The goal of this class is to explore various approaches to modeling landscape pattern and change. The focus is on understanding, describing, and predicting the two-dimensional patterns of land-use and land-cover that are observable in map-based depictions of landscapes. The course will necessarily move between social and ecological processes and applications of the models, always with a geographical focus. During the course we will read about different modeling approaches, discuss applications of the models, and work on 7-8 exercises. We will explore GIS-based land modeling approaches through a number of statistical and computational approaches. Students completing the course will be able to evaluate the trade-offs associated with use of a particular modeling approach within a given situation, and to implement (at least minimally) several of the approaches discussed