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The western United States is defined by mountain ranges, immense forests and great plains, wide rivers, and deserts. This course traces the origins of the West’s diverse landscapes and highlights how geology shaped the places we inhabit today. Our understanding of the space west of the Mississippi is shaped by narratives of exploration and nation-building: for example, Lewis and Clark’s search for the northwest passage or the hammering of the golden spike and completion of the transcontinental railroad in northern Utah. But even today the geology of the west is manifest in how we move around, grow our food, make money, and recreate. In this course we explore how a multitude of ways of being American are tied to the geology of the place we call home.

This noncredit class meets with a regular University of Utah credit course. Students can purchase any assigned hardcopy textbooks through our .