Interdisciplinary analysis of critical water issues, in Canada and internationally. Focus on social science perspectives. Emphasis on presentation, research, and essay-writing skills.
Geographical analysis of society-environment relations. Relates resource management to environmental politics, political economy, and sustainable development. Perspectives drawn from political ecology and political economy, environmental history and environmental philosophy.
Geographical approaches to economic development; models of economic development and spatial change; influences on spatial economic change; case studies from the developed, third, and socialist worlds.
Urbanization in the developing countries of Latin America, Africa, and Asia; the role of cities in the development process and the features and problems of rapid urbanization.
City systems and theories of urban location; internal spatial structure of the city; commercial and industrial location; social areas; neighbourhood and land use change; urban trends and public policy.
The construction of Canadian political space after Confederation, aboriginal-newcomer relations, regional development and conflict, industrialization, urbanization, and war.
Biophysical and human causes of short- and long-term environmental change at various spatial scales, including measurement, interpretation, and policy.
The role of geophysical events, human ecology, environmental perception, world social and political order in explaining the risk of natural disasters. Assessment of acceptable risk, disaster relief and reconstruction and contrasts between developed and developing nations.