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Courses | Electronic Syllabi | Faculty

The geology department at Oxford College offers a number of courses that can be taken by potential environmental studies majors (http://www.emory.edu/COLLEGE/ENVS/) or students not in the sciences.

Some of the courses are taught as traditional on-campus courses and others have a significant, off-campus, field component. Physical Geology (Geology 141) is a fine beginning course that explores the geologic nature of this planet through the study of such topics as plate tectonics, mountain building, minerals, rocks, and surface processes of erosion and deposition. The follow-up course, Evolution of the Earth (Geology 142) concentrates on the evidence that allows geologists to understand the history of the Earth and its changing environments as studied through rocks and fossils. Meteorology and Climatology (Geosciences 115) is a descriptive course dealing with weather and climate and is taken by both students in the environmental sciences and non-science majors. Mineral Resources, Energy, and Power (Geology 250) is designed especially for the environmental studies major as an overview of the geological occurrence of these mineral and energy resources, including the environmental issues concerned with their extraction and use. All of these courses have associated laboratories with hands-on learning and some of them also involve outside activities and field trips.

The department also offers several courses that are field-based. Most of these courses will involve both Oxford and Emory College undergraduates. Desert Geology (Geology 100N) is the study of the Chihuahuan Desert as seen in Big Bend National Park in west Texas. It includes geology, climatology, and the influence of those factors on the organisms. Dinosaurs and Their World (Geology 200N) is based in Colorado and Utah, where the students study dinosaurs through analyzing their occurrence in the rocks, tracks, and their mounted skeletons in museums. Modern and Ancient Tropical Environments is based on San Salvador Island in the Bahamas. This field course compares environments, both in time and space, as seen in the rocks and in the modern environments. Geology and Culture in Scotland (Geology 235N) has been offered in conjunction with both the anthropology and English departments. It explores the connections between the geology of Scotland and culture. This course includes such elements as the influence of landscape on peoples and literature.