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Prerequisite: Seniors and Graduate Students
Credits: 3
Description:
Society as a whole, particularly in the United States, has appeared not to be deeply concerned about global warming until late, and as a result, has been slow to act on urgent warnings from the science and advocacy communities. If the science of global warming is clear – why has society been slow to embrace the challenge and combat the problem? Why is it that we’re just now hearing the alarm that scientists sounded in the 1950s on how human activities were altering the atmosphere, and therefore potentially the climate, of the entire Earth? Why was it then and why is it now, so difficult to make climate change a relevant issue in light of its central role as a life support system? Is there something unique about climate change that makes it difficult to understand and communicate? How do we move beyond merely delivering a message on climate change to engaging public discourse and action? How can we excite tomorrow’s talent, our children and young adults, about the wonders of (STEM) science, technology, engineering, and math, which will equip them with the knowledge and skills required to explore and solve common world-wide challenges such as climate change; and how might we best impart the requisite lessons on leadership and working in collaborative global teams so that they can create an inclusive, and sustainable world - community by community? The purpose of this course is to explore the relationship between what we communicate and how we communicate it in order to excite public discourse and action. In reading Creating a Climate for Change: Communicating Climate Change and Facilitating Social Change, edited by Susanne C. Moser and Lisa Dilling, we will explore and discuss insights by contributing authors a s to why the problem of global warming was not seen as urgent early on,and in turn, look at how communication efforts can be redesigned so that they can support public discourse and action.
| Dr. Cynthia Tomovic | tomovicc@purdue.edu | 765-494-5615 |