Sarah Rotz
Assistant Professor
Office: 776 South Ross Building
Phone: 416-736-2100 Ext: 20509
Email: rotzs@yorku.ca
Primary website: sarahrotz.com
My work focuses on political ecologies of land and food systems and how they intersect with climate change within structures of settler colonial patriarchy and neo-liberal capitalism. I also explore the consequences of these processes for sovereignty, justice and resistance movements more broadly. I received my PhD in Geography from the University of Guelph and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies at York University. I am currently teaching SOSC 4000 6.0 Topics in Social Science Research: Land & Food and SOSC 2000 6.0 Interdisciplinary Approaches to Social Inquiry.
I have published on topics ranging from the political economy of food and farmland tenure and critical perspectives of big data in agriculture, to the ways in which settler colonial logics and gendered narratives uphold extractive practices and relationships to the land. I am also a research associate with A SHARED Future, a large, interdisciplinary and community-based research team investigating Indigenous strength, health, and autonomy in renewable energy. My current research explores accountable relationships and alliances between settler and Indigenous peoples through land-based, Indigenous-led food and energy sovereignty projects across Canada. I also do ongoing community-based work with various organizations and campaigns including food and farmer’s associations, fossil fuel divestment, as well as climate justice and food sovereignty movements.
Degrees
PhD, Geography, University of GuelphMES, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University
BA, Environmental Management, University of Toronto
Research Interests
Rotz, Sarah, Evan Gravely, Ian Mosby, Emily Duncan, Elizabeth Finnis, Mervyn Horgan, Joseph LeBlanc, et al. 2019. “Automated Pastures and the Digital Divide: How Agricultural Technologies Are Shaping Labour and Rural Communities.” Journal of Rural Studies 68: 112–22.
Rotz, Sarah, Evan D.G. Fraser, and Ralph C. Martin. 2019. “Situating Tenure, Capital and Finance in Farmland Relations: Implications for Stewardship and Agroecological Health in Ontario, Canada.” Journal of Peasant Studies 46 (1). 142–64.
Rotz, Sarah, Emily Duncan, Matthew Small, Janos Botschner, Rozita Dara, Ian Mosby, Mark Reed, and Evan D. G. Fraser. 2019. “The Politics of Digital Agricultural Technologies: A Preliminary Review.” Sociologia Ruralis 59 (2).
Rotz, Sarah. 2018. “Drawing Lines in the Cornfield: An Analysis of Discourse and Identity Relations across Agri-Food Networks.” Agriculture and Human Values 35 (2): 441–56.
Rotz, S., & Kepkiewicz, L. (2018). Settler colonialism and the (im)possibilities of a national food policy. Canadian Food Studies / La Revue Canadienne Des études Sur L’alimentation, 5(3), 248-258.
Kepkiewicz, L., & Rotz, S. (2018). Toward anti-colonial food policy in Canada? (Im)possibilities within the settler state. Canadian Food Studies / La Revue Canadienne Des études Sur L’alimentation, 5(2), 13-24.
Rotz, Sarah. 2017. “‘They Took Our Beads, It Was a Fair Trade, Get over It’: Settler Colonial Logics, Racial Hierarchies and Material Dominance in Canadian Agriculture.” Geoforum 82: 158–69.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2021 | EU/GEOG2030 3.0 | A | Global Environmental Change | BLEN |
| Fall 2021 | EU/ENVS4001 3.0 | A | Field Placement Course | INSP |
| Fall/Winter 2021 | EU/ENVS4001 6.0 | A | Field Placement Course | INSP |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2022 | EU/ENVS3010 3.0 | M | Qualitative Methods in Environmental Stu | LECT |
| Winter 2022 | EU/ENVS4011 3.0 | M | Food, Land and Culture | SEMR |
| Fall/Winter 2021 | EU/ENVS4001 6.0 | A | Field Placement Course | INSP |
| Winter 2022 | GS/STS6006 3.0 | M | Digital Technoscience | REMT |
My work focuses on political ecologies of land and food systems and how they intersect with climate change within structures of settler colonial patriarchy and neo-liberal capitalism. I also explore the consequences of these processes for sovereignty, justice and resistance movements more broadly. I received my PhD in Geography from the University of Guelph and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Studies at York University. I am currently teaching SOSC 4000 6.0 Topics in Social Science Research: Land & Food and SOSC 2000 6.0 Interdisciplinary Approaches to Social Inquiry.
I have published on topics ranging from the political economy of food and farmland tenure and critical perspectives of big data in agriculture, to the ways in which settler colonial logics and gendered narratives uphold extractive practices and relationships to the land. I am also a research associate with A SHARED Future, a large, interdisciplinary and community-based research team investigating Indigenous strength, health, and autonomy in renewable energy. My current research explores accountable relationships and alliances between settler and Indigenous peoples through land-based, Indigenous-led food and energy sovereignty projects across Canada. I also do ongoing community-based work with various organizations and campaigns including food and farmer’s associations, fossil fuel divestment, as well as climate justice and food sovereignty movements.
Degrees
PhD, Geography, University of GuelphMES, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University
BA, Environmental Management, University of Toronto
Research Interests
All Publications
Rotz, Sarah, Evan Gravely, Ian Mosby, Emily Duncan, Elizabeth Finnis, Mervyn Horgan, Joseph LeBlanc, et al. 2019. “Automated Pastures and the Digital Divide: How Agricultural Technologies Are Shaping Labour and Rural Communities.” Journal of Rural Studies 68: 112–22.
Rotz, Sarah, Evan D.G. Fraser, and Ralph C. Martin. 2019. “Situating Tenure, Capital and Finance in Farmland Relations: Implications for Stewardship and Agroecological Health in Ontario, Canada.” Journal of Peasant Studies 46 (1). 142–64.
Rotz, Sarah, Emily Duncan, Matthew Small, Janos Botschner, Rozita Dara, Ian Mosby, Mark Reed, and Evan D. G. Fraser. 2019. “The Politics of Digital Agricultural Technologies: A Preliminary Review.” Sociologia Ruralis 59 (2).
Rotz, Sarah. 2018. “Drawing Lines in the Cornfield: An Analysis of Discourse and Identity Relations across Agri-Food Networks.” Agriculture and Human Values 35 (2): 441–56.
Rotz, S., & Kepkiewicz, L. (2018). Settler colonialism and the (im)possibilities of a national food policy. Canadian Food Studies / La Revue Canadienne Des études Sur L’alimentation, 5(3), 248-258.
Kepkiewicz, L., & Rotz, S. (2018). Toward anti-colonial food policy in Canada? (Im)possibilities within the settler state. Canadian Food Studies / La Revue Canadienne Des études Sur L’alimentation, 5(2), 13-24.
Rotz, Sarah. 2017. “‘They Took Our Beads, It Was a Fair Trade, Get over It’: Settler Colonial Logics, Racial Hierarchies and Material Dominance in Canadian Agriculture.” Geoforum 82: 158–69.
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2021 | EU/GEOG2030 3.0 | A | Global Environmental Change | BLEN |
| Fall 2021 | EU/ENVS4001 3.0 | A | Field Placement Course | INSP |
| Fall/Winter 2021 | EU/ENVS4001 6.0 | A | Field Placement Course | INSP |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter 2022 | EU/ENVS3010 3.0 | M | Qualitative Methods in Environmental Stu | LECT |
| Winter 2022 | EU/ENVS4011 3.0 | M | Food, Land and Culture | SEMR |
| Fall/Winter 2021 | EU/ENVS4001 6.0 | A | Field Placement Course | INSP |
| Winter 2022 | GS/STS6006 3.0 | M | Digital Technoscience | REMT |
