Courses

Geography Courses

GEOG 101 Geog & Nat Environ (3) Survey of the earth's physical environment, including distribution and associations between energy, climate, vegetation, and landforms. Human interrelationships with the physical landscape.
GEOG 102 Geog Wrld Cult Region (3) Geographic survey of the world's major cultural regions. Processes of spatial integration and differentiation of economic, geo-political, and cultural landscapes. Natural resource distribution and the contrasts and linkages between the developed and under-developed world.
GEOG 103 Geog And Contemp Soc (3) Examines aspects of culture such as population, agriculture, industry, and religion. Focus on the relationships between people and their environment and resulting regional contrasts.
GEOG 105 Geography Of United States (3) Major features of the United States. Emphasis on what gives character or distinctiveness to various places.
GEOG 107 Hawaii in the Pacific (3) Introduction to the geographies of Hawai'i and the Pacific Islands region, emphasizing indigenous world views. Through lecture, discussion, and web based learning, the course focuses on the historical and contemporary links between Hawai'i and Oceania and provides a context for understanding the people, cultures, and environments of the region.
GEOG 120 Weather & Climate Hawaii (3) For non-science majors and prospective science teachers. Basic meteorology, sun-earth-ocean-atmosphere interrelationships, weather types, seasonal changes, trade winds, clouds, rainfall, with examples drawn from the local weather and climate. (Same as PHYS 120)
GEOG 201 Interp Geog Data (3) Introduction to methods of analysis and display of a variety of geographical data. Introduction to geographical methods, basic computer programs, concepts of computer cartography, map interpretation and design, and more advanced techniques including GIS, GPS, and remote sensing.
GEOG 295 Pacific: Brown Bag Seminar Ser (1) Weekly one hour seminars will cover a broad range of topics, current research and topical issues that are of relevance to contemporary ways of life in the Pacific. Seminars will also explore the application of Pacific Studies to the workforce. Credit is gained by weekly attendance and the submission of short summaries of the weekly seminars. (Same as ANTH 295).
GEOG 300 Climatology (3) Elements and controls of climate. Dynamic processes of atmospheric circulation: the distribution patterns of solar radiation, temperature, precipitation, and evaporation. Energy and water balance concepts, climate classification. Pre: GEOG 101 or instructor's consent.
GEOG 309 Biogeography (3) Basic evolutionary and ecological principles underlying the dynamics of plant and animal population. Mechanisms of isolation, speciation, dispersal, migration, and competition as they affect past and present world distribution patterns. Island biogeography. Pre: GEOG 101; BIOL 101 or 175 or 176; or instructor's consent. (Same as BIOL 309)
GEOG 312 Food and Societies (3) Different types of food production and consumption systems, and the cultural and environmental constraints operating to produce the resultant patterns. Globalization of agricultural production and consumption. Pre: one introductory geography course. (Same as AG 312)
GEOG 319 Nat Hazards/Disasters (3) Survey of origins, processes, distributions, and effects of hazardous physical forces: hurricanes, tornadoes, drought, floods, earthquakes, volcanism, landslides, erosion, and beach degradation. Hazard perception and adjustment by humans also considered. Pre: GEOG 101 or instructor's consent.
GEOG 320 Earth Surface Processes (3) Processes of landform development at large and small scales. Theoretical and applied aspects, including human environment considerations. Field excursions may be required. Pre: GEOG 101 or GEOL 111 or equivalent. (Same as GEOL 342)
GEOG 321 Geog Of Economic Activity (3) Factors influencing the distribution of economic activities at different spatial scales: world, national, local. Consideration of general theories of decision making for urban and industrial locations. Pre: GEOG 103.
GEOG 326 Natural Resources (3) Philosophy and history of the conservation movement in the United States. Ecological considerations in the management of renewable and nonrenewable resources. Current conservation issues in Hawai'i. Pre: GEOG 101 or instructor's consent.
GEOG 328 Cultural Geography (3) Key concepts in cultural geography and introduction to qualitative research methods in geography. Topics include: histories of cultural geography; landscapes; nature-society relations; critical cultural geographies. Pre: one introductory geography course.
GEOG 329 Development Geographies (3) Major theoretical approaches to economic development will be examined. The environmental and cultural sustainability of these approaches along with emerging alternative development (green) perspectives will be highlighted through specific case studies. Pre: any introductory course in geography, anthropology, economics, biology, or agriculture.
