3 KPU criminology instructors launch Green Justice podcast
The podcast showcases environmental justice and education work set out by the KPU community
Green Justice covers the crossroads of crime and environmentalism. (Submitted/Dan Lett)
A new podcast project by three Kwantlen Polytechnic University criminology instructors titled Green Justice is showcasing the intersection between environmental issues and criminology in the spirit of collaboration with the KPU community.
Paula Hirschmann, Greg Simmons, and Mark Vardy launched their podcast in March on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Since then, the team has released six episodes where guests are interviewed to discuss issues including environmental and ecological climate justice and education. They plan to keep releasing episodes twice monthly.
“When we think of criminology, we think crimes against humans,” Hirschmann says. “But there is kind of a small sub area within criminology, that focuses specifically on environmental harm … and thinking about it beyond just [as a] legalistic concern, but also kind of regulatory, as well as almost a socio-ecological issue.”
To date, the podcast has focused on people from the KPU community who are doing interesting work in this regard, including Indigenous Knowledge Keeper in Residence Richard Pierre, English instructor and coordinator of the Climate+ Challenge Dale Tracy, and advising Climate+ Challenge faculty member David Sadoway.
“Because there’s so many people that are doing such interesting work … a good starting position is to really reflect on what our colleagues are doing, what are some of the staff doing, what’s really going on within the KPU community that relates to this that maybe some of us don’t really know very much about,” Hirschmann says.
The name Green Justice was originally meant to be a placeholder, but ended up being the perfect name to encapsulate what the team has set out to accomplish.
“The issues of environmental and ecological justice span so many disciplines,” Hirschmann says. “The justice element is advocating for inequalities and experiences of environmental harm … but then also thinking about green being the perfect reference to the environment.”
The idea for the podcast started when the trio developed a course on this subject matter — CRIM 3911 or green criminology — which launched last semester. The team has been able to take on some of the criminology students who enrolled in the course as research assistants for the project.
The podcast format was chosen as a way to make information and discussion on these topics accessible to people outside of a university classroom setting, made possible by a successful application for the Faculty of Arts Excellence and Advancement Fund.
“We speak to environmental issues within the classroom, that’s one way of disseminating some knowledge. … But I think another way of really disseminating … both within KPU and beyond is using the perfect platform,” Hirschmann says.
“It’s a great opportunity to use something that’s very easy to use, easy to navigate, and a really good opportunity to spread knowledge in a unique way.”
To listen to the podcast, visit bit.ly/3WmP1Vl.
