DEPARTMENT of ANTHROPOLOGY, ECONOMICS & POLITICAL SCIENCE

Courses

Our department offers courses in the disciplines listed below. For individual course descriptions, follow the links to MacEwan University’s Academic Calendar.

If we look at our world today, it is clear that gender is extremely important and something we talk about all the time.
KATIE BIITTNER, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

Special topics

Special topics courses focus on specific areas of interest within a discipline. The topics are chosen based on the expertise of our instructors, and the topics usually vary from term to term.

Winter 2025

Course: ANTH 389: Topics in Anthropology | Oral History of the North American First Nations
Term: Winter 2025
Section: AS01
Instructor: Judy Half

This course examines oral history through the understanding and perspective of story and narrative used among Treaty Six First Nations in western Canada. Within an anthropological framework, the grounded and specific oral history approach provides an alternative lens of inquiry to understand how distinct groups such as the Plains Cree use their intellectual knowledge systems as distinct identities and language systems that link to the land, animals, spirituality, and cosmos.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in ANTH 250 or permission of the department.

Permission Required: No

Course: ANTH 497: Topics in Anthropology | Anthropology and Science Fiction
Term: Winter 2025
Term:
AS01
Instructor:
Katie Biittner

In order to satisfy Anthropology’s prime directive, this course will draw on classic and contemporary anthropological themes in science fiction from a holistic, four field approach. As such, students will boldly go where few MacEwan students have gone before and examine readings from key figures in anthropological thought and theory in conversation with selections from science fiction in many of its forms (TV, literature, and film). Cross-cultural comparison will be used to illuminate various constructions of what science fiction is and could be. The topics and themes encountered may include human evolution, cyborgs and cybernetics, race and racism, gender, human environment interactions, translation, language, archaeology, culture contact, colonialism, and answers to “the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe and Everything” (Adams 1980). Spoiler: it’s not 42.

Prerequisites: Minimum of C- in one of ANTH 206, ANTH 207, ANTH 208, or ANTH 209 and a minimum grade of C- in any 300-level ANTH course.

Permission Required: No

Course: ANTH 497: Topics in Anthropology | Gender and the Body
Term: Winter 2025
Term:
AS02
Instructor: Leslie Dawson

Beginning in the 1980s, the body, as a social and cultural artifact, became a keen focus for anthropologists. At the same time, understandings of gender were broadening and intersecting with a variety of identities within systems of power and oppression. Through the lens of gender, we examine cross-cultural and historical variations in how societies understand and experience the human body as a site upon which socio-cultural processes are inscribed, where power relations converge and are articulated, and as sites of oppression and resistance. In this seminar, we connect major theoretical approaches to gender and the body to contemporary issues, and explore gendered bodies as naturalized, medicalized, commodified, sexualized, racialized, colonized, and nationalized.

Prerequisites: Minimum grade of C- in one of ANTH 206, ANTH 207, ANTH 208, or ANTH 209 and a minimum grade of C- in any 300-level ANTH course.

Permission Required: No

Course: ECON 357: Topics in Applied Economics | Introduction to Financial Economics
Term: Winter 2025
Term:
AS01
Instructor: Yixuan Li

This course provides an overview of the foundational theories in financial economics and their practical applications. It introduces key concepts related to financial markets, financial institutions, and risk management from an economics perspective, and serves as a crucial precursor to advanced-level courses in Financial Economics. The primary goal is to equip students with insights into the decision-making processes of individuals, businesses, and governments regarding financial resources and the consequential impact on resource allocation.

Prerequisites: Minimum grade of C- in ECON 101

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 390: Topics in Political Science | Modern Politics of East Asia
Term: Winter 2025
Term:
AS01
Instructor: Chong-su Kim

This course explores and compares modern politics in East Asian countries: China, Japan, North and South Korea, and Taiwan. This course aims to understand the modern political development of East Asia by appreciating the commonalities and differences of East Asian countries. It addresses themes of political institutions, political economy, political culture, political changes, recent political development and challenges, non-state political actors, and the region’s global impact and future.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in a 200 level course in Political Science.

