urban, domestic and personal.

This course critically examines cities and urban futures within the context of a digital world. Students engage with the concept of “having the world at your fingertips” by problematizing platform urbanism and the digitization of everyday life. The course provides students an in-depth understanding the imaginary of the smart city as a strategy to improve the competitive positioning of cities in the digital age of city-building. The solutions couched in this techno-utopian imaginary are spatialized and packaged as edgy and ultra-connected visions that fuse the digital layer with urban development or as scientific tangible initiatives aligned with development goals of resilience, innovation, and sustainability. Students investigate different interventions that can contribute to more inclusive and just urban futures

This course examines how capitalist processes of urbanization have produced urban space and created the conditions that shape the future of cities under climate change, including the possibilities to contest, imagine, and pursue different urban futures. It explores these uneven processes in an interdisciplinary fashion, combining theoretical perspectives on the production of urban space, urban climate governance, social movements, and climate justice using case studies drawn from across geographical contexts, with a strong focus on cities in the Global South.

Prerequisite(s) Third or fourth year standing or by permission of the Course Director.

This course explores the natural and physical systems of the city, focusing on the climate, water, geomorphology, biogeography of the urban landscape, including its built environment. Course credit exclusions: None. PRIOR TO FALL 2000: Course credit exclusion: AS/GEOG 3900 3.00.

An independent piece of research done under the supervision of a faculty adviser. The thesis must be submitted before the end of classes in the winter term; an exact date is established each year. There is an oral examination on the Honours thesis. One lecture hour per week at the beginning of the course. Prerequisite: 84 credits passed.

The Environmental Studies placement course is an experiential education program designed to provide EUC students with the opportunity to apply their classroom learning in a workplace environment. Through these placement opportunities, students will gain confidence in field-related knowledge, general employability skills, and valuable work experience. Students must fulfill pre-course requirements in order to enroll in the course. Enrolment will be by permission of the Course Director and students will be graded on a pass/fail. The course is required for completion of the Community Arts Practice Certificate (CAP).

This course investigates alternatives to capitalist corporations that are characterized by some degree of mutuality, such as co-operatives and worker-owned firms. Key issues examined include the competitiveness of alternatives and their desirability on other grounds, including contributions to local economic development.

Course credit exclusions: None.

PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Course credit exclusion: AS/SOSC 4041 6.00.

This seminar explores complementary scholarship on 'first world' political ecology and the commodification of nature in order to critically explore issues of environmental management and resource conflict. It will draw on case studies about rural and urban North American environments. Prerequisites: 72 credits successfully completed including AP/GEOG 3050 3.00 or permission of the course director.

Course credit exclusions: None. PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Prerequisites: 54 credits successfully completed including AS/GEOG 3050 3.00 or permission of the course director. Course credit exclusion: AS/GEOG 4050 3.00.

This course deals with urban environments outside the centre of the city. It develops an understanding of the characteristics and needs of planning for small and medium size towns, suburbs, exurbs and peripheries. Recognizing this diversity of urban form and life, the course, which contains site visits, presents approaches to planning and placemaking challenges typical for non-central communities.

"This course considers the historical construction of Aboriginal space in Canada and the US and its relationship to cities, from early colonization to the present. Prerequisite: 72 credits successfully completed. Course credit exclusions: None. PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Course credit exclusion: AS/GEOG 4095 3.00.

Explores the role of biological science in efforts to conserve natural resources, systems and the organisms therein. Prerequisites: SC/BIOL 2050 4.00, SC/BIOL 2060 3.00.

We do not know the number of species on Earth, even to the nearest order of magnitude. This course discusses the factors that influence the number of species in an area and the importance of biodiversity to humanity. Note: Completion of 60 credits required, towards a degree in biology or environmental science or environmental studies, or permission of the Instructor.

From garden suburbs to post-war inner- and outer-suburbs, from New Urbanist communities to edge cities, technoburbs, and exurbs, this course critically considers the planning of suburban built form and the suburbanization process in historical perspective. Consideration is given to the mechanisms and the challenges of managing suburban growth, and to the complex socio-cultural geographies and values that shape the suburbs and the suburban way of life. Attention is directed to issues of gender, racialized poverty, unemployment, infrastructural inadequacy, sprawl, and sustainability, and an effort is made to envision alternative futures. Course credit exclusions: None. PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Course credit exclusion: AK/GEOG 4130 6.00.

