Climate Change and Climate Justice

Climate change is a complex scientific phenomenon, a powerful, collective challenge for humanity, and a catalyst for questions about historical forces that brought us to this point. This course combines key concepts in environmental science necessary to understand climate change, as well as opportunities to think together about big questions around our past, present, and future. We will employ systems thinking as a framework throughout the course to enhance conceptual understanding of dynamics in the natural world and social spheres that climate impacts, and to inform questions of power, equity, and justice.

During this first half of the course we will learn the basics of climate science, including the greenhouse effect mechanism, the role of human impacts in anthropogenic climate change, and local and global effects of climate change, while considering the guiding questions: What do we know now and why do we think it's true? What different sources of knowledge can we draw on to understand climate change? How can the concept of feedback loops help us to understand both the science of climate change and the possibilities for responding to it? In the second half of the course we will consider more closely what response, agency and imagination can look like in the face of these crises: from adaptation, mitigation, and collective action in the present, to revisiting our histories in order to re-imagine our futures.

We will have at least one guest speaker.

Prerequisites: None

Instructor: Anna Mudd

DETAILS:

Suggested age range: 13+

Outside work: Students will complete 1 to 3 hours of weekly asynchronous course content on canvas outside of class, including short readings and videos. Discussion boards on canvas provide opportunities for students to respond to course content, ask questions, and test understanding. Course work assessment, for those who elect to take the course for a grade, is based on the total number of discussion boards completed, as well as a final integration project.

When & where: Tuesdays on Zoom from 12:00-1:00 Eastern Time, Sept. 9 - Nov. 25, 2025.

Fee: $300 ungraded/$350 graded; this includes a non-refundable registration fee of $10. We offer discounts for groups, siblings, and students who enroll in multiple classes. (Discount information.) Payment plans available. Fees waived for families with financial need.  (Waivers and payment plan information.) Questions about how classes work? Read our course FAQ.

Photo credit: Laura Fokkena