Dr. Peter Graham, School of Community & Public Affairs, Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability

I am an interdisciplinary social scientist with ongoing research on the challenge of societal transformation for sustainability. My work begins from an understanding of the negative consequences of the overly reductionist perspective typical of contemporary sustainability research. A systems perspective needs to incorporate a realistic understanding of human mind as mediated, as well as extended and distributed throughout environment. When we introduce a poorly theorized thing into the system, whether overly atomistic theoretical model or instrumentally materialized technology, we impoverish the entire system.  

Research interests

Sustainable studies, education for sustainable development, relational ontology, social cognition, material engagement theory, environmental philosophy.

View Peter Graham's CV

Teaching experience

 2022- 2023: Part-time University Lecturer 

Centre for Engineering in Society, Concordia University 

ENGR 392 Impact of Technology on Society 

2007 – 2023: Part-time University Lecturer 

School of Community and Public Affairs, Concordia University 

SCPA 201: Introduction to Public Policy 

SCPA 215: Economics for Public Policy and Community Development 

SCPA 412: Advanced Research Seminar 

SCPA 543J: Contemporary Issues in CED (Sustainability) 

2011 – 2022: Part-time University Lecturer 

Loyola College for Diversity and Sustainability, Concordia University 

LOYC 230: Globalization & Diversity 

LOYC 330: Self, Culture & Development 

LOYC 398: Directed Study 

LOYC 398-03 Perspectives on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 

LOYC 398B: Orientation/International Community Engagement 

LOYC 398C: Internship in Sustainability 

LOYC 420: Integrative Seminar 

2019: Part-time University Lecturer 

Department of Geography, Planning & Environment 

GEOG 470: Environmental Management 

2019 –2020: Part-time University Lecturer 

Department of Education, Concordia University 

ESTU 611: Educational Problems in Philosophical Perspective 

ESTU 635: Studies in Educational Change 

2016: Teaching Fellow 

School of Environmental Studies, Queen’s University 

ENSC 390: Sustainability 

2012 & 2022: Part-time University Lecturer 

McGill School of Environment, McGill University 

• Graham, P. & Upitis, R. (in press) Chapter 1: The Matter of Reconciliation. In M. R. Carter, Y.-S. Huang, C. Mitchell, T. Strong-Wilson, D. Ranjan, T. Starlight, A. Weenie & M. Sorensen (Eds.). Seasons of Change: Interdisciplinary Pedagogies for Reconciliation and Redress. UBC Press.
• Graham, Peter. (2022). Wickedness Deciphered: Mediated Action and the Democratization of Agency. The International Journal of Sustainability Policy and Practice 18 (2): 1-12. doi:10.18848/2325-1166/CGP/v18i02/ 1-12.
• Graham, P., Brown, S., Goebel, A., Hovorka, A., Khan, C., Kuyvenhoven, C., Scheinman, E., Arshad-Ayaz, A., & Upitis, R. (2021). The emotional experience of sustainability courses: Learned eco-anxiety, potential ontological adjustment. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development 15(1), 1-15.
• Graham, P. (2020). Traces of (Un-) Sustainability: Towards a Materially Engaged Ecology of Mind. New York: Peter Lang.
• Graham, P.; Carter, M.; Upitis, R. & Currie-Williams, K. (2020). Beyond Ontological Autonomy: Finding One’s Self in Relations. Identity Landscapes: Contemplating Place and the Construction of Self. Brill/Sense.
• Smith, M.; Speiran, S. & Graham, P. (2020) Megaliths, Material Engagement, and the Atmospherics of Neolithic Ethics: Pre-sage for the End(s) of Tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 29, (2–3).
• Graham, P. (2019). Material Engagement Theory and Sustainability: The materiality of social change. The Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability (JSIS) 14(2), https://doi.org/10.33423/jsis.v14i3.2107.
• Graham, P., & Arshad-Ayaz. (2016). Learned Unsustainability: Bandura’s Bobo Doll Revisited. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 10(2), 1–12.
• Graham, P. (2011). On the illusory nature of sustainable development: A case study of a Montreal suburb. Saarbrücken, Germany: VDM Verlag Dr. Müller.