No registration required. See you on Friday in Ponderosa Oak House 2012!
Synopsis:
Young people today are experiencing an overwhelming sense of eco-anxiety, climate grief, and a loss of hope as they grapple with the harsh realities of a changing planet. The latest IPCC report (2023) gave the world just a few years to limit warming to 1.5 degrees but current projections suggesting we are on track for at least 3 degrees of warming. In the United States federal funding for climate action has been decimated and critical climate education and research is being restricted, defunded, and censored by the Trump administration. Against this backdrop, educating students studying for environmental and sustainability fields has become both an academic and existential challenge. Until recently, I approached teaching about the climate crisis from the perspective of mitigation and adaptation. However, the gravity of the situation and sense of desperation from students demanded a shift in focus. It became clear that we need to prepare environmental and sustainability students for the reality we face – the need to focus on making the “climate landing” as soft as possible for as many people as possible, while ensuring we do so through a lens of equity and justice. In this talk, I will discuss the results of a semester-long student project on critical hope that I’ve implemented throughout my courses, based the work of Dr. Kari Grain. In this project students build essential coping skills, process complex emotions, engage in meaningful action, and learn strategies from decolonial, anti-racist, and intersectional movements. The projects have been transformational for students, pointing to the importance of interrogating how we teach about the climate crisis and the importance of cultivating a deep critical hope in students entering environmental and sustainability fields.
Bio:
Dr. Becky Williams is an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. She teaches in the Environmental Studies; Global Studies; Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; and Integrative Studies programs. Her research focuses on the impacts of climate change on rural and indigenous livelihoods in Central America, and how it impacts livelihood pathways – particularly in terms of irregular migration to the United States or participation in violent livelihoods such as gangs and narcotrafficking. She also conducts research on gender and development projects (e.g., women’s empowerment initiatives, gender-based violence mitigation) through the lens of contemporary critical feminist critiques of development including intersectionality, masculinities, and decoloniality. Dr. Williams earned her PhD in Interdisciplinary Ecology, concentrating in Tropical Conservation and Development from the University of Florida and a graduate certificate in Gender and Development. She holds a MS in Instructional Systems Design from Florida State University and a BS in Music Education from Stetson University.