GHEA21 Teaching
GHEA21 offers two types of courses, bringing together students from across the global network to debate and exchange ideas and experiences:
- Online Courses (OCs), offered by a single institution to students across the GHEA21 network. OCs take place entirely online and include students from the host institution; and
- Network Collaborative Courses (NCCs), co-designed and taught simultaneously across partner institutions. The participating courses may differ by institution but share key assignments and bring students at different campuses together to have class discussions and collaborate online.
Courses Offered
Earth Observations in Monitoring Sustainable Development Goals
This OC course explores the significance of satellite data and remote sensing in assessing progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Through hands-on work with platforms like Google Earth Engine, students develop the ability to monitor critical global indicators such as deforestation, urbanization, and natural disasters. For social scientists and humanities scholars, understanding geospatial data is key to evaluating how societal and environmental changes intersect.
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Introduction to Geospatial Analysis
This introductory NCC course emphasizes how geospatial tools can be used to analyze spatial patterns across various fields such as urban studies, environmental justice, and migration. Through QGIS, students learn the technical skills needed to work with spatial data, but with a critical focus on how these tools can inform and challenge existing narratives in the social sciences. Geospatial analysis is becoming increasingly relevant in the study of space and place, providing insights into how people interact with their environments.
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Introduction to Geospatial Data Visualization
This NCC course examines the power of visual storytelling through data. For students in the humanities and social sciences, visualizing complex datasets helps convey nuanced analyses of spatial phenomena, such as migration trends, socioeconomic inequalities, or environmental change. The course focuses on creating maps and other visual tools that enhance understanding and facilitate interdisciplinary discussions on global and local issues.
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Mapping the World with QGIS
This OC course provides practical knowledge on the use of QGIS for mapping projects, designed to foster a critical understanding of the spatial dimensions of societal issues. Students from social sciences and humanities backgrounds engage with global data and apply mapping techniques to topics such as urban growth, conflict zones, and resource distribution, using geospatial analysis to reveal hidden dynamics.
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The partnering institutions (CEU, AUCA, and Bard College) also offer a range of follow-up activities for students successfully completing OOC and NCC courses, such as participation in professional UN-affiliated Summer Universities (SUNs). In particular, OSUN students and researchers have participated in: