A Systems Approach to Climate Change

Catalog description

This interdisciplinary, cross-school global field intensive course focuses on the climate crisis through the lens of public policy, global health, education, and questions of intersectionality. The course consists of five online modules prior to travel addressing ethics, protocols, and practices of international research and humanitarian assistance, followed by a 10-day field research project in Zanzibar, Tanzania. This course provides students with the opportunity to work side-by-side with SUZA graduate students and faculty, UNICEF colleagues, government partners, and other professionals to design and implement cost effective programs that respond to complex local challenges resulting from climate change, conflict, and poverty. The strategies developed in the course are presented on the final day for review by senior public health and development experts and then taken back into the communities for implementation. Students will integrate research and studies on education, public health, and other disciplines for emergency and humanitarian action. They will gain a foundation of knowledge and skills to design and implement strategies in prevention and community-based education in response to climate change, disease outbreaks, and other humanitarian crisis situations.