Thank you for your interest in the Cortes Island Field Course (HSCI 496/885).

This field school is an intensive, transdisciplinary course with thematic focus on Climate Justice. Within this course we will learn about social-ecological systems, human-environment relationships, eco-social health equity, and ecosystem approaches to health.

The field course will combine rural and remote island field experiences focused on integrative approaches to health, environment and community issues, with real-time connections with students and instructors from five universities (Guelph, UNBC, University of Calgary, UQAM, SFU), and access to asynchronous climate justice curricula developed in collaboration from a pan-Canadian team of experts and practitioners.

Topics covered in this course will include health equity across the human, animal, and ecosystem interface; multisolving; ecological determinants of health; eco-social health literacy; and intergenerational, interspecies, and intersectoral innovations for climate justice and community health. The Ecosystem Approaches to Health pillars of sustainability, equity, transdisciplinarity, systems thinking, knowledge exchange, and participation will weave through the course. Field activities and inter-institutional learning will focus on the course theme of: “Reciprocity, land and health”.

Details:
This course will be undergraduate and graduate students at SFU, with priority given to students from the Faculty of Health Sciences.
The field course on Cortes Island will also include some students from across Canada. As such, this course will bring together a range of learners in a rural and remote island context to discuss integrative approaches to addressing global health inequities.
This course will combine:
  • In-person meetings at SFU Burnaby 9am-12pm May 11, 25, June 15
  • Online attendance to CoPEH-Canada webinars 9am-11am on May 12, 14, 19, 21, June 2 and 4
  • A field component from June 7-13, 2026 on Cortes Island (June 7 and 13 are full travel days)
  • Access to recorded sessions and access to asynchronous climate justice curricula developed in collaboration from a pan-Canadian team of experts and practitioners
Costs and Fees:
All food, accommodation, and activities on Cortes Island are covered.
The teaching team is committed to supporting travel to the island for those who need it, but students should expect to incur nominal travel costs of up to $150 per person. See the BC Ferries website for more details.


A detailed course syllabus can be found here.


If you are interested in enrolling in this course, please complete the survey below by February 27th at 11:59pm PST. Selections will be made by March 6th.


If you have any questions about the application or course, please contact Angel Kennedy at angel_kennedy@sfu.ca

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1. Please write your name.

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2. Please share your email address.

Degree Questions

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3. Which degree are you pursuing?

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4. Which Faculty are you in?

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5. How many units have you completed at SFU?

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6. Pre-requisites for the course include HSCI 160 or equivalent, and HSCI 230 (or 330) or equivalent, all with a minimum grade of C-. MPH students must have also completed HSCI 802, HSCI 821, HSCI 901. Pre-requisites can be waived if students have equivalent knowledge of cultural humility, reflexivity, and social positioning.

Please note, we are flexible with the pre-requisites!

Do you have the pre-requisites for this course? If no, please type below what experiences you have with these concepts.

Written Questions

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7. Please share with us why you are interested in this course.

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8. What knowledge are you bringing to the course? What contributions are you bringing to this shared learning environment? 

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9. What are you hoping to learn from and get out of the course? 

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10. What do you think may be your biggest challenge in this course?

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11. What do you know about self-reflexivity and community engagement? 

Logistical Questions

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12. Are you available on all of the course dates (see description above)? 

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13. How do you plan on getting to Cortes Island? 

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14. Accommodation for this field course is at Linnaea Farms (financially covered by the instructor). The farm house has 8 rooms with single and double beds, with two cots and extra mattresses available that can be put in rooms as needed. There are also spots available for camping at Linnaea Farms.


Please select which accommodation you would be willing to have during the course.

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15. If you have any dietary restrictions or preferences, please specify them here.

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16. Is there anything else you want to tell us? 

Thank you for completing this survey and for your interest in this course! Selections for enrollment in the course will be made by March 6th. Please watch for an email at that time from Angel Kennedy. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact us at angel_kennedy@sfu.ca

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