Current Courses Taught
Past Courses Taught
Past Field Courses

Current Courses Taught

Geog 203: Canada: Places, Cultures, and Identities
This course examines Canada's diverse communities, regions, and environments, emphasizing key dynamics that have shaped landscapes, economies, identities, and relationships.
Course topics include: physiographic regions, climate zones, migration patterns, contact and colonization, reconciliation, economy and population change, urbanization, Canadian regions, climate change, and globalization.
Offered winter semester.

Geog 424: Social Geography of Northern Communities
Dramatic change and transition are re-shaping rural and small town communities. Drawing examples from northern British Columbia, this advanced seminar course examines a range of economic, social, and community issues, and includes a broad class-based project examining a different northern community each year.
Course topics include: economic development (work and employment, housing, and rural poverty); and society (community change, gender, population aging, ethnicity, community and social services, and Aboriginal communities).
Offered winter semester.

Geog 624: Social Geography of Northern Communities
Dramatic change and transition are re-shaping rural and small town communities. Drawing examples from northern British Columbia, this advanced seminar course examines a range of economic, social, and community issues, and includes a broad class-based project examining a different northern community each year.
Course topics include: economic development (work and employment, housing, and rural poverty); and society (community change, gender, population aging, ethnicity, community and social services, and Aboriginal communities).
Offered winter semester.

POLS 332: Community Development
How can communities develop politically, economically and socially, in ways that serve their needs and are appropriate to their environment, culture and expectations? This course explores the nature and interpretations of community development, using experiences from Canada, the Circumpolar North and the Asia-Pacific region.
Course topics include: civil society, community and economic development, citizenship and public participation, local government, Aboriginal community development, community power, conflict resolution, place-based policy and development theory, sustainable community development, community capital framework, community transition toolkit for small municipalities, human services planning, and innovative and voluntary sector services.
Offered winter semester.

Past Courses Taught

Geog 200: Geography of British Columbia – People and Places
This course provides an introduction to the biophysical and human landscapes of British Columbia with a special emphasis on the relationship of Northern British Columbia to the rest of the province. The course takes a regional approach to understanding the links between the physical geography of the province and its settlement patterns, resource use and economic development.
Course topics include: land forms, settlement patterns, boom and bust economies, ethnic landscapes, resource management in the changing global economy, forestry, fishing, mining, energy supply and demand, and climate.
Offered fall semester.

Geog 324: Community-Based Research Methods
This course provides a conceptual and practical foundation in community-based research. Throughout the course, students will consider what it means to involve community members as partners in every aspect of the research process. Students will explore the relationship between community-based research and related but distinct traditions such as action research, participatory research, and participatory action research. Students will also look at the influence of other knowledge traditions, including Indigenous and feminist methodologies, applied geography, and applications of community-based research in fields such as public health, planning, and community development.
Course topics include: ethics; design considerations; gathering and organizing data; individual, group, and alternative research techniques; quantitative and qualitative analysis; data storage and management; knowledge dissemination; and knowledge mobilization.
Offered winter semester.

Geog 498: Special Topics
Offered year round.

NRES 770: Rural and Small Town Geography
This course integrates social science research on rural and small town change within the context of northern communities. Issues may include work, housing, gender, ethnicity, social services provision, community conflict, and quality of life. The course emphasizes case study research within theoretical frameworks, and draws especially upon examples from northern British Columbia.
Course topics include: defining rural and small town settlements, settlement models, resource-based settlements, Aboriginal settlements, amenity and rural fringe settlements, employment and economic structures of small communities, civil society, political structures and community conflict, housing, gender and ethnicity, social services provision, and quality of life.
Offered winter semester.

Past Field Courses

• Spring 2012 - Field course in South Africa
• Spring 2009 - Field course on Haida Gwaii
• Spring 2007 - Field course in South Africa