PACS 201 From Water to Chocolate: Environment, Conflict and Justice is an examination of selected global political-ecological issues, including conflict minerals, child slavery, climate change, and water wars; as well as the power and potential of various pathways to peace, including nonviolent direct action, Indigenous solidarity, fair trade, international accompaniment, ecological restoration, and environmental peace-building.
Prerequisites: English Studies 12 or English First Peoples 12 or ENGL 60 with a minimum grade of 60%
Accessibility Services Notice
Students who would like an academic accommodation and who have a documented disability should contact Accessibility Services, if they have not already done so.Course Details| Total number of weeks | 15 |
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| Total Credits | |
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| Total Hours | 45 |
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Typical hours per week breakdown| Lecture | 3 |
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Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the learner will be able to:
- Correctly use vocabulary specific to peace and justice studies, environmental conflict and human security
- Describe and depict relationships between and among concepts germane to the study of environment, conflict and justice – including, but not limited to environmental stress and violence; resource abundance and conflict; scarcity and conflict; environmental conditions and political power/democracy; and ecological restoration and human security
- Examine how various actors create, contribute to, and change destructive and oppressive structures and forces within the diamond trade, metals mining, cocoa production, oil & gas extraction, hydro development, water management, and responses to climate change
- Describe a variety of legal instruments (laws, decisions, agreements) that seek to establish, affirm and uphold Indigenous rights, environmental rights, and human rights more generally in the realms covered by the course; and offer a basic assessment of their effectiveness
- Define and discuss specific examples of interventions employed by actors aiming to increase peace and justice in the environmental realm of – including certification, alternative development, shareholder activism, corporate social responsibility, international accompaniment, political solidarity, nonviolent direct action, fair trade, lobbying, cooperatives, environmental peacebuilding, and ecological restoration
- Pose critical questions about the interventions studied in the course
Teaching and Learning Approach
Through films, readings, games, debates, case studies, lectures, guest speakers and collaborative learning,
students will gain analytical skills and intellectual understanding of important current-day environmental and
human rights issues, as well as a hopeful window on some positive – and often under-reported – changes taking
place around the world. The course gives special attention to the growing power of nonviolent citizen movements
resisting oil extraction, pipelines, and climate change in favour of renewable energy, Indigenous rights and
climate
justice, both abroad and in our own backyards.
PACS201 is interdisciplinary by design, drawing from geography, political economy, sociology, history,
environmental studies and development studies. As a peace studies course, it is explicit about its value-
orientation toward equality, democracy and human rights. The course asserts that social and ecological justice
are both necessary components of conflict prevention and human security, and secondly, that the transformation
of inequalities and unjust relations is vital to the achievement of sustainability and peace.
Critical thinking will be encouraged throughout the course. Assigned readings may present contradictory
viewpoints. Class discussions will develop students’ independent abilities to appraise sources, identify
assumptions, consider what’s not being said, and appreciate the merits of competing perspectives.Learning Resources
• Most of the required readings for PACS201 are in electronic format and are available through the course
Moodle site. You will be given an enrollment key for the course on the first day of class.
• Supplementary readings may also be assigned from time to time. Because this course deals with recent and
current events, it is possible that readings may be subject to change on short noticeDetailed Course Content, Topics, and Sequence Covered
1. Introduction and orientation to the course; Critical Thinking
2. Positive Peace & Human Security
3. The Vision of Wangari Maathai - Environmental Restoration & Community Organizing
4. What does the environment have to do with peace?
5. Environment & Conflict (Syria case study) Environmental Determinism
6. Blood Diamonds: Structure & Agency
7. Blood Diamonds continued; structure & agency
8. The Resource Curse Continued; Resource Governance
9. Fractured Land: Petro & Gas Resource Exploration & Indigenous Land Defenders
10. Nonviolent Civil Disobedience & Indigenous Solidarity; Wet'suwet'en land defenders & Coastal Gas Link; Court Injunctions, SLAPP suits
11. Individual Selected Topics on Environment, Peace, Conflict & Justice; Fairy Creek Blockade; Climate Justice
12. Fair Trade Certification & Beyond
13. Individual Selected Topics on Environment, Peace, Conflict & Justice
14. Individual Selected Topics on Environment, Peace, Conflict & Justice
15. Final ExamAssessment
| Title | Learning Outcomes | Value |
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| Short Assignments | 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 | 10% |
| Midterm Exam | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | 20% |
| Researched Report w/ Literature Review | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | 25% |
| Presentation Engaged Learning & Active Participation (i.e. | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | 10% |
| attendance, in-class assignments) | 2, 5, 6 | 10% |
| Final Exam | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | 25% |
| Total | 100% |
Grading Table
Standard Academic and Career Programs Grading Table
| Percentage |
Letter Grade |
GPA |
| 90-100 |
A+ |
4.33 |
| 85-89 |
A |
4.00 |
| 80-84 |
A- |
3.67 |
| 76-79 |
B+ |
3.33 |
| 72-75 |
B |
3.00 |
| 68-71 |
B- |
2.67 |
| 64-67 |
C+ |
2.33 |
| 60-63 |
C |
2.00 |
| 55-59 |
C- |
1.67 |
| 50-54 |
P |
1.00 |
| 0-49 |
F |
0.00 |
| |
DNW |
0.00 |
See the Academic Calendar for General Information including how to withdraw from course(s) and other regulations.
Disclaimer
Information contained in this course outline is correct at the time of publication. Content of the course is revised on an ongoing basis to ensure relevance to changing educational, employment and market needs. The instructor will endeavor to provide notice of changes to students as soon as possible. The instructor reserves the right to add or delete material from courses.