ProGeographer: A Graduate Certificate Program in Geography at the University of Northern Colorado
Offered every other year. Applications Are Accepted Now for April 1, 2009 Starting Date.
The University of Northern Colorado offers a special program of professional development for secondary geography teachers.
This program can be completed without interrupting a teaching career by offering a compact set of courses at special locations in Colorado during the summer, followed by an online course during the subsequent fall and winter. The result is a Graduate Certificate in Geography Education from the University of Northern Colorado.
THE PROGRAM:
April 1, 2009: Online course begins with readings and preparation for the summer. Fly to Denver in mid-July (2009), climb into a van and begin a journey to the western edge of Colorado where you start a 3-day river trip field course on the Colorado River. Our trip ends at the head of Westwater Canyon in Utah.
The Colorado River—a natural link between the high Rockies and Mexico, providing water to seven western states and traversing a myriad of canyons (J Dunn photo).
The time on the river is spent exploring field methods used to study geographic problems. Rivers are great arteries that connect places, and the Colorado River is a perfect example of a natural link between the Never Summer range of the Rockies and the Gulf of California. It also distributes water, a critical resource in the west, to seven states and Mexico. You learn how to generate geographic questions, identify and practice selected field methods, and appreciate the value of collecting primary data. The field course will be taught by Dr. James Dunn of the University of Northern Colorado, and the coordinator of the Colorado Geographic Alliance.
Dr. James Dunn (other courses offered by Dr. Dunn)
Dr. Dunn has taught field courses since 1986 and offers annual trips for undergraduate students as well. He has also conducted field research on plant invasions along the Colorado and Gunnison Rivers.
This is an igneous intrusion found high up in Mee Canyon near its confluence with the Colorado River in far western Colorado (J Dunn photo).
After the river trip, spend two days in Grand Junction studying water resource issues in the west before traveling to Rocky Mountain National Park and the headwaters of the Colorado River. You arrive in Estes Park and begin a 9-day stay at a rustic camp, studying political and urban geography under the shadow of enormous mountains.
Our vans travel from Grand Junction to Estes Park Colorado using the country’s highest paved highway, Trail Ridge Road, which ascends above treeline into Colorado alpine tundra near 11,000 feet above sea level (J Dunn photo).
The two courses are taught in a split-day approach. Dr. Pamela Wridt will return again to teach Urban Geography. She holds a doctorate in environmental psychology and master’s degrees in psychology and geography, with a wealth of experiences from New York City and Wisconsin. Dr. Wridt is currently on the faculty at the University of Colorado, Denver.
Dr. Pamela Wridt
Political Geography will be taught by Dr. Ian Feinhandler of Sonoma State University. Dr. Feinhandler studied political geography at the University of Colorado, Boulder, under renowned political geography Dr. John O’ Loughlin. He returns for his second ProGeographer summer after a successful experience in 2007.
Dr. Ian Feinhandler
Bring Your Family! Estes Park is also a great place for family visits. You can have your family staying in a nearby hotel or they can join you at the end of the program. The community is in high gear during the summer, with a full range of recreational and tourist amenities. You can also travel into Rocky Mountain Park and see elk and other wildlife in the pristine wilderness of the park.
This is Moraine Park, shaped by a large alpine glacier. The u-shaped valley was filled in by sediment to form a flat “park” with a creek running through it. On the left side of this park, you can see the tree-covered lateral moraine (J Dunn photo).