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 390: Topics in Political Science | Democracy at its Edges: Between Legitimacy and Illegitimacy
Term: Winter 2025
Term:
AS02
Instructor: TBA

During the French Revolution, Thomas Jefferson, anxiously witnessing the storming of the Bastille, declared he “saw the mobs with my own eyes, and saw so plainly the legitimacy of them”. In doing so, he articulated a problem that has hobbled democratic politics and democratic theory. Jefferson, in declaring what he saw as a “mob”, yet “legitimate” sought to both delegitimize and affirm the event he was witnessing. He was terrified of the brutality of the mob, and yet sympathized with its cause. Why do these problem spaces emerge for democratic actors? We might say, this is because on the one hand, democracy is capacious: it admits all kinds of claims, peoples, actions in the name of greater freedom, greater expression, and greater representation. On the other hand, democracy sets a high bar for what is legitimate – what we can legitimately do, say, or how we can legitimately act. This tension comes to the fore when we turn to democratic history: particularly to political foundings, to actions like riots and protests, and to questions around who, exactly, constitutes the authorizing subject of democracy: the people. In each of these cases, our democratic impulses instruct us to be both permissive and restrictive as we approach these problems. Protests are good, but only principled protests. ‘The People’ should be open to new members, but not to these people, and so on. This course begins from, and seeks to sit more in, this tension. It integrates democratic history with democratic theory to explore more why this tension occurs in democratic politics, and how it has been navigated by democratic theorists and democratic actors alike.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in a 200 level course in Political Science.

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 410: Topics in Political Philosophy | Political Theology and the Problem of Evil
Term: Winter 2025
Term:
AS01
Instructor: Gaelan Murphy

“But what would a disagreement be, which we could not settle, and would cause us to be enemies and to be angry with each other? Perhaps you cannot give an answer offhand; but let me suggest it. Is it not about right and wrong, noble and disgraceful, and good and bad? Are these not the questions about which you and I and other people become enemies, when we do become enemies, because we differ about them and cannot come to any satisfactory agreement?” Plato, Euthyphro Contrary to conventional accounts that understand politics variously in terms of a conflict over interest, over power, or over ideas, this course examines the suggestion that politics, human beings living together in a political community, is rooted in theological commitments that are prior to and define our differing interests, power relations, and ideas.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in POLS 214 and POLS 215, or consent of the department.

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 424: Advanced Topics Can Politics | Whither Canada?
Term: Winter 2025
Term:
AS01
Instructor: TBA

The question of whether there is a distinctive Canadian political identity has loomed over Canadian Political Science and public discourse. In the mid-twentieth century, scholars argued that the Canadian political community had been founded on a vision of a unique social identity, and the erosion of this collective provision in our political culture heralded the advance of American economic and cultural dominance and the loss of Canadian sovereignty. By the late 20th century, the failure of Mega-Constitutionalism, the rise of Quebec Separatism, Western Alienation, Indigenous Nationalism, Multiculturalism, and Asymmetrical Federalism convinced many commentators that, unlike the United States, Canada’s Founders failed to articulate a distinctive idea of nationhood and Canadians never constituted themselves as a People. In the aftermath, we decided it was best to avoid fundamental questions. This course is founded on the premise that contrary to conventional opinion, the Canadian political order has a rich intellectual heritage. The purpose of this course is to ask: What is a Country For? Is Canada a Nation or a Notion? How is Canada different from the United States? How do political ideas influence political actions?

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in POLS 225.

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 490: Advanced Study in Political Science | Politics of Memory
Term: Winter 2025
Term:
AS01
Instructor: Chong-su Kim

“Learning from history” or “what the past can teach us” presupposes a solid line separating the past from the present and the out-there history, assuring the stable past with archived lessons waiting to be excavated. While history served as a crucial architect for nation-state building since the Enlightenment, memories have emerged as an essential building block of post-colonial, -modern, and -truth eras. In recent decades, the politics of memory has been deeply embedded into critical political and historical events such as the Holocaust, Apartheid, democratic transitions, and the wars in Ukraine and Palestine. The politics of memory unearths the past and buries the future while it looks backward to move forward.

Prerequisites: Minimum grades of C- in POLS 200, POLS 214, POLS 215, POLS 224, POLS 225, POLS 244, and POLS 264, or consent of the department.

