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Environmental Studies
Environmental Studies: Introduction
Lead Faculty of the Collaborative Specialization
Arts and Science
Participating Degree Programs
Adult Education and Community Development — MA, MEd, PhD
Anthropology — MA, MSc, PhD
Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry — MASc, MEng, PhD
Chemistry — MSc, PhD
Civil Engineering — MASc, MEng, MEngCEM, PhD
Earth Sciences — MASc, MSc, PhD
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology — PhD
Forest Conservation — MFC
Forestry — MScF, PhD
Geography — MA, MSc, PhD
Global Affairs — MGA
Information — MI, PhD
Management — MBA, PhD
Music — MA, PhD
Physics — MSc, PhD
Planning — MScPl, PhD
Political Science — MA, PhD
Public Policy — MPP
Religion — MA, PhD
Social Justice Education — MA, MEd, EdD, PhD
Sociology — MA, PhD
Sustainability Management — MScSM
Women and Gender Studies — MA, PhD
Overview
The graduate degree programs listed above participate in the Collaborative Specialization in Environmental Studies (CSES), which is offered through the School of the Environment. Students admitted to a graduate degree program in a participating degree-granting unit, also called the home department or home unit, can apply to the CSES and pursue coursework and research on topics related to the environment. The School of the Environment currently has graduate students from across the disciplinary spectrum.
The CSES provides interested students an opportunity to examine environmental-related issues from different disciplinary perspectives and gain insights about the importance of understanding and applying interdisciplinary approaches and methodological concepts and tools in environmental decision making. The purpose is to complement the discipline-based learning and research focus of their home units by providing students an interdisciplinary forum to examine, discuss, and address environmental issues. With participating students from as many as 20 different disciplines, the core course, ENV 1001H Environmental Decision Making, gives students a unique opportunity to engage with faculty and peers coming from a range of academic backgrounds and perspectives.
Upon successful completion of the degree requirements of the participating home graduate unit and the CSES, students will receive the notation “Completed Collaborative Specialization in Environmental Studies” on their transcript.
Contact and Address
Web: environment.utoronto.ca/graduate/
Email: grad.director.env@utoronto.ca or grad.office.env@utoronto.ca
Telephone: (416) 978-3475
Fax: (416) 978-3884
Collaborative Specialization in Environmental Studies
School of the Environment, Earth Sciences Centre
University of Toronto
Room 1016V, 33 Willcocks Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E8
Canada
Environmental Studies: Master's Level
Admission Requirements
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Students who wish to enrol in the Collaborative Specialization in Environmental Studies (CSES) offered by the School of the Environment must first apply to and be accepted into a master's program in a degree-granting unit, also called a home department or home unit. Information about applying to a master's program can be found on the School of Graduate Studies' website as well as on the respective websites of participating degree-granting units.
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Prospective students who are planning to enrol in the CSES are strongly encouraged to submit copies of the documents indicated on the School of the Environment's website by the application deadline established by the degree program admission committee in the home department. Applicants should confirm the application deadline with the home department they are interested in applying to, as this can vary between units. The School of the Environment also allows potential students to enrol in the CSES beyond the deadline set by their home department, provided that students will be able to complete the specialization requirements by the time they are ready to graduate from their degree program.
Specialization Requirements
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The requirements listed below must be completed in combination with that expected for the master's degree program of the home department. These are normally counted as electives toward the degree program requirements of the student’s home graduate unit. Typically, students complete up to 1.0 full-course equivalent (FCE) and conduct research on an environmental topic. Please note that requirements in some participating programs may vary. Therefore, students are encouraged to check the calendar entries for their respective home department degree programs. The School of the Environment also offers students in the non-thesis master's degree stream the opportunity to complete an internship in fulfilment of the CSES, unless they have an internship component built into their degree program. The CSES requirements for each participating degree program are listed on the School of the Environment's website under the Environmental Studies Collaborative Specialization.
Master's Degrees Coursework Option
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Complete the mandatory core course ENV 1001H (0.5 FCE).
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Complete one elective course (0.5 FCE) from the School's list of approved courses.
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Complete an environment-related internship of approximately three months full-time employment (ENV 4444Y+; 1.0 FCE), unless students have an internship requirement included in their degree program.
