Understanding the spectral stability of solutions to partial differential equations is an important step in predicting long-time dynamics. Recently, it has been shown that a topological invariant known as the Maslov Index can play an important role in determining spectral stability for systems that have a symplectic structure. In addition, related ideas have lead to a suggested generalization of the notion of spatial dynamics to general, multidimensional spatial domains. In this talk, the notions of spectral stability, the Maslov Index, and spatial dynamics will be introduced and an overview of recent results will be given.