Shaowen Wang’s teaching efforts have centered on course and curriculum development, mentoring, and related initiatives in geographic information science and systems (GIS), cyberGIS and spatial artificial intelligence (AI), computational and data sciences, and digital and spatial studies. He actively supports participation of undergraduate students in research and has supervised dozens of undergraduate students by helping them gain research experiences. Beyond the undergraduate level, he has advised more than 50 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Many of his advisees are now holding positions at major research universities, premier research and development laboratories, and leading geospatial companies. He also has served on graduate thesis committees in diverse fields ranging from geography to computer science and from civil & environmental engineering to urban & regional planning.
Courses
- Advanced Digital and Spatial Studies (for graduate)
- Advanced Geographic Information Systems (for both graduate and undergraduate)
- Foundations of CyberGIS and Geospatial Data Science (for both graduate and undergraduate)
- Getting Started with CyberGIS
- Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (for undergraduate)
- Principles of Geographic Information Systems (for both graduate and undergraduate)
- Topics in Geographic Information Science (for graduate)
Synergistic Activities
Shaowen Wang has held multiple leadership roles in advancing GIS and computational and data sciences education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Between 2008 and 2015, he chaired the GIS program in the Department of Geography and Geographic Information Science. He organized the campus-wide development of the spatial informatics track for an informatics PhD program and served as its coordinator for more than a decade. More recently, he led the development of Online Graduate Programs in CyberGIS and Geospatial Data Science. Beyond UIUC, he has served as a community leader for advancing cyberGIS and geospatial data science education, securing competitive funding from the National Science Foundation to organize and chair a series of summer schools such as the 2017 program on Collaborative Problem Solving with CyberGIS and Geospatial Data Science and the 2025 program on Spatial AI for Extreme Events and Disaster Resilience.