This course introduces students to key ecological concepts through the study of the Grand Lake Lowlands ecoregion where Fredericton is located, including its biodiversity and ecosystems, the flow of materials, energy and waste from the ecosystem through human systems and back again, and the implications of these flows for sustainability. As they become acquainted with the local ecoregion, students will also explore the literary tradition of nature writing in which writers infuse their intense observations of local natural history with ethical reflections on being an inhabitant, rather than simply a resident, of a place.
- Enseignant: Vincent Zelazny
Earth systems science reveals that the environmental conditions that supported the development of human civilization over the past 10,000 years are becoming increasingly destabilized. This course introduces students to the Earth's regulatory systems such as climate, nitrogen and phosphorus flows, forests, oceans and biodiversity, and the social structures and processes that are interfering with them. Students will come to understand that environmental problems cannot be solved by individual behavioural changes; solutions will require collective action to achieve systemic change.
- Enseignant: Tracy Glynn
The modernist view is that knowledge leads to rational decisions. From an environmental perspective, however, this idea is seriously challenged. Never has society known so much about ecological and climate change; yet collective responses to these changes have failed to reverse the downward trends. This course examines this dynamic by examining the politics of the environmental crisis, and in particular the power struggles between those resisting change and those promoting alternative visions of a sustainable society. We consider how those alternative visions translate into public policy and how citizens can engage to make this happen. Prerequisites: ENVS 1013 and 2023, or permission of the instructor.
- Enseignant: Janice Harvey
Praxis is defined in two ways: reflection and action for social change AND action informed by theory. The idea is that citizen action on environmental problems needs to be grounded in an understanding of the root of the problem, the systems that need to change, and how change happens. Drawing on learning in ENVS 1013, you will connect environmental problems to our local context and develop local action strategies to effect change. This approach will foster citizenship skills and empower students in the face of global problems. This course qualifies for the STU Experiential Learning Certificate. Prerequisite: ENVS 1013.
- Enseignant: Janice Harvey
This is an experiential learning course. Students will spend several hours per week working at an environmental organization, gaining important experience in how non-profit groups organize to address environmental problems in their local community, or at the provincial level. You will also spend time in class discussing your work experience and integrating your experience with learning objectives, which are developed in consultation with the course supervisor and workplace mentor. The course is a 6 credit hour course and counts as an elective for an ENVS Major.
- Enseignant: Janice Harvey
This Moodle site contains several environmental issue case studies compiled by Prof. Harvey for use in her course, Introduction to Environmental Perspectives. Students in ENVS 2023 should enroll in this "course" as well as ENVS 2023.
- Enseignant: Janice Harvey