PO 498T

Earth’s ecosystems are entering a period of rapid change shaped by rising patterns of plant and animal extinctions. These changes could permanently alter ecosystems across the planet, affecting all of the communities who rely on them. Although extinction is usually treated as a matter of Western scientific research and/or management, it is deeply influenced by political, economic, social and cultural factors. This online seminar explores multiple facets of extinction through a political lens, and from a variety of knowledge systems, including Indigenous, BIPOC and other marginalized knowledge systems and various strands of the Western sciences. It also introduces students to multiple disciplinary approaches, including those from environmental studies, political ecology, political science/political studies, geography, global political economy, policy studies and more.