An introduction to diverse ways of seeing and understanding nature. An historical perspective on the development of environmental thought leads to an exploration of various perspectives and critiques of the standard scientific and technological approaches to understanding nature, as offered by alternative schools of thought such as humanists, deep ecologists and ecofeminists. Prerequisite: Fourth-year standing or by permission of the Instructor. Students with Third-year standing may have access subject to space availability and approval from the Faculty.

The course explores the landscapes and scales of food and agriculture. Questions include: Can we change ourselves and the world through what we eat? Why do we still have world hunger? Who really controls how food is produced and consumed? Emphasis is given to food and agricultural geographies in the global south. Prerequisites: 84 credits completed.

This course first discusses a number of conceptual issues concerning the residential segregation of ethnic and racial groups. The course then considers several case examples that exemplify the varied experiences of ethnic and racial groups in modern cities.Prerequisites: 84 credits successfully completed, including AP/GEOG 1000 6.00 or AP/GEOG 1410 6.00 or written permission of the Instructor. Third-year Honours students with 78 credits completed who are also taking summer courses may enrol.

The course focuses on selected aspects of river water quality, including hillslope hydrology and the transport of pollutants, the impacts of human activities on water chemistry, nutrient transformations within stream ecosystems, and the effects of water quality on stream biological communities.Prerequisite: AP/GEOG 1400 6.00 or SC/GEOG 1400 6.00, ES/ENVS 2410 3.00, or SC/BIOL 2050 4.00.

A study of the processes of energy and moisture exchanges in polar regions with emphasis on the Canadian north. Topics include atmospheric and oceanic transport of energy, surface microclimate and the sensitivity of high latitude environments to climate change. Normally offered in alternate years.Prerequisites: 54 credits successfully completed, including AP/GEOG 2400 6.00 or SC/GEOG 2400 6.00 or written permission of the Instructor.

A study of the relationship between the atmosphere and the hydrosphere with the emphasis on the process of evaporation. The course includes an in-depth review of evaporation models and the instrumentation necessary for data acquisition. Normally offered in alternate years.

Prerequisite: AP/GEOG 2400 6.00 or SC/GEOG 2400 6.00.

The field of Ecological Climatology provides an interdisciplinary framework for understanding how terrestrial ecosystems function in relation to climate systems. It examines the physical, chemical and biological processes by which landscapes affect and are affected by climate. The central theme is that ecosystems, through their cycling of energy, water, chemical elements and trace gases are important determinants of climate. The coupling between climate and vegetation is seen at spatial scales from the leaf to biomes and at timescales from seconds to millenia. Both natural vegetation dynamics and human induced land-use changes are mechanisms of climate change. The course combines a theoretical understanding of ecological climatology with applied experimentation to reinforce the principals involved. Prerequisite: AP/SC GEOG 2400 6.00; and either AP/GEOG 2500 3.00 or SC/GEOG 2500 3.00 or SC/BIOL 2050 4.00; and either AP/GEOG 2420 3.00 or SC GEOG 2420 3.00 or SC/BIOL 2060 3.00. Graduate student prerequisites: With permission of the Instructor.

This course examines neoliberalism as a geographical process - or 'neoliberalization' - through an examination of key transformations since the 1970s in the Global North and Global South. It focuses on the implications of neoliberalization for international, national, and regional political economies; political institutions, territories, and power dynamics; labour, work, and migration patterns and practices; and visions and discourses of societal progress.

This course presents a systematic hands-on approach to urban planning and consulting practice. This includes experiential learning in institutional planning, social activism and community consultation in a variety of relevant settings in Toronto and region. Consulting as a professional practice, organizing, negotiation and activism will be presented on a register of skill development useful for future urban planners and professionals.

This course explores intersections of literature and place in the Toronto region, exposing students to critical and imaginative works on place, culture, and representation. Close readings of a wide selection of Toronto-based literature are paired with critical scholarly works interrogating how places are invented, (re)presented, and (re)produced.

This course may be used for individualized study, in which case the student requires permission from a faculty member who agrees to supervise the program of directed reading and from the Program Coordinator or Undergraduate Program Director.

Examines the formation, distribution, structure and degradation of snow, as well as lake, river and sea ice. Normally offered in alternate years.

Prerequisite: AP//GEOG 2400 6.00 or SC/GEOG 2400 6.00.

