Course Description

As the climate crisis intensifies, society faces urgent questions about how to adapt, mitigate, and transform. However, the scale of this issue, misinformation, and slow pace of social responses often render people increasingly confused, despondent, and disengaged. This course provides an interdisciplinary exploration of the climate crisis through scientific and sociopolitical lenses.  To better understand the science of global climate change, we will use the seminal 6th IPCC Assessment Report, which provides the most up-to-date consensus perspective on the state of global change from the scientific community. Students will also consider the local and regional manifestations of climate change in New Mexico through Bill Debuys’ A Great Aridness.  We will apply this investigation of climate change’s impacts and responses across sectors such as education, healthcare, transportation, agriculture, and urban planning. In a capstone bioregional project, students will reimagine how these areas of society can be transformed to respond to the climate emergency, thereby bridging theory and practice, as well as encouraging students to apply classroom knowledge through the lens of their personal experience. Moving beyond the science, the course invites students to imagine actionable ways to engage with the climate crisis in their personal lives on the University of New Mexico’s campus, working on initiatives that reflect local and regional challenges within the broader climate justice movement. These efforts will integrate the sciences and humanities, building upon the inspirational ideas presented in Andrew Boyd’s I Want a Better Catastrophe. By participating in activities that foster both individual and community resilience, students will cultivate the interdisciplinary knowledge, practical skills, and resolute outlook to actively engage in climate actions working toward building a more sustainable, just, and resilient future.

Texts

• Debuys, William (2011). A Great Aridness: Climate Change and the Future of the American Southwest. Oxford University Press.
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2022). Sixth Assessment Report (AR6).
• Boyd, Andrew (2023). I Want a Better Catastrophe: Navigating the Climate Crisis with Grief Hope, and Gallows Humor. New Society Publishers.

Requirements

Students will be expected to read several excerpts from the peer-reviewed and popular literature; participate in discussions and activities with their peers; complete two course projects, including a bioregional futures plan and climate action; and attend several field trips in the greater Albuquerque area.

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About the Instructor(s): Tomasz Falkowski

Tomasz Falkowski is an applied ecologist who has over a decade of experience researching traditional ecological knowledge, agroecology, and ecological restoration in New Mexico and Chiapas, Mexico. In all of his academic work, he explores how socio-ecological management can foster reciprocal relationships to benefit both human and ecological communities.