GEOG 331 Tourism Geographies (3) Survey of tourism geographies, addressing a wide-range of topics: tourism representations, tourism development strategies, indigenous tourism development, planning for "sustainable" tourism, and tourism's environmental impacts. Pre: junior or senior standing or instructor's consent.
GEOG 332 Geog Of Hawaiian Islands (3) Introduction to the physical and human geography of Hawai'i. Development of island ecosystems. Polynesian pre-history, post-contact resource exploitation and environmental transformation. History of land tenure and management. Spatial aspects of agriculture, urbanization, and tourism. Pre: GEOG 101 or 103, or instructor's consent.
GEOG 335 Geog Of Oceania (3) Physical and human geography of the Pacific Islands region including Australia and New Zealand (excluding Hawai'i). Topics include: regional marine and terrestrial resources; human settlement and landscape transformation; population political geography; economic development, and resource management and environmental issues.
GEOG 340 Princ Land Use Planning (3) Land use planning and relationship of geographic concepts to urban, regional, and environmental planning. Emphasis on examples from Hawai'i.
GEOG 350 Geog Of Asia (3) Introduction to the lands and peoples of Asia. Emphasis on the physical and cultural features which characterize the geography of Asia.
GEOG 380 Quantitative Methods (3) Application of statistical and mathematical models in a geographic context. The use of multivariate techniques in assessing spatial relationships. Pre: GEOG 201 or instructor's consent.
GEOG 385 Fld Meth in Geog & Environ Sci (3) Geographic field methods for assessment and monitoring of the physical/biological/anthropogenic environment. Instrumentation, data collection, and analysis; planning and land management applications. Pre: GEOG 201 or instructor's consent. (Same as ENSC 385).
GEOG 387 Lit Of The Environment (3) A study of modern nature writing and environmental issues in several genres. Students will explore how humans negotiate their place in variety of physical environments. Pre: ENG 100 and one of the following: ENG 200, 251, 252, 253, or 254 or instructor's consent. (Same as ENG 387)
GEOG 409 Princples of Landscape Ecology (3) Introduction to landscape ecology as a framework for landscape research, analysis and management. Emphasis on spatial patterning - the causes, development, importance of ecological processes, and the spatial interactions of dynamic processes. Focus on concepts, methods and applications of landscape ecology through reading classic and contemporary literature. Pre: GEOG 101, GEOG 201, GEOG 309 or BIOL 281, or instructor's consent. Some familiarity with geographic information systems (GIS) and statistics desirable.
GEOG 430 Gender, Place and Environment (3) Survey of trends in geography of gender related to place, space and the environment. Addresses spatial interactions of gendered bodies of different ages, class and ethnicities. Pre: junior or senior standing or instructor's consent. (Same as WS 430).
GEOG 435 Senior Seminar Pacific Studies (3) A reading and research seminar under the supervision of the Pacific Islands Studies faculty aimed at demonstrating competence in research and writing on issues related to Pacific Islands environments, culture, society and economy. Pre: Instructor's consent for students near completion of Pacific Islands Studies Certificate coursework. (Same as ANTH 435)
GEOG 436 Environmental Politics in the Pacific (3) This course will examine the ways that government policies, economic development and globalization affect the environment in the Pacific region as well as the ways that environmental problems affect political debates and actions. Utilizing the research approach or political ecology this course for advanced students will explore contemporary viewpoints on terrestrial resource management, preservation, population growth, land degradation, marine and terrestrial resource management, environmental contamination, and other environmental issues across Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia. Pre: Junior or Senior standing and completion of one of the following: ENSC 100, GEOG 335, other upper-level Pacific Island Studies course, or instructor's consent. (Same as ENSC 436)
GEOG 440 Advanced Environ Planning (3) Advanced topics in planning with emphasis on local land use plans, policies and ordinances as well as methodology for collection and analysis of data for environmental impact assessment. Pre: GEOG 340.
GEOG 441 Environmentl Impact Assessment (3) Introduction to the theory and methods of environmental impact assessment (EIA). Emphasis on the physical environmental, cultural, social and legal foundations of the federal and state EIA process as well as how to minimize negative impacts on economic development. Students engage in critical evaluation and preparation of EIS. Pre: junior or senior standing or instructor's consent. (Same as ENSC 441).
