Academic Catalog 2023-2024

Geography (GEO)

GEO 100.  Human Geography.  (3 Units)  

Cultural, physical, and biological earth systems.  Emphasizes human geography and adaptation to physical habitats.

Offered Fall, Spring, All terms

GEO 200.  Physical Geography.  (3 Units)  

Classical natural systems, including earth-sun relationships, atmospheric flows, terrestrial biogeography, landforms, and processes of change; introduction to modern monitoring methods using maps, satellite reconnaissance, and geographic information systems.

Offered Fall, Spring

GEO 305.  Cartography.  (3 Units)  

Principles, techniques, design and production of maps and graphs for data presentation. One hour of lecture and six hours of lab per week.

Offered Spring even

GEO 310.  Geomorphology.  (3 Units)  

Study of landforms created by geologic, volcanic, weathering, fluvial, karst, coastal and other processes acting on the land surface and ocean floor.

Offered Fall odd

GEO 315.  The Weather.  (3 Units)  

Composition and structure of the atmosphere. Planetary circulations and storms of all latitudes. Radiation, humidity, clouds, winds, and precipitation. Meteorological observations and weather forecasts. Two hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week.

Offered Fall odd

GEO 318.  Cultural Pluralism The Human Environment: Methods of Knowledge and Truth.  (3 Units)  

Prerequisites: Completion of Lower Division General Education. Analysis of cultural diversity and the process of cultural interaction, inter-ethnic relations and social integration on the community, national and international levels with emphasis on people's knowledge of the natural world.

Offered Fall, Spring

GEO 336.  Land Use.  (3 Units)  

Sequential, compatible, and conflicting land uses.  Zoning and regulation.  Impacts of public and private uses.  Social and economic benefits from alternative land use.

Offered Infrequent

GEO 346.  Political Geography.  (3 Units)  

The characteristics, patterns, and interactions of contemporary political processes and organizations over the world.  Cohesion, unity, disunity, growth and historical persistence from the locality, through nations and transnational groupings to the world.

Offered Infrequent

GEO 350.  World Geography.  (3 Units)  

Study of the world's regions: population distribution, landforms and natural resources, urban and non-urban relationships, connections of trade and transportation, plus selected case studies involving water resources, boundaries and environmental impacts.

Offered Fall, Spring

GEO 357.  Urban Environmental Geography.  (3 Units)  

A survey of key enviornmental issues affecting Los Angeles and other cities with special emphasis on environmental policy and local ordinances designed to mitigate urban environmental issues including air pollution, water resources, park and waste management.

Offered Fall even

GEO 359.  Geography Of California.  (3 Units)  

The physical, cultural and regional geography of California. The land and its modifications. Spatial distribution of resources. Population, migration and urbanization. Problems and prospects.

Offered Infrequent

GEO 360.  North America.  (3 Units)  

Physical, regional and cultural geography of the United States, Canada and Mexico. Emphasizes human-environment interaction, contemporary patterns of population distribution, resource exploitation, transportation, and agricultural and industrial production.

Offered Infrequent

GEO 370.  Numerical Methods in Geography.  (3 Units)  

Prerequisites: CSC 101 and MAT 009 (or equivalents). Principles of data reduction and analysis in the natural sciences. Practical techniques to understand spatial data sets using computer software. Topics include matrices, summary statistics, distributions, transformations, hypothesis testing, contouring, regression and curve-fitting.

Offered Spring odd

GEO 380.  Biogeography.  (3 Units)  

The distribution of plant and animal species with emphasis on native plant and animal populations in Southern California and recent changes to the region's flora and fauna.

Offered Fall odd

GEO 398.  Directed Research.  (1-3 Units)  

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.Directed research of a particular geographic or environmental problem under the direction of a member of the Geography staff.

Offered Infrequent

GEO 405.  Advanced Cartography.  (3 Units)  

Prerequisite: GEO 305 or equivalent is recommended. Planning and preparing maps, graphics, photographs, and models. One hour of lecture and six hours of lab per week.

Offered Spring even

GEO 408.  Remote Sensing and Image Processing.  (3 Units)  

Interpretation of physical and cultural features, resources, environmental factors from photographic and specific sensor imagery. One hour of lecture and six hours of activity per week.

Offered Spring odd

GEO 412.  Rivers and Streams.  (3 Units)  

Detailed study of the hydrolic cycle: precipitation, runoff, evaporation, infiltration, and groundwater. Geographic inventory of global, state and national water resources. Field measurements and case studies.

Offered Spring even

GEO 415.  Geographic Information Systems.  (3 Units)  

Prerequisites:  Basic computer knowledge, CSC 101 or equivalent. Techniques of data acquisition, processing, analysis and display as pertain to geographic information systems. Includes practical applications based on various forms of geographically referenced data. One hour of lecture and six hours of laboratory per week.

Offered Fall

GEO 416.  Earth's Climates.  (3 Units)  

Characteristics and distribution patterns for the climates of Earth, with emphasis on the physical geographic reasons for the world's climates. The relationship of specific climates to biomes, agriculture, diet, housing, dress and lifestyle. Physical and biological proxies for measuring climate. Historical and current trends in global climate.

Offered Spring odd

GEO 420.  Natural Resources.  (3 Units)  

Atmospheric, hydrologic, ecologic and geologic principles; economic and environmental considerations in air, water, soil, food, timber, wildlife, nonmetallic and metallic resources.

Offered Fall even

GEO 433.  Environmental Analysis.  (3 Units)  

Federal and State requirements, required inputs, presentation formats, procedures for review and acceptance of environmental reports.  Methods of assessing air quality, noise, water pollution and traffic problems.

Offered Spring even, All terms

GEO 494.  Independent Study.  (1-3 Units)  

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Independent Study of a particular geographic or environmental problem under the supervision of a member of the Geography faculty.

Offered Fall, Spring

GEO 495.  Special Topics In Geography.  (3 Units)  

Selected topics in Geography with course content to be determined by instructor. Repeatable course.

Offered As needed

GEO 498S.  Directed Research.  (1-3 Units)  

Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. Directed research of a particular geographic or environmental problem under the direction of a member of the Geography staff.

Offered Fall, Spring