Greetings from the Geography Department of the University of Southern
California.  We received some e-mail via the HISTORY-GIS list and want to
know who to contact about posting a message of general interest to your
subscribers.  Our message would be as follows:

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The University of Southern California, a national research university with
a full range of academic and professional degree programs located in Los
Angeles, California, is pleased to announce two exciting graduate programs
on the cutting edge of environmental and urban interaction:  

1) Distance Learning Geographic Information Sciences (GIS) Certificate Program
2) Environmental Sciences, Policy and Engineering Sustainable Cities Program

The GIS program consists of three regular graduate credit GIS courses in
Spatial Thinking, Analysis and Modeling, and Organizational GIS Issues
offered entirely by mail and internet.  The first course in the series will
start in January 1999 and every semester thereafter.  The program folds in
several GIS software courses from the ESRI Virtual Campus.  The tuition for
each course is US $2,824, the entire program is about $9000.  US residents
may be able to deduct tuition as an unreimbursed business expense or take
HOPE tax credits.  You must have access to a computer, e-mail, and the
internet.  Complete details can be found at:
www.usc.edu/dept/geography/learngis

The new USC Doctoral Training Program in Sustainable Cities is funded by
the National Science Foundation.  It is a campus-wide collaborative that
brings together multiple disciplines involved in environmental research,
policy and management around the theme of building sustainable cities for
the 21st century.  The Sustainable Cities offers doctoral students a unique
opportunity to learn to approach environmental problems from a
sophisticated multifaceted perspective, transcending the conventional
confines of disciplinary specialization.  It will allow doctoral students
to acquire a profound understanding of how collaborative,
interdisciplinary, policy-relevant research on major environmental problems
should be conducted.

The Environmental Sciences, Policy and Engineering Sustainable Cities
Program is a two year program, integrated into doctoral degree programs,
which involves course work and participation in faculty collaborative
research projects on sustainable cities.  Participating faculty come from
the natural and social sciences, engineering, planning, policy and
management.  Collaborative faculty projects are built on strong linkages to
major decision-makers and stakeholders, and results will have significant
implications for public policy in the region and beyond.  

PhD students admitted to the Sustainable Cities Program can expect to
receive Fellowships ($15,000) for two years, awarded on a competitive
basis.  In addition they will receive cost-of-education allowances (to
cover tuition), and a modest research support fund for the two year
program.  All ESPE-SC students must also be admitted to a USC doctoral
degree program in their field of specialization (such as geography or urban
planning).

More information and applications can be found on the web at
http://www.usc.edu.
Or contact Co-Directors Joseph Devinny ([log in to unmask]) or Jennifer Wolch
([log in to unmask]).
Or Call (213) 740-7832.




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