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.

Economic, social, political and cultural structures and institutions that shape contemporary socioecological challenges.

The impact of urban development on the natural environment and vice versa. Study of the ecology and metabolism of cities and green urban design, using global and local case studies.

An interdisciplinary introduction to the city in the context of contemporary globalization. Analysis of urban patterns and processes from the theoretical perspectives of various disciplines and methodologies.

The human geography of the modern world since 1945: global interdependence in economic geography, geopolitics, and cultural geography; consequences of modernization, including demography, urbanization and environmental effects; regional case studies; reactions to modernization.