Geography

This course surveys the growing subfield of urban political ecology. In particular, it focuses on the material and social flows of ‘stuff’ that circulate to, through, and beyond the city. Water, sewage, electricity, garbage, plastic, carbon, and much more are all pumped, diverted, quarantined, cleansed, financed, regulated, produced, and consumed via cities. This ‘metabolism’ of material things produces varying qualities and outcomes of urban life. These flows and their outcomes are the course’s central focus, framing as urban metabolism the complex, uneven, and surprising journeys, infrastructures, transformations, politics, histories, labor, and expertise required for these flows. Drawing on a diverse set of academic, journalistic, video, textual, and audio course material, the course traces the pathways of material things through cities and their hinterlands worldwide, unpacking how their flows are constructed and regulated, financed, and managed, and contested and politicized.

This course critically examines the various key approaches which have dominated international development debate and underlie the multifarious development practices and policies of the last few decades. Using a perspective on the different channels, the main actors, and institutions involved, including new donors, private sector, international organizations, and international agreements that impact development processes in the global south. Focus is on the interfaces between academic paradigms, practitioners’ approaches, and the debate on questions of international cooperation and development in society at large. The course deals explicitly with the ethical and moral aspects related to development cooperation. The multidisciplinary character of this course makes it well suited for students of other programs, who may approach development issues from their own respective disciplinary backgrounds.

This course examines interactions of individual plants and plant communities with their abiotic environment, including ground and surface water regimes and biogeochemistry at the local scale. It looks at how these interactions are linked to hydrological processes at the catchment scale and how these interactions can be applied to conserve or restore water-dependent vegetation and habitats at the local level.

The course introduces field study and geological surveying methods. The teaching material is lecture based and includes the concept of field geological surveying and the Heng-Chun Peninsula, which the class embarks on a four-day trip to Southern Taiwan to examine the rock and land formations of the area. Field practice is held during the semester, and performance during the field observation is the main determinant for performance assessment. Students who cannot participate in the field trip should not enroll in the course.

The course provides an introduction to the key concepts and applications of geomorphology, with particular reference to the understanding of fluvial, slope, coastal/marine systems. The course builds upon the basic understanding of earth systems and environmental change acquired during first year students, and facilitates a deeper appreciation of the conceptual and technical issues involved in understanding how landform morphology evolves at various time and space scales. Topics include a brief history of geomorphology, showing how it has emerged from geological origins as a distinct geoscience in its own right; key concepts related to the analysis of landform morphology and the understanding of temporal and spatial scales of landform change (including computer practicals); processes of sediment entrainment, transport, and deposition, illustrated in the context of hillslope, aeolian, fluvial and coastal landforms; and the concept of morphodynamics.

This course explores the changing roles of cities in an age of globalization. The first part examines cities as part of urban networks at the national, regional and international levels, and focuses on the implications arising from the rise of mega-cities and global cities. The second half investigates the challenges facing cities on the ground, including issues of the revitalization and re-imaging of city cores, changing retail landscapes, and the impact of telecommunications on the location of urban activities and peoples' mobility.