500 & 600 Level Courses

Geography: Analysis of the evolution of development policies and their spatial implications in circumpolar areas with an emphasis on the application of geographical concepts. Special attention is given to indigenous peoples and new immigrant populations in northern North America.

Offered by: Geography

• Fall
• 3 hours
• Prerequisite (Undergraduate): GEOG 301 or GEOG 436, or permission of instructor

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: A critical review of current themes and trends in health geography, with emphasis on geographical perspectives in public health research. Topics include the social and environmental determinants of chronic and infectious disease, health and health-related behaviours. Seminars focus on critical appraisal of conceptual and methodological approaches in health geography research.

Offered by: Geography

• Fall
• 3 hours
• Prerequisite: GEOG 303 or GEOG 403 or permission of instructor
• Restrictions: Course open to U3 undergraduate students and graduate students in the Department of Geography OR others with permission of instructor. Not open to students who took GEOG 503 in Winter 2009.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: The objective of this seminar course is to develop an understanding of the geographical dimensions of a variety of new forms of economic and social organization that are emerging across the globe. Key themes focus on innovation, technological and managerial change, evolutionary economic geography, globalization, and changing geographies of inequality.

Offered by: Geography

• Winter
• Prerequisites: GEOG 311 or permission of instructor

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: An examination of the storage, transfers and cycling of major elements and substances, with an emphasis on the global scale and the linkages between the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere.

Offered by: Geography

• Winter
• 2 hours and research
• Prerequisite: GEOG 305 or GEOG 322 and permission of instructor

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Critically analyse major themes in geographic information science and draw out the practical ramifications for spatial technologies and research. Topics such as spatial interoperability, data quality, scale, visualization, location based services and ontologies are covered.

Offered by: Geography

• Winter
• 2 hours and laboratory
• Prerequisite: (Undergraduate): GEOG 384 or GEOG 414; and permission of the instructor

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Current theories and themes in social geography, such as relations between society and space, social and spatial relations of inequality, difference and diversity, situated and embodied identities, social issues and problems, connections between society and nature, all within a spatial framework.

Offered by: Geography

• Prerequisite: GEOG 331 or equivalent, and permission of instructor.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Qualitative methods that geographers use and the debates surrounding their use; epistemological underpinnings of methodological choices.

Offered by: Geography

• Fall
• Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Focus on the environmental and human spatial relationships in tropical rain forest and savanna landscapes. Human adaptation to variations within these landscapes through time and space. Biophysical constraints upon "development" in the modern era.

Offered by: Geography

• Fall
• 3 hours
• Prerequisite: GEOG 203 or equivalent and written permission of the instructor

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Questions of space and power in contemporary political geography. Range of topics, including territoriality, the state, the politics of space, critical geopolitics, symbolic landscapes, and GIS and mapping. Emphasizes theoretical issues but includes empirical and/or case studies.

Offered by: Geography

• Restriction(s): Undergraduate students require the permission of the instructor to enroll.
• To obtain permission, students should email the instructor, Prof. Forest, benjamin.forest [at] mcgill.ca. The class is intended to appeal broadly to graduate students in human geography.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: How does one collect data to quantitatively assess research questions in human geography or other social sciences, and what methods are available to analyze those data? This course introduces students to advanced statistical techniques commonly confronted in field-based social science studies. The course is divided into four major topics: research design, evaluating impacts of policies or programs, time-series data, and spatial interactions. For the techniques investigated, the course will highlight major technical assumptions, field considerations for data collection, and how each does or does not account for geographic factors that may influence outcomes of interest.

Offered by: Geography

• Prerequisite(s): GEOG 351 or SOCI 504 or SOCI 505 or ECON 337, or equivalent experience in applied multivariate regression with permission of instructor.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: A critical examination of: the theoretical and conceptual evolution of climate change vulnerability and adaptation research; methodological developments from the role of model-driven assessments to the rise of participatory case study research, and the integration of vulnerability research into adaptation planning.

Offered by: Geography

• Prerequisite: GEOG 406 or ECON 347, or equivalent with permission of instructor

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Analysis of acute geographic dilemmas of international development. Emphasis on 1) rural systems and the problems of agrobiodiversity, land tenure, conflict, food relief, refugees and migration, the peace process, geopolitics and diplomacy; 2) role of development programs and agendas of the international community, the workings of development On the Ground (TM).

Offered by: Geography

• Prerequisite(s): GEOG 310, GEOG 408, or a 400-level course in development
• Restriction(s): Only open to U3 students with permission of instructor.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Linkages and feedbacks among climate, ecosystems, and human land use at global scales. How global-scale ecological processes (primary production, carbon cycle, etc.) are driven by variations in climate and land use practices such as agriculture and deforestation. How natural and human-modified ecosystems exchange carbon and water with the atmosphere.