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Produce a brief research paper on an environment-related topic, which may be related to the internship experience (ENV 5555Y+; 1.0 FCE), unless students have a research paper requirement included in their degree program.
Note: For a complete and most up-to-date list of CSES requirements by each participating degree program for master's students in the coursework option, please visit the School of the Environment's website and click on the home graduate unit or degree program.
Master's Degrees Thesis Option
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Complete the mandatory core course ENV 1001H (0.5 FCE).
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Complete one elective course (0.5 FCE) from the School's list of approved courses.
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Write a thesis in the home graduate unit on an environment-related topic.
Note: For a complete and most up-to-date list of CSES requirements by each participating degree program for master's students in the thesis option, please visit the School of the Environment website and click on the home graduate unit or degree program.
Environmental Studies: Doctoral Level
Admission Requirements
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Students who wish to enrol in the CSES offered by the School of the Environment must first apply to and be accepted into a doctoral program in a degree-granting unit, also called a home department or home unit. Information about applying to a home graduate unit can be found on the School of Graduate Studies' website as well as on the respective websites of participating degree-granting units.
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Prospective students are strongly encouraged to submit copies of the documents indicated on the School of the Environment's website by the application deadline established by the degree program admission committee in the home department. Applicants should confirm the application deadline with the home department they are interested in applying to, as this can vary between units. The School of the Environment also allows potential students to enrol in the CSES beyond the deadline set by their home department, provided that students will be able to complete the specialization requirements by the time they are ready to graduate from their degree program.
Specialization Requirements
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The requirements listed below must be completed in combination with the PhD degree program requirements of the student’s home unit. These are normally counted as electives toward the degree program requirements of the student’s home unit. Typically, students complete up to 1.0 full-course equivalent (FCE) and conduct research on an environmental topic. Please note that requirements in some participating programs vary slightly. Therefore, students are encouraged to check the calendar entries for their respective home graduate unit programs. The CSES requirements for each participating degree program are listed on the School of the Environment's website under the Environmental Studies Collaborative Specialization.
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Complete the mandatory core course ENV 1001H (0.5 FCE), unless already completed at the master's level.
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Complete one elective course (0.5 FCE) from the School's list of approved courses.
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Give an oral presentation of their doctoral research as part of the School’s Environment and Health Seminar Series or Research Day, which is held once per year. For the latter, the oral presentation may or may not be done in conjunction with a summary poster, depending on the decided format of the School’s Research Day in any given year.
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Complete a thesis on an environmental topic in the home department. It is recommend that the thesis committee membership will include a supervisor (from the student's home unit who is a member of the core faculty of the Collaborative Specialization and a member of the graduate faculty in the School of the Environment) and at least one other member from a collaborating unit. If the student’s primary thesis supervisor does not hold a graduate faculty membership (GFM) at the School of the Environment, the School’s Director will initiate the process of assigning a GFM to the primary supervisor. A copy of the final thesis must be submitted to the School of the Environment prior to graduation.
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Additional courses may be required by the home unit and/or by the supervisor or supervisory committee, depending on academic and/or career goals of the student, as well as graduate unit regulations.
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A supervisor or supervisory committee may be appointed for each student by the home department and the School of the Environment.
Note: For a complete and most up-to-date list of CSES by each participating degree program for doctoral students, please visit the School of the Environment's website and click on the home graduate unit or degree program.
Environmental Studies: Courses
The School of the Environment offers individual credit courses that are open to graduate students from all parts of the University, subject to enrolment limits. Except for the core course, ENV 1001H, not all courses are offered every year. Graduate students enrolled in the CSES are also allowed to take electives listed for the School’s Collaborative Specialization in Environment and Health (CSEH) to fulfil the specialization requirements. For a current graduate course listing, please refer to the School of the Environment's website.
