Online and Remote Learning

Risk assessment is a critical element of environmental management. However, the term “risk” does not have a single, unambiguous definition. In this course we begin by examining the definition of risk in the context of environmental management, and factors that can alter a person’s perception of risk. We discuss ways in which risk is measured and evaluated, including introducing concepts such as exposure and consequence assessment, analysis models, risk regulation, management, and communication. One module examines the challenges of ecological risk assessment. Building on this background, we spend four modules exploring specific environmental risks: those related to food, climate change, human health, and energy production. Finally, the course will end with suggestions on how we can manage environmental risks as they become increasingly complex, thereby promoting sustainability.  Risk assessment is a very broad and deep subject; each topic covered in this course could easily be the subject of a full course on its own. As such, this should be considered a survey course, which introduces students to the major elements of risk assessment. Students with professional experience in this area are encouraged to share their experience with the class when it is relevant to the topics being covered. After completing this course you’ll be able to: Define and critique the concept of risk from an expert’s perspective. Identify critical factors that influence how laypeople define or perceive risk. Describe different decision-making options within the field of environmental risk assessment, including ecological risk assessment. Evaluate the importance of risk communication. Apply key concepts to real world risk questions in peer-to-peer discussions and through independent research.

Our planet is undergoing dramatic, far-reaching change, much of it caused by human activities. In this course you’ll explore global-scale environmental issues such as climate change, destruction of marine ecosystems, degradation of freshwater resources, tropical deforestation, desertification, and biodiversity loss.  You’ll explore the obstacles and challenges being faced around the world, and assess strategies to address problems and find workable solutions. You’ll emerge with a firmer grasp of societal changes needed to limit and potentially reverse the damage to the planet and ensure a more sustainable future. Understand the underlying and proximate causes of global environmental change. Know the impacts on specific environments, such as forests and marine and coastal ecosystems.  Leverage academic and other sources to investigate what societies around the world are doing to respond to global environmental issues– and what more needs to be done  Find effective strategies and workable solutions to ensure a sustainable future.  Probe related ideas and themes, including scientific uncertainty, environmental justice, poverty, and sustainable development.

Governments and corporations around the world are working to limit greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, believing them to be the dominant cause of a warming climate. In this dynamic course, you’ll learn policies and regulations being implemented by different jurisdictions – sometimes very different – with a focus on Canada and its major trading partners. You’ll probe real-world examples, critically assess the performance of climate policies from both regulatory and industry perspectives, and at the end of the course you will apply these learnings to develop a mitigation strategy for a company of your choosing. What You’ll Learn   Identify the physical, regulatory and financial impacts of climate change in North American jurisdictions.   Know how to design and apply a corporate strategy to reduce emissions.   Contrast cap-and-trade with a carbon tax as reduction strategies.   Understand what drives the price of carbon and how it can help finance emissions-offset projects.   Critically assess the level of corporate disclosure and reporting of climate-change related risks.  

Organizations of every size and scope need well-run corporate social responsibility programs. This course will teach how to improve sustainability reporting and manage your organization’s social and environmental impacts. You’ll learn how better public reporting can improve your company’s reputation, keep its workforce loyal and engaged, improve access to capital and increase efficiency through resource reduction. You’ll get a clearer picture of the state of sustainability reporting in Canada and the tools you need to enhance your own organization’s efforts. Know the state of international sustainability reporting, with a focus on Canadian content. Probe widely-accepted reporting frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative. Apply best practices to develop reporting that adds value while avoiding common costly pitfalls. Assess and critically evaluate information in other organizations’ reports. Emerge with tips and tools to launch or improve your organization’s sustainability reporting.

Learn the principles and concepts of greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and reporting at both the organizational and project levels. In this course, you will be introduced to the science of climate change and the structure of cap-and-trade and offset schemes, in regulated and voluntary settings. You will learn how to apply the ISO 14064-1 and ISO 14064-2 standards for the accurate, complete, consistent, transparent, relevant and conservative reporting of greenhouse gas emissions. You’ll gain the confidence and skills you need to develop greenhouse gas inventories for organizations and for emission reductions and reversals. The science behind climate change and the concepts and principles of GHG quantification and reporting The processes applied to GHG accounting and reporting at organizational and project levels applying the ISO 14064-1 and ISO 14064-2 standards Practice quantifying greenhouse gas emissions using established methods How to develop a greenhouse gas inventory quality control process How to produce a greenhouse gas report and prepare for third-party verification

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be reported in many jurisdictions, and some organizations are also voluntarily reporting their emissions. In this course, you’ll learn the principles and process of GHG validation and verification for organizational GHG emission inventories and GHG emission reduction (offset projects). You will learn how to apply the ISO 14064-3 standard for completing this work, including how to plan validations and verifications, conduct a risk assessment, evaluate evidence and reach a validation or verification conclusion. Fundamental validation and verification (V&V) processes and principles. Planning validations and verifications using a risk assessment and sampling methodologies. Evaluate the sufficiency and appropriateness of validation and verification evidence, including evaluating discrepancies Prepare a validation or verification statement

Middle-graders (ages 8 to 12) are the most passionate readers of all. Now fluent in reading, they delve into books with a hunger for touching pathos, wild humour, and eye-widening surprise. In this course we will explore how the great range of possibilities in middle grade novels (short or long, realistic, fantastic, historical, solemn or side-splitting) all require the same elements to capture an audience—relatable characters and engrossing narratives. A solid understanding of what makes a successful middle-grade novel A full chapter outline based on your own original idea Approximately 20 or more first-draft pages from several scenes as well as an opportunity for revising

Psychological thrillers, gritty crime/mystery, and unsettling horror get preferential treatment as we delve into the darker side of fiction to explore our fascination with the evil of this world and beyond. In this course we will dissect popular works; analyzing stories and writing styles in order to determine what effectively produces fear, dread, and unease on the page. Learn about masterful "Thriller" authors and what makes their work resonate. Apply concepts of plotting, pacing, and characterization to create compelling chills. Produce the opening chapter of an original work of dark fiction.

Register for this course to reinforce the sentence structures presented in Italian III and IV. Take it after completing 1632 Level IV or at the same time as Level IV. You’ll perfect your ability to discuss past events with the nuances that are unique to Italian. We’ll learn through discussions, games, role-playing and written exercises. Your instructor will give you feedback on the in-class exercises, as well as on the summaries, critiques and short commentaries that you’ll now be able to compose. Benefit from a thorough review of the difference between these past tenses: the Imperfect, the “Passato Prossimo”, the “Trapassato Prossimo” and the “Passato Remoto”. Express important shades of meaning using more sophisticated written and spoken Italian. Enlarge the vocabulary that is important to you. Become more aware of the social and cultural etiquette that is assumed in natural Italian communications.

W. B. Yeats and James Joyce transformed our understanding of myth and human consciousness.  At the forefront of “the Irish Revival,” these two titans wrote to regain a sense of Ireland’s heroic and legendary past. Yeats became the leader of the Celtic Twilight movement, while Joyce had to leave his country to write about it truthfully. Join scholar and educator, Jonathan Ullyot, to explore Yeats’s poetry and Joyce’s two early masterpieces, Dubliners and A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. No previous knowledge of Irish literature or literary criticism is required. We’ll read approximately 30-40 pages for each class, with optional reading assigned. Learn about the place of Yeats and Joyce in the Irish Revival and Irish history Explore Yeats’s innovations in poetry and Joyce’s innovations in the short story and the novel Appreciate how these figures still shape literature today