The Jarislowsky Fellows, along with the course instructors, Dr. Brendon Larson (Professor and Associate Dean – Undergraduate Studies, Faculty of Environment) and Dr. Angela Carter (Associate Director, Arts First, Associate Professor, Political Science) aim to equip students with the critical skills and know-how so as to be prepared to engage in shaping the future of nature.
EDWARD BURTYNSKY is regarded as one of the world's most accomplished contemporary photographers. His remarkable photographic depictions of global industrial landscapes are included in the collections of over sixty major museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, the Tate Modern in London, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California. His imagery explores the collective impact we as a species are having on the surface of the planet; an inspection of the human systems we've imposed onto natural landscapes.
Burtynsky’s distinctions include the TED Prize, The Outreach award at the Rencontres d’Arles, the Roloff Beny Book award, and the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award. He sits on the board of directors for CONTACT: Toronto’s International Photography Festival, and The Ryerson Gallery and Research Center. In 2006 he was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Canada; in 2016 he received the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. In 2018 he was named Photo London's Master of Photography and the Mosaic Institute's Peace Patron. Most recently he was honoured with the 2019 Arts & Letters Award at the Canadian Association of New York’s annual Maple Leaf Ball. He currently holds eight honorary degrees.
MIKE DAVIS is Professor Emeritus at the University California, Riverside, and a writer, political activist, urban theorist, and historian. Holding numerous awards and honours, Professor Davis is the author of more than 20 books of fiction and non-fiction, and more than 100 book chapters and essays in the scholarly and elite popular press. His scholarly interests span urban studies, the built environment, economic history and social movements. One of his most well known books, City of Quartz: Excavating the Future in Los Angeles is translated into eight languages and was named a best book in urban politics by the American Political Science Association, and won the Isaac Deutscher Award from the London School of Economics.
He was a 1996–1997 Getty Scholar at the Getty Research Institute and received a MacArthur Fellowship Award in 1998. He won the Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction in 2007.