Core Course
ENV 1001H
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Environmental Decision Making
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Elective Courses
ENV 1002H
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Environmental Policy
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ENV 1007H | The Warming Papers: The Scientific Foundation of Climate Change |
ENV 1008H
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Worldviews and Ecology
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ENV 1103H
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U of T Campus as a Living Lab of Sustainability
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ENV 1444H
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Capitalist Nature
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ENV 1701H
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Environmental Law
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ENV 1703H | Water Resource Management and Policy |
ENV 1704H
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Environmental Risk Analysis and Management
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ENV 1707H
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Environmental Finance and Sustainable Investing
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ENV 2000H,Y
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Topics in Environment
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ENV 2002H
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Special Topics in Environment
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ENV 4444Y+
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Internship
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ENV 5555Y+
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Research Paper
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+ Extended course. For academic reasons, coursework is extended into session following academic session in which course is offered.
Elective Joint Courses with the School of the Environment
JGE 1413H
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Workshop in Environmental Impact Assessment
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JGE 1420H
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Urban Waste Management: An International Perspective
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JGE 1425H
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Livelihoods, Poverty, and Environment in the Developing Countries
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JSE 1708H
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Sustainability and the Western Mind
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Other Elective Courses
Adult Education and Community Development (Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education)
LHA 1104H
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Community Education and Organizing
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LHA 1160H
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Introduction to Transformative Learning Studies
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LHA 1193H
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Adult Education for Sustainability
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LHA 5100H
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Special Topics in Adult Education and Community Development: Master's Level
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LHA 6100H
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Special Topics in Adult Education and Community Development: Doctoral Level
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Anthropology
ANT 6018H |
Approaches to Nature and Culture
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Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry
CHE 1435H
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Fundamentals of Aerosol Physics and Chemistry
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JNC 2503H
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Environmental Pathways
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Chemistry
CHM 1401H
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Transport and Fate of Chemical Species in the Environment
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CHM 1404H
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Molecular Analysis of Natural Systems
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CHM 1410H
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Analytical Environmental Chemistry
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CHM 1415H
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Atmospheric Chemistry
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CHM 1420H
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Environmental Chemistry of Soil
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CHM 1425H
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Modelling the Fate of Organic Chemicals in the Environment
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Computer Science
CSC 2720H
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Systems Thinking for Global Problems
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English
ENG 6181H
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Permaculture and Literature
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Forestry
FOR 1270H
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Forest Biomaterial Sciences: Fundamentals, Applications, and the Next Frontier
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FOR 1288H
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Design and Manufacturing of Biomaterials
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FOR 1294H
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Bioenergy and Biorefinery Technology
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FOR 1416H
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Forest Fire Danger Rating
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FOR 1555H
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Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
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FOR 1575H
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Urban Forest Conservation
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JFG 1610H
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Sustainable Forest Management and Certification
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Geography and Planning
GGR 1216H
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Advanced Biogeochemical Processes
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GGR 1404H
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Issues in Global Warming
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GGR 1406H
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Energy Supply and Use
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GGR 1407H
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Efficient Use of Energy
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GGR 1408H
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Carbon-Free Energy
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GGR 1411H | Nature and Justice in the Anthropocene |
JGE 1413H
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Workshop in Environmental Impact Assessment
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JGE 1425H
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Livelihoods, Poverty, and Environment in the Developing Countries
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JPG 1402H
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Environment and Development
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JPG 1403H
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Political Ecology of African Environments
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JPG 1518H
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Sustainability and Urban Communities
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JPG 1814H | Cities and Immigrants |
PLA 1601H
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Climate Change and Resilience: Planning and Policy |
Global Affairs
JSE 1708H
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Sustainability and the Western Mind
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History and Philosophy of Science and Technology
HPS 4106H
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Technology, Environment, and History
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Management
RSM 2615H
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Special Topics in Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management
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Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
MIE 1120H
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Current Energy Infrastructure and Resources
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Physics
PHY 1498H
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Introduction to Atmospheric Physics
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PHY 2502H
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Climate System Dynamics
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PHY 2504H
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Advanced Atmospheric Dynamics
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PHY 2505H
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Atmospheric Radiative Transfer and Remote Sounding
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PHY 2506H
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Data Assimilation and Retrieval Theory
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Political Science
POL 2213H
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Global Environmental Politics
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Social Justice Education
SJE 1909H
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Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice 1
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SJE 1919H
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Advanced Topics in Environmental Justice Education |
SJE 2999H
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Special Topics in Sociological Research in Education (this course will be allowed as an elective provided it has environmental studies content)
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