Geography and the Data of Everyday Life

Welcome to DATA 202 Geography and the Data of Everyday Life

Geography is an interdisciplinary field that bridges earth sciences, social sciences, data science, and the humanities to examine the spatial dimensions of human–environment relations. In this course, we use data to investigate how everyday life, structured by infrastructures like transportation, housing, and work, both shapes and responds to environmental change. We apply spatial data analytics—the analysis, interpretation, and visualization of information such as location, distance, and spatial interaction—to explore patterns of urbanization, uneven development, migration and displacement, and human-accelerated environmental change. Through hands-on work in geographic information systems and R programming, you will learn how to use mapping, surveying, remote sensing, and other forms of geospatial data collection and analysis to connect places with broader social and ecological dynamics. We approach this material through the lens of data science for the public interest, asking how data can be used to interpret social and environmental processes and inform civic engagement. In addition to modules focused on data collection and analysis in GIS and R, we engage with readings and real-world projects developed alongside local community partners.

Learning Objectives

  • Apply geographic perspectives and spatial thinking to analyze human–environment relations, including how infrastructures such as housing, transportation, and work shape environmental change, urbanization, and everyday life across places and scales.

  • Use spatial data to explore patterns of uneven development, migration, displacement, and human-accelerated environmental change, connecting local places to broader social and ecological dynamics.

  • Develop skills in mapping, visualization, and exploratory spatial data analysis, working with tabular and geospatial data in GIS and R, with an emphasis on interpretation and learning-by-doing, while supporting both students new to these tools and those seeking to deepen existing technical and analytical skills.

  • Frame and investigate policy-relevant questions, using spatial analysis to support environmental and spatial justice–oriented inquiry.

  • Communicate geographic and spatial insights clearly, through maps, visualizations, and writing, for academic and public-interest audiences.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International CC BY-NC-SA 4.0