Globalization, Development and Cities

Rationale

Our global society is more interconnected and interdependent than ever before. Globalization of trade and commerce has increased national wealth and our appetite to consume commodities, technologies, art and culture from around the world. We continue to create spectacular cities to represent our cultural, technological and architectural achievements. But even as we continue to generate extraordinary wealth, we live in a world that is riddled with social and environmental unsustainability, poverty, inequality, discrimination, prejudice, marginalization, terror and conflict. The objective of this track is to train students to understand the complexities of our global society, our cities and our unequal geographies of life and livelihood. Upon graduating, students will find themselves well trained to pursue doctoral degrees, or careers in government, think tanks, non-governmental organizations, teaching, diplomacy and elsewhere.

Required Courses (Departmental)

GEOG 5160: Foundations of Geographic Thought
GEOG 5800: Research Design and Geographic Applications
GEOG 5950: Thesis (6 hours, counts as 2 courses) OR GEOG 5900: Special Problems (3 hours) and GEOG 5920: Research Problems in Lieu of Thesis (3 hours)