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 490: Advanced Study in Political Science | Theories of Policy Process
Term: Winter 2025
Term:
AS02
Instructor: Brendan Boyd

How is public policy made? How are we to make sense of the various influences that shape and constrain governments’ policy choices? In this course, we examine the different theoretical approaches that have been designed to explain the process through which policy is developed. We examine these theories’ origins and their different iterations to understand their strengths and weaknesses. We assess how these theories are used in contemporary policy making by applying them to the societal issues that policymakers are currently addressing. These include, but are not limited to, pandemics, climate change, economic development, healthcare reform and technology and innovation.

Prerequisites: Minimum grades of C- in POLS 200, POLS 214, POLS 215, POLS 224, POLS 225, POLS 264, and either POLS 244 or POLS 265, or consent of the department.

Permission Required: No

Course: URBW 497: Topics in Urban Wellness | Global Perspectives on Urban Wellness
Term: Winter 2025
Term:
AS01
Instructor: Marielle Papin

In this course, we will further the analysis of urban wellness looking at how cities around the world understand and practice it. We will analyze differences between cities from developed and developing countries, or between global, large and small municipalities. We will also look at how cities work collectively on urban wellness, particularly through transnational networks and partnerships. We will discuss the involvement of private actors, including philanthropic foundations and companies, in the governance of urban wellness. We will use an interdisciplinary lens on urban wellness, building on fields such as political science, anthropology, economics, geography, or urban planning.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in URBW 389 or permission of the Department.

Permission Required: No

Spring/Summer 2025

Course: ANTH 389: Topics in Anthropology | Forensic Anthropology 
Term: Spring/Summer 2025
Section: OP01
Instructor:
Dr. Kaela Parker

This course will introduce students to the field of forensic anthropology - a scientific discipline that involves the application of methods from biological anthropology and archaeology to the identification, recovery, and analysis of skeletal remains from crime scenes, mass disasters and unexplained deaths. Through lectures and in-class ‘lab style’ assignments, students will learn about the methods for recognizing and recovering evidence that allows for the determination of time since death, manner and cause of death, and the identification of individuals.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in one of ANTH 206, ANTH 207, ANTH 208, or ANTH 209.

Permission Required: No

Course: ECON 357: Topics in Applied Economics | Economics of Religion
Term: Spring/Summer 2025
Section: OP01
Instructor:
 Dr. Junaid Jahangir

Based on the secularization thesis, with scientific progress, religion should lose its influence in the socio-economic and political sphere. Yet, instead of being relegated to the private domain, there is a resurgence of religion in the public sphere. This is evident in politics related to the family in Western economies and the rise of strict Churches instead of those that appeal to post-modern sensibilities. Terrorism has also been justified by groups and cults through a religious discourse. The objective in this course is to critically evaluate the rational choice models of Economics that are applied to explain these phenomena. We will investigate the demand and supply factors that explain extremism, the distinction between competition and regulation towards curbing religious cults and the role of club theory in explaining rigid rituals. We will investigate the impact of religion on economic development on the macro level and the impact on the economics of family at the micro level. By the end of this course, students will be able to complement their studies in the sociology, psychology, theology or history of religion with the economics of religion.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in ECON 101

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 390: Topics in Applied Economics | Is the University in Crisis? The Politics of Higher Education
Term: Spring/Summer 2025
Section: OP01
Instructor:
 Meagan Auer

This course adopts an interdisciplinary perspective to explore key concepts, theories, approaches, and debates in higher education. With a focus on politics, it examines how systems of power shape the sector and invites students to engage in the tensions and contradictions of university life. Topics covered include governance, administration, theory, political economy, historical narratives, current issues, and social movement activism.  

Prerequisites: Minimum grade of C- in any 200-level course in Political Science

Permission Required: No

Fall 2025

Course: ANTH 389: Topics in Anthropology | Verbal Art and Performance
Term: Fall 2025
Section: AS01
Instructor: Dr. Jenanne Ferguson

In this course, we will focus on orality and performance cross-linguistically and examine a variety of genres and speech events in which verbal artistry is central from slam poetry, storytelling and stand-up comedy to political speeches and prayers. We will also analyze the intersections of orality and literacy practices and what this means for the maintenance and transmission of verbal art forms in a variety of cultures.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in one of ANTH 206, ANTH 207, ANTH 208 or ANTH 209; ANTH 208 is recommended.

