Karena Shaw

Associate Professor

PhD 1999, The Johns Hopkins University
MA 1995, The John's Hopkins University
BA 1990, University of California, Santa Cruz

Karena (Kara) is Associate Professor in the School of Environmental Studies, a member of the Cultural, Social and Political Thought Graduate Program and the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems. A political theorist by training, she is particularly interested in how contemporary environmental challenges are reshaping political space and possibility. She has published in the areas of feminist theory, indigenous politics, and environmental politics, and was co-director of The Clayoquot Project. Prior to coming to UVic she was a Teaching Fellow at Keele University in the UK. Current research projects include: "Local/Global Environmental Governance: Meeting Contemporary Challenges of Scale," a SSHRC-funded research program exploring the governance implications of contemporary environmental campaigns; "Reshaping Possibility: Climate Change, Energy Systems and Environmentalism," a project exploring the challenges and possibilities faced in efforts to achieve deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Book-length publications include A Political Space: Reading the Global Through Clayoquot Sound, co-edited with Warren Magnusson (McGill-Queen's University Press: 2003), and Political Theory and Indigeneity: Sovereignty and the Limits of the Political (Routledge Press: 2008). Kara was the recipient of the 2009 Social Science Award for Teaching Excellence.

Graduate Fellowship in Energy Politics

This fellowship will support a student working with Dr. Karena Shaw on a research project examining conflicts over energy infrastructure projects in BC, with a particular focus on shale gas development and run of river hydroelectricity. The research requires a background in environmental politics and governance, public engagement in decision making, climate change mitigation policy, and/or the political ecology of energy systems.
The fellowship would provide two years of support for a student pursuing a Master’s degree in the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. For more information or to apply for the fellowship, please contact Dr. Shaw directly: shawk@uvic.ca.

Courses

ES 200	Introduction to Environmental Studies
ES 301	Political Ecology
ES 402	Global Issues in Sustainability
ES 480	Advanced Topics in Sustainable Communities