Climate activists Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis join faculty at B.C. university
The University of British Columbia says climate activists and journalists Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis are joining its faculty in the department of geography.
A statement from the university says Klein has been named the inaugural Faculty of Arts Chair in Climate Justice and starts her new role in September.
The statement says Klein, the author of eight books focused on issues of climate justice and globalized capitalism, will also have a leading role in creating the university's new Centre for Climate Justice.
It says the centre will bring together activists, policy-makers, elders, scholars and communities to work toward environmental justice.
Lewis, a documentary filmmaker, joins the faculty of geography next month and will teach courses examining social and political change, communication and documentary filmmaking.
The university declared a climate emergency in December 2019 and both Klein and Lewis say the declaration highlights the urgency needed to fight the crisis and the demand for solutions for a more sustainable and just society.
Dr. Gage Averill, dean of UBC's faculty of arts, says both Klein and Lewis will advance social, political and economic changes needed to combat climate change.
“This is a critical moment for the future of our planet and we are committed to highlighting climate justice in all of our priorities,” Averill says in the statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2021.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.