“The world is waking up. And change is coming, whether you like it or not,” – 16-year old climate activist Greta Thunberg at the UN Climate Action Summit, Sept. 25, 2019. 

This course will study a range of academic, journalistic, activist, and artistic responses to the climate crisis. We will attend to the rhetorical devices and modes employed across texts and media on the subject. The goal of the course is to explore the nexus of the economic, political, scientific, cultural and emotional dimensions of climate change. Course texts include academic work in the humanities, social sciences and sciences; short- and long-form journalism; and the new genre of “cli-fi” (climate fiction). We also will take a cultural studies approach that includes the study of film, advertising, and art.