Email:kgould@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Office: James Hall 3503

Office Hours: T, Th in person 12:15pm-1:00pm and 3:45pm-4:30pm and by appointment

Course Information

• Course Number and Name: SOCY 2222: Sociology of Climate Change
• College and Department: Brooklyn College-CUNY Department of Sociology                                                      
• Semester: Spring 2024
• Class Location: 3604 James Hall
• Class Time: T & Th 11:00AM-12:15PM 

Description, Outcomes, and Objectives

Course Description: This course explores the social origins and social consequences of climate change. We look at the role of organizations, institutions, and social structures in the generation of greenhouse gasses, and the capacity of organizations, institutions, and social forces to limit the negative social and ecological impacts of global warming. We look at paths and mechanisms of social adaptation to planetary conditions unlike those that humans have ever experienced before. The course emphasizes social equity issues in the distribution of the social costs and benefits in the creation of the climate crisis. We examine the role of carboniferous capitalism in structuring a society that undermines its basic conditions for survival. We also analyze the effectiveness of the climate denial propaganda network in delaying social action to limit greenhouse gasses and examine the range of tactics and strategies employed by those attempting to limit climate change-related socioecological damage.

Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of the course students will be able to:

1. Define anthropogenic climate change with reference to systems of power and inequality.
2. Explain the social structural and institutional causes of climate change.
3. Analyze a climate change consequence through a sociological lens using various forms of data (primary, secondary, qualitative, quantitative).
4. Contribute to a team to study a socio-environmental problem and communicate the team’s findings to the general public.
5. Understand institutional interests in addressing or failing to address climate change.

Objectives of Course:

1. Introduce the processes of socio-environmental dynamics related to climate change.
2. Provide sociological analyses of climate change issues.
3. Provide exposure to the methods and character of data used by environmental sociologists examining climate change.
4. Develop skills to communicate environmental social science regarding climate change.