Permission Required: No

Course: ANTH 497: Topics in Anthropology | Decolonizing Knowledge Governance: Intellectual Property, Data and Academia
Term: Fall 2025
Section: AS02
Instructor: Kyle Napier

This course observes the role of knowledge in intellectual properties or data produced through research processes while challenging the roles of knowledge governance in the production, inheritance, ownership and stewardship of such knowledge. This research addresses and draws on historical narratives, case studies and key theories of knowledge governance in academia and research. Ultimately, this course addresses solutions such as co-production of knowledge, OCAP®, rematriation and reattribution in research, and affirmation of inherent and/or sui generis Indigenous knowledge laws and legal principles.

Prerequisites: Minimum grades of C- in any 300-level ANTH course and one of ANTH 206, ANTH 207, ANTH 208 or ANTH 209.

Permission Required: No

Course: ANTH 497: Topics in Anthropology | Indigenous Feminisms and Justice
Term: Fall 2025
Section: AS01
Instructor: Brittany Johnson

In this course, students will develop an in-depth understanding of Indigenous feminist critical theories. Students will learn how settler colonial policies, procedures, laws, bylaws and other structural concerns continue to affect Indigenous persons and communities today. Texts will be broad in scope and will include both academic literature and creative writing/artistic production.

Prerequisites: Minimum grades of C- in any 300-level ANTH course and one of ANTH 206, ANTH 207, ANTH 208 or ANTH 209. ANTH 250 is recommended.

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 349: Topics in Global Politics | American Foreign Policy
Term: Fall 2025
Section: AS01
Instructor: Dr. Jeffrey Rice

In February 2025, for the first time in Canadian history, thirteen premieres of Canada visited the White House, largely to seek assurances regarding Canadian sovereignty and to convey the potential damages that a trade war would have for both Canada and the United States. The meeting largely concerned comments made by Trump and other members of his administration regarding their desire to see “Canada as a 51st state.” While the two countries have benefited from strong mutual relations since the 1850s, the Canada-US relationship at least for the duration of the second Trump presidency will likely be characterized by tariffs, trade wars and threats to Canadian sovereignty. How do we make sense of this ostensibly radical change in American foreign policy? This course explores continuity and change in American foreign policy throughout the 20th and 21st centuries and addresses three questions: First, how is American foreign policy formulated? Second, what does American foreign policy look like, both historically and contemporaneously? And third, who is driving American foreign policy during the second Trump administration?

Prerequisites: Minimum grade of C- in POLS 264.

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 410: Topics in Political Philosophy | Democracy and Empire
Term: Fall 2025
Section: AS01
Instructor: Dr. Ryan McKinnell

One of the oldest themes in political thought and still one of the most relevant today is the relationship between democracy and empire. Are democracies especially likely to embark on imperial expansion? Does the pursuit of empire corrupt the civic virtues required for good government at home? Is the use of force against other countries and peoples ever morally justified? Is the power needed to project imperial power abroad likely to increase the danger of tyranny at home? How do ancient and modern conceptions of empire differ? We will consider these questions as they emerge in two of the most important works in the history of political thought, Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War and Machiavelli’s Discourses on Livy.

Prerequisites: Minimum grades of C- in POLS 214 and POLS 215 or consent of the department.

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 444: Topics in Policy Studies | Policy Evaluation: Theory and Practice
Term: Fall 2025
Section: AS01
Instructor: Dr. Brendan Boyd

How do we know whether a policy has met its goals or what impact it has? This course focuses on the outputs of the political and the policy process to measure and assess the effectiveness of government policy interventions. The question is a critical, although understudied, component of public policy and democratic governance. The course includes the study of theories, approaches and models of policy evaluation and the role of evidence in policy decisions. Working with government, private or community partners, students will perform an actual evaluation on a policy, program or initiative to determine its impact and whether it has met its intended goals. Students will complete the course with practical skills and knowledge that can applied while working in the field of policy making and analysis.

Prerequisites: Minimum grade of C- in POLS 244.

