From NYC Climate Justice Hub

Classes & Curriculum

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Professional Learning Community

The Hub’s Professional Learning Community (PLC) Is On!

Fall 2025

The second annual Professional Learning Community (PLC) brings together students, faculty, and climate justice activists representing various CUNY campuses, NYC-EJA member organizations, and other institutions. Participants engage in a critical analysis of the socio-environmental factors influencing climate justice in the NYC’s working-class communities of color that the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA) serves.

Overview

Through the Classes & Curriculum initiative, community knowledge and learning is fostered between universities and local organizations across a variety of platforms, including site visits and classroom visits, guest speakers, and collaborative capstone projects. Below are some of the exciting collaborations that have recently taken place between CUNY professors, their students, and NYC-EJA member organizations in Spring 2024!

A rousing workshop to prepare for Fall 2024 Classes & Curriculum collaborations was held on May 30, 2024. Participating were full-time and adjunct CUNY faculty teaching a variety of courses across disciplines and levels, Hub staff, and NYC-EJA member organization staff. The participants were able to hear from the inaugural cohort of professors and Hub Advocates who spearheaded collaborations in Spring 2024 and brainstormed ways to further engage with one another in Fall 2024. Photo by Juwon Jun.
The NYC Climate Justice Hub
Classes & Curriculum Resources

Tier I: Curriculum/Syllabus Advising

Connect with our amazing team to discuss your ideas, questions, and opportunities to integrate CJ into your curriculum. Whether you are starting from scratch or looking to augment a seasoned curriculum, our team will help to support you throughout the curriculum creation process.

Advising
Professional Learning Community

Tier II: Public Programming

Interested in organizing an event to expand Climate Justice education to the broader CUNY Community? The Climate Justice Hub can leverage its network to support the planning and outreach to amplify its impact.

Tier III: NYC-EJA <> CUNY Course Collaborations

A selective number of courses will work with specific NYC-EJA member organizations on projects or research that falls within the needs of the organization. Course collaborations require a larger time commitment for preparation and coordination. More information can be found in the Course Collaborations option in the form below.

Research

Faculty who are teaching classes that take on NYC-EJA priorities as projects to enhance the class goals and understanding of NYC-EJA priorities.

Capstone Projects

A group of advanced students take on research projects of importance to NYC-EJA that require some background in a particular area of study.

Tier I Engagement

Tier I 1

Professional Learning Community

Tier I 2

Winter Symposium 2024

Tier I 3

Spring Symposium 2024

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Professional Learning Community

In September of 2025, Classes and Curriculum hosted its second run of the Professional Learning Community, focusing on climate and environmental justice. Participants include representatives from NYCEJA HA, CUNY faculty, students, and various other NYC community-based organizations.

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Winter Symposium 2024

The 1st Classes & Curriculum Symposium took place Winter of 2024. Professors were eager to build out their course syllabi with NYC-EJA in mind. From this gathering Dr. Shelly Eversley and GOLES and Dr. Eileen Markey and Nos Quedamos collaborated to design Tier 3 projects.

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Spring Symposium 2024

The 2nd Classes and Curriculum Symposium A Symposium & Workshop took place late Spring 2024. The workshop was an opportunity for previous collaborators to showcase their work and for NYC-EJA member organization staff and CUNY faculty to meet in-person and brainstorm ways for CUNY students to learn about and contribute to the work of frontline environmental justice communities of color across NYC.

Tier II Engagements

Tier II 1

Site visit to Brosis

Tier II 2

Site Visit to UPROSE

Tier II 3

Air Quality and Sensor Building workshops

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Site visit to Brosis

In the Spring of 2025, Prof. Jill Stein’s ### class visits Brosis to learn about Hotbox Composting.

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Site Visit to UPROSE

  Tier II Embed

In the Spring of 2025, students from Dr. Smita Diwan’s Community Organizing and Development class at New York City College of Technology visited UPROSE. The purpose of their visit was to study community organizations dedicated to environmental justice and community well-being. During their visit, UPROSE Hub Advocates and staff provided an in-depth introduction to the Sunset Park Industrial Waterfront Tour-Walking Edition. This tour highlighted the challenges and opportunities present along the industrial shoreline, showcasing significant sites that represent Sunset Park’s industrial heritage and ongoing environmental issues.

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Air Quality and Sensor Building workshops

In Spring 2025, El Puente and Prof. Ryan Mann Hamilton coordinated an air quality and sensor building workshop. As part of the workshop, we will be building 5 of our own air quality sensors and deploying them in different areas adjacent to our campus. This workshop will be done in collaboration with El Puente’s Green Light District plan. The Green Light District plan specifically “seeks to flip the disempowerment of gentrification,” taking community leadership through domains such as citizen science initiatives to support advocacy for healthier air quality and access to green spaces and community gardens.