From bodies to homes to studios to public spaces to neighbourhoods to arts districts to suburbs, how do artistic labour and creative practice function within the spaces of cities and, in turn, are shaped by them? How do artists critically engage with urban social justice, environmental, and cultural policy issues? These questions guide students' introduction to artistic labour, creative practice, cultural production and governance in cities around the world, with particular attention to the local urban context. Virtual and in-person fieldtrips to arts institutions, including art galleries, artist studios, community organizations, granting agencies, and government departments inform a critical appreciation of the complex network of urban actors that shape a city's cultural landscape. Analytical engagement with interdisciplinary urban cultural scholarship on gentrification, racialization, corporatization, and democratic participation informs classroom discussion and assignments.

Advanced course in geographic information systems (GIS), oriented around raster structures. Computer graphics for mapping introduced and work undertaken on finely divided surfaces. GIS considers both practical and theoretical questions of interpretation. Macintosh computers and raster-based software used for hands-on focus.Prerequisite: AP/GEOG 3340 3.00 or SC/GEOG 3340 3.00. PRIOR TO FALL 2013: Previously offered as: AP/GEOG 4340 3.00, SC/GEOG 4340 3.00.

This course is an exploration of climate justice definitions, theory, case studies, and policy implications. The course is organized around videos, speakers, and field trips (when possible) to provide experiential exposure to practitioners and organizations involved in various aspects of renewable energy development; fossil fuel finance, processing, transport, and policy; migrant resettlement; community-based organizing in marginalized communities and 'sacrifice zones'; and other forms of climate justice activism.

We will study peasants from Feudalism and the dawn of Capitalism, to the era of Globalization and the Digital Revolution, exploring their political, economic, social and environmental roles from diverse theoretical perspectives, analyzing their resistance/resilience, their social movements, their potential regarding food security and food sovereignty, and their proposals confronting the multiple crises of Capitalism and the Anthropocene. Prerequisite: Fourth-year standing or by permission of the Instructor. Students with Third-year standing may have access subject to space availability and approval from the Faculty.

An intermediate course in the physical principles of hydrological and water resource systems. Topics to be discussed include groundwater storage and flow, deterministic hydrological models and physical hydrological aspects of current water resource problems. Normally offered in alternate years. Two lecture hours, two laboratory hours. One term. Prerequisite: AP/SC/GEOG 2400 6.00. Course credit exclusions: None. PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Prerequisite: AS/SC/GEOG 2400 6.00. Course credit exclusion: AS/GEOG 4400 3.00.

Media and communication technologies both shape and are shaped by cultural constructs, institutions and practices. This course will examine how the environment is framed and contested through dominant and alternative media, applying critical media, communication, and cultural studies theories (such as political economy, textual analysis, and audience reception). A variety of media forms will be explored (print and broadcast, photography and video, Web-based and digital media, spoken word and performance etc.) through active critique and creative cultural production. Prerequisite: Fourth-year standing or by permission of the Instructor. Students with Third-year standing may have access subject to space availability and approval from the Faculty.

Sophisticated methods and techniques for collecting, processing and analyzing remote sensing data are examined. Special topics include image enhancement techniques (e.g. texture transforms), non-traditional image classification and data integration for incorporation of remote sensing data products into geographic information systems (GIS). Prerequisite: AP/GEOG 3440 3.00 or ES/ENVS 3521 3.00 or LE/EATS 4220 3.00 or written permission of the Instructor. Course credit exclusions: ES/ENVS 4521 3.00 (prior to Fall 2013). Previously offered as: AP/GEOG 4440 3.00, SC/GEOG 4440 3.00.

This course puts into practice what students have learned in AP/GEOG 3520 3.00: Designing and Conducting research in Human Geography. The course integrates on-campus preparation, data analysis and report writing with off-campus fieldwork during which data collection and preliminary analysis are carried out. The fieldwork relates to a geographic problem offering scope for the special interests of students in various aspects of Geography.Prerequisites: Students must be registered as Honours majors in Geography and must have successfully completed 54 credits, including AP/GEOG 1400 6.0 or SC/GEOG 1400 6.00; AP/GEOG 1000 6.00 or AP/GEOG 1410 6.00; AP/GEOG 2420 3.00 or SC/GEOG 2420 3.00 and AP/GEOG 3520 3.00; or permission of the Instructor. Course credit exclusions: SC/MATH 3330 3.00; AP/GEOG 4540 3.00 (prior to Fall 2012 or, SC/GEOG 4540 3.00 (prior to Fall 2012).