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 490: Advanced Study in Political Science | Politics in the Dark
Term: Fall 2025
Section: AS01
Instructor: Michaela Pedersen-Macnab

This is an advanced seminar on the international politics of secrecy, deception and trust. In this course, we will identify how and why international actors share, limit, distort or conceal information from one another, how information-sharing produces and undermines trust in the international system, and what the long-term implications of these behaviours are for solving complex global challenges. This course is taught from two perspectives. We will first examine how various theoretical streams of international relations view the politics of information-sharing. Second, we will examine the problem of information sharing from the perspective of foreign policy strategy development and practical intelligence gathering. This course will therefore be relevant for students that are interested in pursuing graduate studies in political science as well as careers in related fields that require strategic thinking, negotiation and the evaluation of evidence such as foreign policy, political consulting, international business or law.

Prerequisites: Minimum grades of C- in POLS 200, POLS 214, POLS 215, POLS 224, POLS 225, POLS 264 and either POLS 244 or POLS 265 or consent of the department.

Permission Required: No

Winter 2026

Course: ANTH 389: Topics in Anthropology | Humans and Their Technicolour Cultures
Term: Winter 2026
Section: AS01
Instructor: Kyle Napier

This course looks at communities and societies and their unique processes of creation, adoption and adaption of physical and digital technologies. The course encourages learners to apply an anthropological lens in observing contemporary socio-cultural technology theories. Specific topics include a review of technologies in history, case studies of socio-cultural technological adoption, the role of technology and language, and critical theories in media and technology. The course is grounded in the social and cultural theories which inform the processes of technological determinism and self-determination.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in ANTH 250 or consent of the department.

Permission Required: No

Course: ANTH 497: Topics in Anthropology | Evolutionary History of Sports Injuries
Term: Winter 2026
Section:
AS01
Instructor:
Dr. Hugh McKenzie

The human body is capable of incredible feats—but it also breaks down in predictable ways under the demands of modern sports. Why do we roll our ankles so easily? Why does jumper’s knee plague basketball and volleyball players? And what is it about swinging a racket that leads to tennis elbow?

This course takes an anthropological approach to sports injuries, examining how human evolutionary history, biomechanics and cultural practices interact to shape injury patterns. Students will investigate why certain injuries—such as ACL tears, stress fractures, rotator cuff injuries and Achilles tendon ruptures—are so common, with special attention to how evolutionary traits like bipedal locomotion, tool use and endurance running influence our vulnerability to injury. The course also explores how shifts in activity, footwear and training continue to shape injury risk today. Through discussions, case studies, lab work and research projects, students will analyze how human anatomy, movement and broader evolutionary and cultural forces shape physical performance and injury risk.

Prerequisites: Minimum grades of C- in any 300-level ANTH course and one of ANTH 206, ANTH 207, ANTH 208, or ANTH 209.
Recommended: a minimum grade of C- in one of ANTH 390, PEDS 206 or PEDS 240. Relevant experience in human anatomy, biomechanics or sports science may be considered instead for departmental approval.

Permission Required: Yes. Please email the Chair (murphyc23@macewan.ca) to obtain a permission number.

Course: ANTH 497: Topics in Anthropology | The Social Zooarchaeology of Domestic Animals and Their People
Term: Winter 2026
Term:
AS02
Instructor:
Dr. Paul Prince

Social zooarchaeology moves beyond the narrow stance that faunal assemblages from archaeological sites can be explained primarily as representing the human exploitation of animals for food to consider more fully the social and symbolic aspects of the human-animal relationship. This course explores the agenda of social zooarchaeology with a particular emphasis upon the emerging theoretical goal of being less anthropocentric and instead viewing relationships between humans and animals as having developed in a symbiotic manner. It does so by concentrating on domestic animals and how our lives have become entangled with theirs in various ways. The subject will be addressed through discussions of case studies and the use of some hands-on activities employing zooarchaeological specimens.

Prerequisites: Minimum grades of C- in any 300-level ANTH course and one of ANTH 206, ANTH 207, ANTH 208 or ANTH 209.

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 424: Advanced Topics in Canadian Politics | The Politics of Work in Canada
Term: Winter 2026
Section: AS01
Instructor: Daniel Troup

Most people who live in Canada work for an employer to support themselves and their family financially. Given labour’s centrality to the operation of Canadian society, it is unsurprising that matters like the taxation of income, the level of employment and the quality of work available are prevalent subjects of political discussion in the country. Moreover, many of the concepts central to political science including authority, rights, interests, law and collective action are encountered in the daily working lives of people in Canada. However, it is also noteworthy that labour is often perceived apolitically, as a matter of economics that politicians respond to, rather than something intrinsically political. In these respects, work is continuously politicized and depoliticized in Canadian politics. This course examines the politics of work in Canada by discussing when and how work is politicized, which employment arrangements are typical and which are controversial, how governments seek to manage labour markets as well as the ways in which the political scientific study of work resembles or differs from the study of the same subject in other fields.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in POLS 225.

