Cmty Dev & Apld Econ: Communicating Climate Crises

Examines efforts to emphasize and elevate the importance of addressing the existential threat posed by climate change while exploring other potential approaches to communicating climate change. Covers: 1) identifying the challenges posed in communicating climate change 2) exploring foundations for thinking about the relationship between communication, environment, and experience 3) developing a repertoire for connecting people with climate through communicative action. Prerequisites: CDAE 1240 or Instructor permission.

Prerequisites: CDAE 1240 or Instructor permission; Open to Degree and PACE students

In June of 1988, Dr. James Hansen, then the director of NASA’s Institute for Space studies warned that the composition of our atmosphere was changing, creating a global warming effect that could shift climates across the globe with dangerous even catastrophic consequences. The culprit was shifts in atmospheric C02 driven largely by the use of carbon-based energy sources (fossil fuels). At the time of his testimony, atmospheric C02 stood at approximately 350 parts per million. Since that time, the number has surged above 400 parts per million. Since that time, scientists across the globe have clarified and confirmed Hansen’s warnings; yet the levels continue to rise. In September of 2019, faced lagging efforts and support for change, millions of people took part in “Global Climate Strikes” demanding a swift and just transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Today, climate change remains a hot button issue with folks occupying a variety of relationships to this new reality ranging from denialism to complacency, to despair, to those advocates driven by a moral imperative to protect the planet. At issue is not science nor is it a lack of initiative from citizens. Rather, it is the conditions of judgement, the ability of democratic publics to discuss, debate, and deliberate about change pressing leaders (private and public) across the world to transition away from the harmful practices that are accelerating the earth to an unstable and unknown future. This course begins with a central question: how can help communities to make decisions and act justly to transition us toward a more sustainable and resilient future? Throughout this course, we will 1) identify challenges to public deliberation and discussion of climate change, 2) explore foundations for thinking about the relationship between communication, environment, and experience 3) develop a repertoire for connecting people with climate through communicative action