This interdisciplinary course will provide an overview of the human dynamics of climate change. It will cover a variety of topics from several perspectives: from community vulnerability, resilience and adaptation to local, national, and international political debates over how best to cope with and adjust to a dramatically changing environment.

In the first half of the course, we will begin with a basic introduction to the science of climate change, from the general mechanics of the carbon cycle to how and why climate change “super-sized” Hurricane Sandy. We will then work through the practical consequences of climate instability for communities—the emphasis will primarily be on the United States for the sake of time and the limited scope of a mini-course, but there will be an international component as well, especially if there is interest from the group.

The second part of the course will focus on the political dilemmas, challenges, and opportunities raised by a dramatically changing environment. We will look at cases as diverse as villages in the Arctic forced to relocate due to erosion to how cities like New Orleans and New York are working to improve infrastructure to cope with increasingly destructive climate patterns.

We will wrap up by shifting into a broad discussion of political philosophy, and will consider climate change’s unique challenges to and long-term consequences for democracy. By framing these questions within a historical context of collective problem solving in the face of crisis and the evolution of political systems over time, ideally we can learn something about what approaches might work better than others as we move together into an environmentally uncertain future.

Course to be taught by Jennifer Howk.