Criminology 3703 -- Toxic In/Justice, Winter 2024/25, BMH103  weblog   gradesheet     index  
"Passion is in all searches and is necessary to all creative endeavors," Eugene Smith

Course description: This course studies harms against the environment, and actions which protest and protect against those harms. Topics include environmental pollution in nature, home and workplace; relevant law and policy; corporate crimes against humanity; and, environmental protest, activism, and social justice movements. The course explores cases, eg. Minimata, Grassy Narrows, Westray, Ocean Ranger, Deepwater Horizon.  Research involves both guided and independent work. Required text: Green Criminology, White & Heckenberg, Routledge, 2014.

Evaluation: (1) Classmark (25%), reflects 'engagement': reflections, exercises, homework. (2) Proposal (20%), due week six, 2pgs max sspaced, with 3-5 refs, of an issue, such as animal activism, environmental protest, media coverage; or a topic, such as protests in Rexton over shale gas fracking, protests in BC in Wet'suwet'en territory over pipeline access, and so on. This can be done with others showing the relative amount of work, and is the prelude to the project.  (3) Final Project (30%), take the proposal and develop it into a full end of term project as an interactive format, eg. powerpoint , prezi, or a 7-10 page essay, dspaced, or a video, scrapbook... with pictures, weblinks, and academic references.  (4) Presentation: (25%). Given the small size, and the skill level of the course, a presentation to the class is deemed to be a better finale than an exam. *This format is flexible, individually-focused, interactive, and indepth* Suggestion: work in dyads or groups.
 
Photo: "Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath," by photojournalist W. Eugene Smith, 1971, depicts a mother cradling her severely deformed daughter Tomoko in a traditional Japanese bathroom, an intimate photo of the effects of mercury poisoning, which raised the international profile of Minamata disease and the struggle of the victims for recognition and compensation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomoko_Uemura_in_Her_Bath

Videos:
"Canada's Toxic Chemical Valley (Full Length)," 2013, 31mins, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnHWZE0M_-k
"What does it take to create change? An artist and a conservationist answer," TED Talk, 23 mins, 2024, link
"Enquête | The Disenchanted Forest," 30mins, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDxqXATw80c

Report:
Commission's Final Report into the RCMP's Response to Anti-shale Gas Protests in Kent County, New Brunswick, 2020, link
Indigenous Resilience Report, 2024. https://ostr-backend-prod.azurewebsites.net/server/api/core/bitstreams/d96f9df3-4434-4d38-b1b2-72c34fc96489/content

Articles:
"Lost in translation: What spirituality and Einstein’s theory of time have to do with misunderstandings about climate change," The Conversation, 9.17.24 link
"Solarpunk: Theory, Fiction, and Radical Futures," link