Sustainability Spotlight, Nov 2020 - A Student-Led Climate Course
In 2021, two students from the University's Green New Deal movement, Vidya Nanthakumar and Samuel Marot, are presenting a new evening course for UofG students: Introduction to Climate Change and Sustainability GEOG1015. Vidya is a 3rd year medical student, and Sam is a 3rd year mechanical engineering student; both are part of the Academic and Educational Change group. Course Convener is the Centre's own Director, Prof Jaime Toney.
While delivered from the home base of the School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, this 10-week accredited course will provide an interdisciplinary introduction to climate change, using approaches from the social sciences (history, sociology, geography, politics, economics), and the natural sciences (engineering, physics, biology). It will include a strong focus on potential solutions, leaving students with a positive knowledge base on the context of the climate crisis, and current theories on how to act.
Sam says:
"My environmental awareness sparked whilst I was living in Cape Town for 3 months during my gap year. By being there during the big drought, I witnessed the consequences of climate change directly, and since then have been very involved in sensitizing people on that extremely important matter."
Vidya says:
"My interest in environmental activism was re-sparked when I joined Extinction Rebellion in my first year of uni and finally felt as though creating change was possible. As the climate crisis affects all aspects of society, I think it’s so important that perspectives from all subjects are incorporated and made understandable to everyone, firstly, so we all feel that we can understand the issue, and secondly, so that potential solutions are actually feasible, as they have been considered from various angles from the start of the process."
Contact Vidya or Sam for more information. Download the Introduction to Climate Change poster to help publicise the course!