Courses

Courses regularly taught at Whitman College

• Geology 110: The Physical Earth

  • Official description: Physical geology including earth materials, the processes responsible for uplift and erosion, landforms, plate tectonics and the Earth's interior. Three lectures per week. Open only to first- and second-year students; others by consent of instructor. Students who have received credit for Geology 120 or 125 may not receive credit for Geology 110. Corequisite: Geology 111.

• Geology 111: The Physical Earth Lab

  • Official description: Laboratory exercises to accompany classroom instruction in The Physical Earth. Must be taken concurrently with Geology 110. Topics may include the identification of rocks and minerals, interpretation of topographic and geologic maps, and fluvial processes. One three-hour laboratory per week; field trips. Students who have received credit for Geology 121 or 126 may not receive credit for Geology 111.

• Geology 125: Environmental Geology

  • Official description: Natural geologic processes including Holocene deglaciation, landslides, flooding, volcanism, and earthquakes pose risks both to human wellbeing and societal infrastructure. Human decisions for how we choose to interact with the physical environment and its resources (atmosphere, soils, energy sources, minerals) may further imperil societies or may inform global and regional mitigation of Anthropocene climate change, water quality and quantity problems, resource use, and land erosion and mass movement. This introductory course provides exploration and discussion of geologic processes within the paradigm of plate tectonics. Three lecture/discussion periods and one three-hour lab per week; field trips. Note: students who have received credit for Geology 110, 120, or 210 may not receive credit for Geology 125. Open to first- and second-year students; others by consent of instructor. Lab Fee: maximum $20.

• Geology 126: Environmental Geology Lab

  • Official description: Laboratory exercises to accompany classroom instruction in Geologic History of the Pacific Northwest.  Must be taken concurrently with Geology 120.  Topics may include general geologic skills such as the identification of rocks and minerals, interpretation of topographic and geologic maps, and fluvial processes, with a particular focus on the topics examined in lecture.  One three-hour laboratory per week; field trips.  Students who have received credit for Geology 111 or 126 may not receive credit for Geology 121. 

• General Studies 175: First Year Seminar

  • Official description: Students are introduced to the liberal arts through interdisciplinary, collaborative, discussion-based courses, housed in 4-6 learning communities, which each include faculty from at least three different disciplines. Each Exploring Complex Questions learning community engages a common topic, either a theme explored through a series of questions, or a large question explored through a variety of subtopics. Common elements within a learning community might include one or more of the following: a shared syllabus, syllabi that share some common texts, or syllabi with common activities (speakers/symposia/excursions, etc.). All Exploring Complex Questions seminars incorporate some aspect of information literacy to increase students’ abilities to independently explore complex topics. Distribution area: none. Learning Goals: Students will be able to: Read inquisitively and generously. Read with attention to detail and nuance. Engage with texts of varied genres and mediums. Formulate productive questions that guide exploration of a complex text (broadly construed). Use discussion as a means to discover and reconsider ideas. Learn collaboratively with classmates and professor. Use writing as a means to discover and reconsider ideas. Adapt writing to different forms, genres, and/or audience. 

• Geology 229: Geology and Ecology of Soils

  • Official description: Soils provide nutrients, water and support for growing plants, host an amazing variety of organisms, and even influence global climate. This class will focus on the dynamic systems in soil and on the interactions between soils and larger ecosystem properties. Course topics will include pedogenic processes, agricultural ecosystems, the interpretation of paleosols, and the role of soils in the global biogeochemical cycling of organic carbon and nutrients. Three lectures per week, field trip(s). 

• Geology 301: Hydrology

  • Official description: A class devoted to understanding water resources, including both surface water and groundwater. We will study the hydrologic cycle and the properties of water, the shape and behavior of streams, the recharge and movement of groundwater, and environmental management of water including wells, dams, irrigation, and water contaminants. Lab topics will include stream gauging and the construction of hydrographs and hyetographs, determining peak discharge, water sampling, flow nets, well tests, and computer modeling of groundwater and contaminant flow. Three lectures and one three-hour lab per week.

• Geology 418: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems

  • Official description: A geographic information system (GIS) is a powerful computer tool designed for exploring, creating, and displaying spatial information. GIS has become the primary way in which spatial information is managed and analyzed in a variety of fields. Any data that has a spatial component (including most data in the Earth and environmental sciences) can potentially benefit from a GIS. Lectures will examine the applications and the conceptual framework for computer GIS, and lab exercises will teach students to use GIS software. The final third of the course is dedicated to individual projects. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.

• Geology 470: Senior Seminar

  • Official description: Seminar on various topics in the earth sciences. Topics covered in each year are chosen by the instructors, and may include the history of geology, geologic controversies, and ethical issues related to the profession of geology. Students are expected to complete assigned readings and make an oral presentation. Required of all senior geology majors and combined majors.

Other courses

• Geology 410-A: Computer methods for data analysis and visualization

  • Last taught in Spring 2019

  • Official description: Seminar-style course, intended for upper-level geology majors and combined majors, designed to introduce students to an array of computer applications for analyzing and visualizing data. Topics will be determined based on student interest, but may include Excel techniques, introductory scripting and data analysis with R and Python, acquisition and organization of data on servers, design of attractive figures with ggplot2 and Illustrator, command-line tools, and/or other topics. One 50-minute meeting per week, student presentations.

• General Studies 145-146: Encounters

  • Last taught in Spring 2019

  • Official description: A two-semester introduction to the liberal arts and the academic construction of knowledge. Organized around a variable theme, this course takes as its broad topic the examination of encounters between peoples and cultures, and the formation and transformation of dominant and competing worldviews. The study of primary sources, discussion, writing, and the construction of knowledge across academic fields will be emphasized. The two semesters will be taught as a single year-long course. The P-D-F grade option may not be elected for this course. The theme for the 2017-18 academic year will be "Encounters: Transformations." Distribution area: none.

• Environmental Studies 120: Introduction to Environmental Studies

  • Last taught in Spring 2011

  • Official description: An introduction to interdisciplinary themes in environmental studies, including perspectives from the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Emphasis is placed on understanding local and regional environmental problems as well as issues of global environmental concern. Students enrolling in this course also will be required to enroll in Environmental Studies 120L Environmental Studies Excursions. The weekly afternoon excursions cover the length of the Walla Walla drainage basin, from the Umatilla National Forest to the Columbia River. Excursions may include the watershed, the water and wastewater treatment plants, energy producing facilities, a farm, a paper mill, different ecosystems, and the Johnston Wilderness Campus. This course is required of all environmental studies majors. All environmental studies majors must pass this course with a minimum grade of C (2.0). First-year students and sophomores only (or consent of intructor).

• Geology 312: Earth History

  • Last taught in Spring 2011

  • Official description: The physical and biological events during the geologic past. Special consideration given to plate tectonics and fossils in the lectures, and to fossils and geologic maps in the laboratories. Three lectures and one three-hour laboratory per week; required and optional field trips. Prerequisite: Geology 110, 120, or 210 or consent of instructor.

• Geology 410-B: Applied Hydrology

  • Last taught in Spring 2010

  • Official description: Field-based course designed to introduce students to commonly-used techniques for studying surface water and groundwater. Topics will include stream gauging and the construction of hydrographs and hyetographs, determining peak discharge, delineating floodplains, collecting samples from surface water and monitoring wells, constructing flow nets, and computer modeling of groundwater and contaminant flow paths. One three-hour lab per week.

Last updated: Feb 12, 2025