Using Media & the Arts to Survive Climate Change in Small Island States

Catalog description

Low-lying islands are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, especially sea level rise. Even if worst-case scenarios don’t play out, several island nations could be partially or completely uninhabitable by the end of the century. No wonder that small island developing states (SIDS) have played an outsize role in advancing climate policy at the UN climate summits. In this course, students will learn how climate change affects small low-lying islands and how islanders have responded creatively to these threats, through advocacy, policy innovation, media, and the arts. Students will explore alternative futures for islands and their inhabitants such as floating cities and other forms of climate adaptation. Students will become familiar with the most threatened islands systems (Kiribati, Tuvalu, the Maldives, and the Marshall Islands), as well as the Dutch islands of the Caribbean (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Eustatius, Saba, and Sint Maarten), where the instructor’s research is focused. This includes their cultural history and their iconic interventions in the climate discussion. Throughout the semester, experts at Penn and elsewhere will be consulted.