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 470: Selected Topics in Comparative Politics | Politics of AI: How to Understand and Map the Politics of Artificial Intelligence
Term: Winter 2026
Section: AS01
Instructor: Dr. Chong-su Kim

No aspect of our lives is free from artificial intelligence (AI), whether it is Google search and Spotify song recommendations or the climb up the Capitol Hill wall or the battlefields of Gaza. As artificial intelligence and human intelligence become ever more intertwined, the boundaries between the two are becoming increasingly blurred. Furthermore, the relationship between human intelligence and artificial intelligence is shifting from that of creator and creature to that of a partnership between the two, and now the free will of the former is heavily affected by and dependent on the determinism of the latter. However, being overwhelmed by the technical vocabulary of big data, algorithms, and large language models, as well as the myths of AI, it is arduous to see through and critically scrutinize the black-box of AI. This course aims to examine the history before, the power behind, the material foundations below and human interactions with AI. Specifically, this course explores the relationship and intercourse between AI and labour, democracy, surveillance, war, race and gender, and academia.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in POLS 200.

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 490: Advanced Study in Political Science | Theories of Public Governance
Term: Winter 2026
Section: AS01
Instructor: Dr. Brendan Boyd

As a concept, governance defies a single succinct definition, but clearly involves questions of authority, decision making and accountability. In plain language, it is how groups of people establish the rules and processes that control and shape their conduct. Public governance refers to the systems by which a population, community or country governs itself as opposed to the governance of a private corporation or business. In this course, we investigate the evolution of modern public governance since the mid-1800s by examining the theoretical approaches and organizational forms of governance and how they have been applied in practice. The themes and debates that are examined include how do different governance approaches distribute power and authority, how do they make and enforce decisions about policy and the distribution of public resources, and how do they secure accountability and legitimacy from the public that is bound by these decisions.

Prerequisites: Minimum grades of C- in POLS 200, POLS 214, POLS 215, POLS 224, POLS 225 or POLS 264 and either POLS 244 or POLS 265 or consent of the department.

Permission Required: No

Course: POLS 490: Advanced Study in Political Science | Politics in the Dark
Term: Winter 2026
Section: AS02
Instructor: Michaela Pedersen-Macnab

This is an advanced seminar on the international politics of secrecy, deception and trust. In this course, we will identify how and why international actors share, limit, distort or conceal information from one another, how information-sharing produces and undermines trust in the international system, and what the long-term implications of these behaviours are for solving complex global challenges. This course is taught from two perspectives. We will first examine how various theoretical streams of international relations view the politics of information-sharing. Second, we will examine the problem of information sharing from the perspective of foreign policy strategy development and practical intelligence gathering. This course will therefore be relevant for students that are interested in pursuing graduate studies in political science as well as careers in related fields that require strategic thinking, negotiation and the evaluation of evidence such as foreign policy, political consulting, international business or law.

Prerequisites: Minimum grades of C- in POLS 200, POLS 214, POLS 215, POLS 224, POLS 225, POLS 264 and either POLS 244 or POLS 265 or consent of the department.

Permission Required: No

Course: URBW 497: Topics in Urban Wellness | Global Perspectives on Urban Wellness
Term: Winter 2026
Section: AS01
Instructor: Dr. Marielle Papin

In this course, we will discuss urban wellness in a global context. We will discuss how different cities look at urban wellness from different cities. We will analyze differences between cities from developed and developing countries or between global, large and small municipalities. We will also look at how cities work collectively on urban wellness, particularly through transnational networks and partnerships. We will discuss the involvement of private actors, including philanthropic foundations and companies, in the governance of urban wellness. We will use an interdisciplinary lens on urban wellness, building on fields such as political science, anthropology, economics, geography or urban planning.

Prerequisites: A minimum grade of C- in URBW 289 or consent of the department.

Permission Required: No

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