Synopsis
In my role as a teacher, I seek to encourage students to critically interrogate the social and political circumstances of their own lives as this mode of engagement is a prerequisite for meaningful and progressive transformation of the world. Because I am based in an institution that stresses engineering and design, I also have a particular interest in mstudents to orient themselves around the idea of public purpose and to become more actively committed to improving the human condition. I thus regard myself not only as an educator who transfers knowledge but as a mentor-counselor and a beacon of human betterment. Through my own lived practice, I seek to forge an educational community that imparts a sense of global and ecological citizenship. I am proud to have received the University Excellence in Teaching Award (Excellence in Teaching Honors Courses) in 2014.
I currently teach two undergraduate courses that are part of the undergraduate Program in Science, Technology, and Society at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Introduction to Sustainability Studies (STS 363) is generally delivered during the Fall semester and Sustainability Policy and Practice (STS 364) is taught during the Spring semester. The courses are designed to be taken as a sequence with STS 363 serving as a prerequisite for STS 364. They are part of the core for the Minor in Environmental Studies and Sustainability and typically attract students majoring in Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and other fields. Honors sections of both courses are typically offered and enhancements are available to enable students to receive appropriate credit. I am currently developing a new undergraduate course on Digital Automation and Society that is scheduled to be offered for the first time during the Fall 2016 semester.
In the past, I have delivered courses as part of NJIT’s Graduate Program in Environmental Policy Studies including Sustainability Politics and Policy (EPS 622) and Advanced Studies in Environmental and Sustainability Policy (EPS 712).
Several recorded lectures are available for download as Open Courseware.
Archive of Graduate Theses and Dissertations
2013
Jill Clegg (NJIT | MS in Environmental Policy Studies), The Winds of Change: The Political Ecology of Renewable Energy Transition in Vermont (Chair)
Sarah Ritchie Gentile (NJIT | MS in Environmental Policy Studies), Innovations in State-level Solar Energy Policy: Motivating Community Investment in Resiliency (Chair)
2012
Jeanine Cava Rodgers (NJIT | MS in Environmental Policy Studies), New Economy: Assessment of the Institutionalization of an Emerging Paradigm and Academic Field through Inquiry into its Prominent Boundary Organizations (Chair)
2011
Frederick Little (Rutgers University | PhD in Global Affairs), Lost in Translation: Non-linear Literary, Cultural, Temporal, Political, and Cosmological Transformations—the Anglo-Japanese Productions of Minakata Kumagusu (Committee Member)
2010
Shih-Yun (Sherry) Kuo (NJIT | PhD in Environmental Science/Policy), The Pubic Understanding of Climate Change: A Case Study of Taiwanese Youth (Chair)
Ronnachai Tiyarattanachai (NJIT | PhD in Environmental Science/Policy) Institutional Controls and Brownfield Redevelopment (Committee Member)
2009
Caryn Yaacov (Rutgers University/NJIT | PhD in Urban Systems), Dynamics of School Playground Use in Low-income Neighborhoods: Four Case Studies from Newark, New Jersey (Chair)
2008
Florencio Ballesteros (NJIT | PhD in Environmental Science/Policy), Projecting Land Use Changes Using Parcel-level Data: Model Development and Application to Hunterdon County, New Jersey (Committee Member)
2006
Anne Egelston (Rutgers University | PhD in Global Affairs), Sustainable Development: A History (Co-chair)
2005
Dipanjali Chavan (NJIT | MS in Environmental Policy Studies), Short-term Effects of Bulkheads on the Bayshore of Fire Island, New York (Committee Member)
Amie Figueiredo (NJIT | MS in Environmental Policy Studies), The Role of University Participation in Integrated Coastal Zone Management: A Case Study of the Ria de Aviero (Committee Member)
2004
Michael Bilheimer (NJIT | MS in Environmental Policy Studies), Incineration and Environmental Justice: The Case of Communities around Connecticut Resource Recovery Facilities (Chair)
Devin DeMarco (NJIT | MS in Environmental Policy Studies), The Rise and Fall of Open Market Emissions Trading in New Jersey (Chair)
2003
Aaron Comrov (NJIT | MS in Environmental Policy Studies), Fresh Kills Dumped: A Policy Assessment for the Management of New York City’s Residential Solid Waste in the Twenty-First Century (Chair) (published as New York City Residential Solid Waste Policy: Assessing Proposed Alternatives. Berlin: VDM Verlag, 2008)
Stephen Wiessner (NJIT | MS in Environmental Policy Studies), The Rationale for Preserving Neighborhood Open Space in Newark, New Jersey’s North Ward (Committee Member)
Archive of Undergraduate Student Projects (Beginning Fall 2016)
2016
STS 364/H Sustainability Policy and Practice
David Vaca Castaneda, Corporate Responsibility Practices in Third World Countries: Smurfit Kappa Carton de Colombia
Paulina Diep, Brandon Gomez, & William Peralta, The Passaic River: A Growing Cultural Asset
Grace Dong & Matthew McCabe, Living Building Challenge
John Ferns, Kaitlyn Ganguzza, & Zeel Parekh, Urban Agriculture
Matthew Maltz, Technology Drives the Ecological Modernization of Urban Environments
Ryan Merluza, The Future of Offshore Wind in America Begins with Block Island
Cvetan Nachev, Building Energy Efficiency in China, Germany, and the United States
Gaudi Nunez & Nandy Lima, Climate Adaptation and Mitigation in the Dominican Republic and Cabo Verde
Eka Pramuditha Bin Widodo & Jack Coyne, Malaysian Biomass Industry and Biomass SP Project
Last updated May 14, 2016
Professor Maurie J. Cohen 