INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO UNIVERSITY COURSE ON CLIMATE CHANGE, POLITICS AND POLICY

Interdisciplinary courses at the university level can provide deeper understandings about the interconnectedness of various fields of study. Our pilot course focused on the interconnectedness of climate change science, politics and policy and implications for sustainability through mitigation and life style change. Primary goals; to provide students with the tools necessary to become informed citizens through making sense of, and understanding, scientific data, and identifying the impact that politics and policy have on climate change mitigation, preparedness, and a sustainable future. At the forefront of politics and policy, we focused on the misuse of scientific data driving politcal debate and policy. Integrating the science, content was delivered in support of the climate science data (i.e. how NOx and SOx and VOCs interact and the science behind the production of carbon dioxide and implications for warming temperatures) followed by data sets in chart, graph and image formats for student practice in using data to determine accuracy and validity when making decisions as voting members of American society. It is important to note that none of the students were science majors.