2016 - Summer

Green NY (Session 2)

Course Number: JOUR-UA 204-002

Day & Time: TWR - 2:00-4:00 pm

Location: 20 Cooper Square

Albert Course Number: 2894

Nobody on earth can escape it: the stark, worsening, and perhaps irreversible impact of climate change. Not least affected are billions of urban dwellers from Beijing to Buenos Aires, whose response to rising sea levels, deforestation, virulent weather patterns and the imperative to conduct our lives more responsibly require a vast array of changes in human behavior.

New York City offers a laboratory. It is certainly not the most advanced of the world’s urban centers in efforts to promote “sustainability,” but NYC is in the forefront because of its size, influence and cultural diversity. As reporters, you will spend six weeks taking a hard look at what New Yorkers are doing – or not – about climate change.

This may mean braving treacherous Manhattan traffic on a bike, digging into the roof gardens of Brooklyn or the Bronx, probing into the human toll of Hurricane Sandy, or turning a critical eye on any “eco-friendly” venture that peaks your interest. Bring your best ideas, but leave unchecked idealism at the door.

The class should appeal to students from varied backgrounds and majors. Politics, economics and business, social psychology, urban planning, architecture and the arts can all be central to our reporting calculus. A background in science would be great, but is not essential. International students are warmly welcomed.