This course applies geographic principles and field techniques to problems in physical geography during a field trip of at least one weeks duration to a location normally outside of Ontario. Prerequisites: AP/GEOG 1400 6.00, AP/GEOG 2420 3.00, and students are encouraged to take AP/GEOG 3540 3.00 prior to taking this course. Priority will be given to Geography Honours and Environmental Science students having already completed 84 credits.

Provides fundamental knowledge of river mechanics and related environmental conditions. It provides an integration of physical, environmental and spatial aspects of river behaviour. The course involves the application of principles of hydrology, geomorphology, sedimentology and fluid mechanics.

This course examines the processes and issues of urban growth and change in the Greater Toronto Area, including the forces shaping growth, the consequences of growth, and planning initiatives/proposals for managing growth. Prerequisite: 72 credits successfully completed or permission of the course director. Course credit exclusions: None. PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Prerequisite: Permission of the course director. Course credit exclusion: AS/GEOG 4605 3.00.

This course explores the complex interactions between education, space and civil society. Particular emphasis is placed on the effects of policy restructuring on the geographies of educational landscapes. Theoretical and empirical studies are used to explore, analyze and critically engage in current debates. Prerequisite: 72 credits successfully completed including one of AP/GEOG 1410 6.0, AP/GEOG 1000 6.0 or written permission of the course director. Course credit exclusions: None. PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Course credit exclusion: AS/GEOG 4700 3.00.

The course explores the formation of the Black Atlantic as a conceptual and geographic space through texts, music, performance and visual art. Starting with the trade in humans and the middle passage, and ending with contemporary environmental questions, students explore the inventiveness set in motion by communities of the black diaspora as they struggle for racial and environmental justice through a diversity of strategies, across time and space. They investigate the ways in which these efforts have transformed the West and discuss the ways in which they continue to do so. This course builds on ENVS 3160, Race/Racism and Environmental Justice.Prerequisites: Fourth-year standing or by permission of the Instructor; Students with third- year standing may have access subject to space availability and approval from the Faculty

Critical investigation of approaches to, and topics in, processes of urban growth, decline, development and redevelopment. 20th-century theories of urbanization are examined and their relevancy for understanding selected recent urban problems are studied. Prerequisite: Fourth-year standing or by permission of the Instructor. Students with Third-year standing may have access subject to space availability and approval from the Faculty.

Formally Titled: International Field Course:Ecology and Sustainability in Costa Rica Advanced study, through thorough literature review and direct field observation, of the theory and principles of ecology as these apply to sustainable development in tropical environments, specifically in Costa Rica. Students Expectation in Costa Rica: 4-6 hours per day hiking in the rain forest, some days maybe longer hours, at times in steep and/or rough terrain, including, sometimes, slippery slopes covered in mud, while it is raining. Hiking boots along with some outdoor experience, or at least a degree of physical and psychological stamina, will be required. The reason for these relatively long walks is to observe natural ecosystems that have evolved away from urban areas. Note: This course is only open to students who are selected to participate in International Field work. Course credit exclusion: ES/ENVS 3810A 3.00.

This community-engaged workshop offers students the opportunity to experience environmental arts that are integral to struggles for food sovereignty and environmental justice in Costa Rica. It will be based out of the Las Nubes Eco-Campus in Costa Rica. Students will be introduced to a variety of local artists and growers. They will work collaboratively on creating and sharing environmental arts productions. Note: Semester Abroad: Enrolment is by permission of the Faculty.

This course deals with theoretical and empirical understandings of the ways in which the state and civil society organizations co-determine the geography of development.Prerequisites: 72 credits successfully completed, including one of AP/GEOG 1410 6.00 or AP/GEOG 2100 3.00 or written permission of the Course Director. Course credit exclusions: None. Prior TO FALL 2009: Prerequisites: 54 credits successfully completed, including one of AS/GEOG 1410 6.00 or AS/GEOG 2100 3.00 or written permission of the Course Director. Course credit exclusion: AS/GEOG 4850 3.00.

Examines the spatial aspects of conflict, violence, and power across various scales from the body to the transnational arena. Topics include territory and state violence, terrorism, forced migration, environmental conflict, and the spatial dimensions of resisting violence. Prerequisite: 72 credits successfully completed.

Examines the existence, genealogies, qualities, significance, and use of public space, as well as past and emergent challenges and threats to public space. Prerequisite: 72 credits successfully completed.