Tier III Engagements

Tier III 1

The Point CDC Truck Count Group Photo Spring 2025

Tier III 2

Lehman Climate Justice Journalism Initiative

Tier III 3

Climate Justice Documentaries for CUNY TV

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The Point CDC Truck Count Group Photo Spring 2025

 

During the spring of 2024, a partnership with The Point CDC and CCNY Prof. Lauren Wang’s Climate Justice Class engaged in a community call to action around Last Mile Facilities. The class engaged in site visits, fieldwork, and stakeholder interviews to collect truck traffic counts at last-mile warehouse sites in Hunts Point identified by the community and stories about the community’s experience with truck /heavy duty vehicle traffic. Findings were shared with the Hunts Point and CUNY Community.

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Lehman Climate Justice Journalism Initiative

 

In the fall of 2024, two students in Dr. Eileen Markey’s Journalism and Media Studies are engaged in an independent project creating a five-episode podcast on the roots and future of the environmental justice movement in the Bronx. The podcast documents the modern movement from the battle against the medical waste incinerator in the 1990s to the campaigns to dismantle the Sheridan Expressway, restore the Bronx River and document poor air quality and contemporary battles by South Bronx NYC-EJA membersFor their independent Fall 2025 project, Dr. Eileen Markey’s Journalism and Media Studies Two students are producing a five-episode podcast. This podcast will explore the origins and future of the environmental justice movement in the Bronx, tracing its evolution from the 1990s battle against the medical waste incinerator to current campaigns. These contemporary efforts include dismantling the Sheridan Expressway, restoring the Bronx River, documenting poor air quality, and addressing ongoing struggles faced by South Bronx NYC-EJA members.

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Climate Justice Documentaries for CUNY TV

 

In the fall of 2023, students from Dr. Shelly Eversley’s Climate Justice class collaborated with GOLES to create short documentaries. These films highlight climate justice issues within New York City, presenting both problems and potential solutions.

C&C Participating Faculties & Courses

Baruch College
  • Faculty: Samantha MacBride
  • Department: Public Affairs
  • Courses: Greening and Growing Cities (urban environmental policy and politics); public and nonprofit management; program evaluation
Bronx Community College
  • Faculty: Tamar Rothenberg
  • Department: History
  • Courses: World Regional Geography, History of the Modern World, History of New York City, and not-yet created, unnamed Introduction to Geography class.
Brooklyn College
  • Faculty: Ann Goodman
  • Department: Economics
  • Course: Environmental Economics
  • Faculty: Naomi Schiller
  • Department: Anthropology-Grad Center and Brooklyn College
  • Courses: “People, Nature, Culture” and “Anthropology of Climate Crisis”
  • Faculty: Pieranna Pieroni
  • Department: Sustainability and College Now
  • Courses: Urban Gardens and Social Justice; Community Roots Environmental Justice
City College
  • Faculty: Lauren Wang
  • Department: Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership & Sustainability in the Urban Environment
  • Course: Environmental Justice
  • Faculty: Prash Naidu
  • Department: Anthropology and Interdisciplinary Programs
  • Courses: Environmental and Climate Justice
CUNY Graduate Center
  • Faculty: Mike Menser
  • Department: Philosophy
  • Course: EES 79903 – Environmental and Climate Justice: Food, Energy, Water, Governance
  • Faculty: Lea Diaz
  • Department: Ralph Bunche Institute
  • Courses: Media & Democracy, Political Communication
Guttman Community College
  • Faculty: Audrey Lindsey
  • Department: Humanities AND Science
  • Course: Intro to Social Justice and Civic Engagement in a Global Society
Hunter College
  • Faculty: Lori Kent
  • Department: Art & Art History
  • Courses: (1) Theory & Criticism in Visual Arts Education, (2) Special Topics: MA Project in Visual Arts Education
Kingsborough Community College
  • Faculty: Hun Bok Jung
  • Department: Physical Sciences
  • Course: General Chemistry
LaGuardia Community College
  • Faculty: Ryan Mann-Hamilton
  • Department: Social Science
  • Course: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
  • Faculty: Alice Baldwin-Jones
  • Department: Social Science
  • Course: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
  • Faculty: Nathan Hosanna
  • Department: Mathematics, Engineering and Computer Science
Lehman College
  • Faculty: Elia Machado
  • Department: Earth, Environmental and Geospatial Sciences
  • Courses: GIS, Remote Sensing
  • Faculty: Eileen Markey
  • Department: Journalism
  • Courses: Fundamentals of Multimedia Journalism/Advanced Multimedia Investigations
  • Faculty: Mariposa Fernandez
  • Department: English
  • Courses: African American & Black Diasporic Literatures/Topics in African American History & Culture
Medgar Evers College
  • Faculty: Bengi Sullu
  • Department: Social & Behavioral Sciences
  • Course: Culture, Society and Social Change
Queens College
  • Faculty: Kara Schlichting
  • Department: History
  • Courses: Urban Environment; History of New York City; Cities in American History