Courses

Provides students with a critical understanding of key renewable energy options for electricity generation, heating and cooling of buildings and transportation. Students will be introduced to a critical analysis of renewable energy as a strategy for climate change mitigation, community empowerment, industrial development, and energy security. Integrated with ENVS 4400. Exclusion: Students who already took ENVS 4400. This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 5050.

This intensive experiential course is an exploration of climate justice definitions, theory, case studies, and implications for policy and activism. It is organized around field visits and discussions with practitioners involved in various equity-related aspects of climate mitigation and adaptation, the history and evolution of fossil and post-fossil energy systems (with special focus on Toronto, Ontario, and Canada), global and local sacrifice zones, the renewable energy transition, and climate justice activism. Field trips, guest speakers, and discussions are integral parts of this course This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 5055.

This course addresses fundamentals of general and complex systems thinking (such as general systems theory, complex adaptive systems, chaos theory) major paradigms in systems thinking (functionalist, interpretive, emancipatory, postmodern), and their associated methodologies and applications in environmental studies. This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 5081.

This course examines the political economy of capitalism from a geographical angle. It looks at the spatial and environmental aspects of capitalism employing Marx's 'mature' works as well as more contemporary literature on political economy in geography and cultural studies. Crosslisted GEOG 5375. This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 5475.

This course examines the relationships between people and their environments from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century. It considers the global ecological consequences of industrialization and the growing human footprint on Earth from a historical perspective, drawing from the field of environmental history. Crosslisted HIST 5543. This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 5543.

This course assists students in the transition from MES II to MES III, with emphasis on the design of the substantive and integrative experiences to be undertaken in MES III (including expectations of the Major Project, Major Paper, or Thesis) and the ways that students may demonstrate “mastery” of the subject matter. This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 6102.

Examination of ‘Environmental Education' in the widest sense, including definitions of environmental education, and the history of environmental education, its underlying assumptions, and current practices and constraints in its implementation. Alternative visions of a socially critical model of environmental education are explored. This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 6140.

This course examines the deep cultural dimensions of the ecological crisis and considers the implications for public education. Discussing pre-contact indigenous models of education the course examines education's role in developing mind and landscape. At Black Creek Pioneer Village historic sustainability and contemporary environmental, social and educational malaise will be studied. We conclude envisioning education to create sustainable culture. Crosslisted EDUC 5445. This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 6141.

The Graduate Programs in Politics, Geography and Environmental Studies jointly hold an annual summer school (usually in the month of June or July) where an issue within the field of international political economy and ecology has been explored under the guidance of York faculty members and guest scholars with particular expertise. Students are drawn from our graduate programs, from other Canadian universities and from abroad. This is a seminar course accompanied by a public event. Each session consists of a lecture course and an associated workshop. Successful completion of the summer school will serve as course credits towards a student's MA or PhD program. Previous summer schools have focused on the ecology of post-Fordism, global finance, economic restructuring and the world city. Crosslisted POLS 6282.03 and GEOG 5395.03. Permission by graduate program. This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 6275.

This course introduces students to debates and perspectives on Latin American and Caribbean studies and links theory with practice in the field. Supported by numerous CERLAC Fellows from a range of disciplines, students from different graduate programs and areas of study will collaborate together in teams on applied research projects to work on their own research. This core course will provide an opportunity for deeper student engagement in CERLAC and a strong relationship with the work of the researchers and scholars at the Centre. This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 6300.

The workshop investigates recent urban change in selected North American and European cities using an approach that is informed by recent critical planning practices and urban theory. Each year a different topic is selected as the basis for the workshop project. This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 6325.

This course examines natural disasters from an interdisciplinary point of view, particularly considering why there seem to be more natural disasters, and how and why decisions made by people create vulnerable communities. This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 6401.

Individual study activities in subject areas not addressed in current Environmental Studies course offerings, devised and carried out under the supervision of a faculty member and arranged to suit the requirements of the student's individual Plan of Study. Normally intended for students at the MES II level. Maximum 18 credits per program. This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 6599O.

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Approved research toward the submission of Major Paper, Major Project, Portfolio, arranged and conducted under the supervision of a faculty Supervisor. MES students take the course for 0 credit. Only MES/JD students take the course for (transfer) credits (normally 12). This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 7899 12.0.

Approved research toward the submission of Major Paper, Major Project, Portfolio, arranged and conducted under the supervision of a faculty Supervisor. MES students take the course for 0 credit. Only MES/JD students take the course for (transfer) credits (normally 12). This course was previously offered as EU/ENVS 7999 0.0.