As a Vandy grad, this story attracted my attention. Excerpt from this story from EcoWatch:
When most people think about a degree in climate studies, they often picture something in the STEM field. And rightfully so, as most universities offer climate science majors that typically lead to degrees in engineering or economics.
But Vanderbilt University is changing that starting in Fall 2022 with the launch of its new interdisciplinary climate and environmental studies major.
“Climate change is really something that’s not just a science topic, it’s something that invokes,” said Jonathan Gilligan, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences.
“Science can tell us what’s happening, but to understand what people can do, people need to be talking about values and ethics. People need to be talking about how society works and how the political process works. It’s really important to have all these different perspectives coming into it.”
The topic of climate change continues to be controversial. Some people doubt its severity, while even the loudest climate activists have different perspectives on how to address it — including the Vanderbilt professors who will be teaching this course. But as Gilligan told EcoWatch, providing a space for conflicting perspectives is kind of the point of these classes.
“We’re really hoping that we expose students to a lot of different ideas and the students will be able to then decide which ones they find more persuasive. And also they’ll be able to develop their own ideas,” Gilligan said. “I think one of the things we’re hoping is that we teach them to argue with us better.”
Gilligan said while Vanderbilt isn’t the first university to study climate change with an interdisciplinary approach, this program is unique because the humanities are not just a part of the program — they are the program.
