The August 2021 release of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, once again confirmed what climate-change scholars and international commentators have been saying about the growing risks of uncontrolled global warming. As the Summary for Policymakers report notes, “The scale of recent changes across the climate system as a whole and the present state of many aspects of the climate system are unprecedented over many centuries to many thousands of years.” Despite these clear warnings from the scientific community, global action to address climate change remains weak and ineffective, driven by a mix of climate denial and political inaction. These issues will be on center stage during the Conference Of Parties 26 Meeting in the United Kingdom this November.

This interdisciplinary roundtable brings together a diverse group of scholars from a range of disciplines to help us think about the complex challenges which climate change presents, from issues of scientific authority in the face of climate skepticism and growing global health challenges to climate justice and climate refugees. The increasing flows of people, ideas, and goods around the globe are at once the cause of climate change, but also a source of potential solutions. This roundtable seeks to bring these different perspectives into a productive dialogue to help foster a larger community discussion at Denison about how to engage these climate issues in our teaching and scholarship, and how to help students better understand and respond to one of the single greatest challenges facing the future of life on planet Earth.

Sponsored by Denison University’s International Studies program.

Panelists:

  • Jonathan Maskit, Philosophy
  • Erik Klemetti, Earth & Environmental Sciences
  • Sarah Supp, Data Analytics
  • Quentin Duroy, Economics
  • Chris Crews, International Studies

Moderator:

  • Sangeet Kumar, International Studies

Cosponsors:

DU Green Team, Global Health, Lisska Center for Intellectual Engagement, Earth and Environmental Sciences

November 2, 2021