GEOG 470 Remote Sensing/Air Photo (3) Analysis of film and digital images of the Earth's surface collected from cameras and sensors aboard aircraft and satellites. Applications to resource planning, forestry, hydrology and geology. Pre: GEOG 201 or instructor's consent.
GEOG 480 Geog Info Sys & Visualization (3) (lec., lab) Introduction to basic concepts and skills for using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to analyze and visualize geospatial data. Topics covered include: computer representation of geographic information, construction of GIS databases, geospatial analysis and applications. Additional focus on visualization skills including cartographic principles and techniques. Pre: GEOG 201 or instructor's consent.
GEOG 481 Advance Geo-Spatial Techniques (3) Advanced methods in GIS and spatial technologies for analysis of physical and human systems. Topics include network analysis, cartographic modeling, geospatial analysis, interpolation, as well as GIS project management. The course will include lecture, discussion, lab exercises, and a final GIS project. Pre: GEOG 201, GEOG 470, or GEOG 480 or instructor's consent. Familiarity with basic statistics also essential.
GEOG 490 Senior Thesis (3) Individual research project in area of interest. Pre: invitation by geography faculty.
GEOG 495 Senior Seminar in Geography (3) Capstone course for Geography majors, integrating previous coursework into disciplinary framework. Seminar focuses on research, writing, and discussion of themes in contemporary geography. Each student will choose a geographic sub-field of interest and prepare two seminar papers: (1) survey of historical development of sub-field including theoretical and cutting edge issues; (2) identify and investigate an original research problem in the chosen sub-field. Pre: Geography major, senior standing. Offered Spring semester only. (Same as ENSC 495).
GEOG 496 Planning Internship (3) Juniors and seniors majoring in geography may undertake in-service training in government or private agencies. Pre: junior standing and instructor's consent.
GEOG x94 Special Topics in Subject Matter (Arr.) Special topics chosen by the instructor. Course content will vary. May be repeated for credit, provided that a different topic is studied. Additional requirements may apply depending on subject and topic.
GEOG x99 Directed Studies (Arr.) Statement of planned reading or research required. Pre: instructor's consent.

Environmental Studies/Science Courses

ENSC 100 Intro to Environmental Science (3) Introductory course linking the human and physical/ chemical/biological world. Emphasis on current global and local issues related to pollution, biodiversity, ecosystem services, climate change, resource consumption and sustainability. Focus on critical thinking and the integration of both natural and social science perspectives in understanding and addressing environmental issues.
ENSC 385 Fld Meth in Geog & Environ Sci (3) Geographic field methods for assessment and monitoring the physical/biological/anthropogenic environment. Instrumentation, data collection, and analysis; planning and land management applications. Pre: GEOG 201 or instructor's consent. (Same as GEOG 385)
ENSC 436 Environmental Politics in the Pacific (3) This course will examine the ways that government policies, economic development and globalization affect the environment in the Pacific region as well as the ways that environmental problems affect political debates and actions. Utilizing the research approach of political ecology this course for advanced students will explore contemporary viewpoints on climate change, environmental preservation, population growth, land degradation, marine and terrestrial resource management, environmental contamination, and other environmental issues across Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia. Pre: Junior or Senior standing and completion of one of the following: ENSC 100, GEOG 335, other upper-level Pacific Islands Studies course, or instructor's (Same as GEOG 436)
ENSC 441 Environmentl Impact Assessment (3) Introduction to the theory and methods of environmental impact assessment (EIA). Emphasis on the biophysical, cultural, social, economic and legal foundations of the federal and state EIA process as well as strategies to mitigate the negative environmental impacts of development. Students engage in critical evaluation and preparation of an EIA. Pre: junior or senior standing or instructor's consent. (Same as GEOG 441).
ENSC 495 Senior Seminar Environ Science (3) Capstone course for Environmental Studies/Science majors integrating previous coursework into disciplinary framework. Seminar focus on research, writing and discussion of themes in contemporary environmental problems. Each student will choose an environmental sub-field of interest and prepare two seminar papers: 1) survey of historical development of sub-field including theoretical and cutting-edge issues; 2) identify and investigate an original research problem in the chosen sub-field. (Same as GEOG 495).
ENSC x94 Special Topics in Subject Matter (Arr.) Special topics chosen by the instructor. Course content will vary. May be repeated for credit, provided that a different topic is studied. Additional requirements may apply depending on subject and topic.
ENSC x99 Directed Studies (Arr.) Statement of planned reading or research required. Pre: instructor's consent.