Offered by: Geography

• Fall
• 3 hours
• Prerequisite: GEOG 203 and 321 or equivalent, or permission of the instructor

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: This course examines current themes relating to mass urbanization in Asia in a range of contexts and the forces that shape the built environment of Asian cities. Various approaches to understanding Asian cities and current theoretical debates will be investigated, including recent critiques of western-centric theorizations of urban change in the region. The course examines a variety of themes through which students will gain familiarity with some of the major strands relating to urban change in Asia: national identity, neoliberalism, social exclusions, migration, religion, ethnicity and sustainability.

Offered by: Geography

• Prerequisite(s): GEOG 325, or 9 credits of Geography courses in Urban Geography, or permission of the instructor.
• Open to graduate students and final year undergraduates.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Linkage of physical processes (hydrology and ecosystems) with issues of societal and socio-economic relevance (land, food, and water use appropriation for human well-being). Application of a holistic perspective on land, food and water issues in an international setting, highlighting linkages, feedbacks and trade-offs in an Earth system context.

Offered by: Geography

• Prerequisite(s): GEOG 203 or ESYS 200 or ENVR 200 or equivalent; GEOG 322 or BREE 217 or equivalent; or permission of instructor.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Basic photogrammetry and interpretation procedures for aircraft and space craft photography and imagery.

Offered by: Geography

• Winter
• 3 hours
• Prerequisite: GEOG 308 and written permission of instructor

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Study of the unique geomorphic aspects of periglacial and permafrost environments. The focus will be on processes in cold climates, the impact of human activity on permafrost landscapes and potential impacts of climatic change.

Offered by: Geography

• Fall
• 3 hours
• Prerequisite: GEOG 272 and any 300-level geomorphology course approved by instructor

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: An examination of current advances in fluvial geomorphology: sediment entrainment and transport, alluviation and river channel evolution.

Offered by: Geography

• Winter
• Prerequisite (Undergraduate): permission of instructor

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: In-depth review of a current topic in physical geography.

Offered by: Geography

• Winter
• Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
• Note: This course is offered on an irregular basis. See Geography website (www.geog.mcgill.ca) for current status.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: In-depth review of a current topic in human geography.

Offered by: Geography

• Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
• Note: This course is offered on an irregular basis. See Geography website (www.geog.mcgill.ca) for current status.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Intensive review of a current topic or technique in physical geography.

Offered by: Geography

• Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
• Note: This course is offered on an irregular basis. See Geography website (www.geog.mcgill.ca) for current status.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Intensive review of a current topic or technique in human geography.

Offered by: Geography

• Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.
• Note: This course is offered on an irregular basis. See Geography website (www.geog.mcgill.ca) for current status.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Principles and methods of Quaternary paleoecology and vegetation reconstruction. Examination of ecosystem response to human disturbance and environmental change.

Offered by: Geography

• Fall
• 2 hours, laboratory and seminar
• Prerequisite: GEOG 350 or BIOL 215 or PLNT 460 or permission of instructor.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: A broad overview of ecological restoration. Considers causes of environmental degradation, why and what we restore, how restoration goals are set, and standards in restoration practice, as well as critiques and philosophies of ecological restoration, such as "ecocultural" restoration.

Offered by: Geography

• Prerequisites: GEOG 350 or BIOL 308 or PLNT 460 and permission of instructor.
• Note: Requires participation in a field trip over reading week. Offered in alternate years.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Simulation of environmental systems, focusing on problem definition, model development and model validation.

Offered by: Geography

• Restriction: Students taking this course need to have an undergraduate background in an atmospheric, ecological, earth,or environmental science or an undergraduate background in environmental engineering.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: Classic and contemporary perspectives in urban geography. Range of topics including effects of capitalism, gender, suburbanism, segregation and inequality, property, urban landscapes, and urban space. Emphasizes theoretical issues but includes empirical and/or case studies.

Offered by: Geography

• Restriction(s): Permission of instructor.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: General research seminar in human and physical geography.

Offered by: Geography

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year

Geography: A review of the classification, ecosystem services, and biophysical aspects of wetlands: soils, hydrology, and adaptations of biota with an emphasis on ecological biogeography. Includes major ecological processes that occur in wetlands and the environmental factors that control the structure and function of wetland systems. Techniques for studying plant communities are emphasized and applied to 3 different types of wetlands through field and laboratory work.

Offered by: Geography

• Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor
• 3 day field trip from Levis to Quebec city and across the St. Laurence. There will be a student fee charged in the amount of $68. Fees will cover meals (lunch and dinner), accommodations, ground transportation.

• Terms
  • This course is not scheduled for the 2023 academic year
• Instructors
  • There are no professors associated with this course for the 2023 academic year