Culture and Climate Change

Jennifer Zovar
Whatcom Community College
Bellingham, WA
Author Profile

Summary

This is a short, in-class activity. Students will complete a brief individual carbon-footprint and will then be given a card with information about the carbon footprint of an individual in another part of the world. Students will then be asked to reflect on the 'climate consequences' faced by that person compared to the 'climate consequences' they themselves face. Discussion will lead into consideration of current and future effects of climate change on cultures in our own bioregion - as well as a reflection on the way our own cultural practices may be contributing to the climate catastrophe worldwide.

Used this activity? Share your experiences and modifications

Learning Goals

At the end of this activity, students will be able to:

  • Describe the relationship between different subsistence strategies and the carbon economy.
  • Describe how their individual and collective activities have effects that are experienced around the world, including in our own bioregion.
  • Explain the different ways that climate change may affect different peoples and cultures - and the different ways that these peoples are responding to the threat.
  • Reflect on the cultural barriers inhibiting people from taking action on climate change.
  • Reflect on possible actions they can take to reduce their personal carbon footprint as well as that of the United States as a whole.

Context for Use

I use this in an undergraduate Introduction to Cultural Anthropology class. It is presented shortly after I have introduced the students to the basic subsistence strategies - foraging, pastoralism, horticulture, agriculture, and industrialized food production. This leads into a discussion of the various carbon impacts of different subsistence strategies. However, the exercise is easily adapted to other contexts, and it could be used in a wide variety of classes to introduce and explore the local and global impacts of climate change.

This could also work well in any sized classroom, as long as you have a set-up where small group discussions (of up to 6 people each) are workable.

Description and Teaching Materials

The Set-up

In Cultural Anthropology, we are talking about subsistence strategies in traditional societies – foraging, pastoralism, horticulture, agriculture, etc. This leads into a discussion of the ways in which people affect the environment and the way in which the environment affects people in each of these systems. We reflect on the long-term sustainability of each of these systems in a class discussion, keeping in mind changes over time in both climate and in culture.

Students are asked to individually respond to the following questions, and then briefly discuss them in small groups:

  • How do your actions affect the environment?
  • How does the environment affect you?
  • How does your culture (broadly defined) affect the environment?
  • How does the environment affect your culture?

Before class ends, I also briefly introduce the concept of a 'carbon footprint' in class. We will talk about both our individual carbon footprints and the collective carbon footprint of the United States compared to different countries.

(See Carbon Emissions Per Person By Country, published by The Guardian in 2009 - [https://www.theguardian.com/environment/datablog/2009/sep/02/carbon-emissions-per-person-capita] See also "Carbon Footprint of Best Conserving Americans is Still Double Global Average," published by Science Daily in 2008 - https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428120658.htm)

Homework #1

Have students complete a simple personal carbon footprint calculator. There are many good, on-line possibilities. Try one of the following, or find one that you like better:

Students are asked to complete the carbon footprint calculator to the best of their ability, record their result, and be ready to discuss it in class the next day. These calculators will all get slightly different results, and they are approximations, so make sure students are aware of this. In order to best compare with the case study cards (below), they should minimally record their carbon footprint in metric tons (representing the amount of carbon dioxide produced by their individual lifestyle). I usually let students know that in the United States, the average individual footprint is about 20 tons. This lets them know if they are in the ballpark when they see what their individual number is.

The Lesson

In class, each student gets a Case Study Card. I have prepared six different "Case Study Cards" with examples from traditional cultures around the world, representing a variety of different subsistence strategies. These cards are included below:

Students will have a few minutes to read their card individually. Then, they will move into groups with others who have read different cards. In their groups they discuss the following:

  • Share what you learned from your Case Study Card with the rest of the group. What is this group's primary subsistence strategy? How do members of this group contribute to carbon emissions in terms of housing, travel, food, products and services?
  • Share your own carbon footprint. According to the calculator, how do you contribute to carbon emissions in terms of housing, travel, food, products and services?
  • Compare and contrast all of your carbon footprints with those of the people portrayed on your Case Study Cards.
  • How are you (and others living in our bioregion today) feeling the results of climate change? How is it affecting us now, and how might it affect us in the future?
  • How are the people on your Case Study Cards feeling the results of climate change? How is it affecting these people now, and how might it affect us in the future?
  • How may you be able to reduce your climate footprint? Do you think it is possible (or desirable) for you to reduce your footprint to the level of the person on your Case Study Card? What cultural factors may stop us from making changes to our lifestyle?
  • Other than reducing individual emissions, what do you think can be done to address the impacts of climate change on everyday people around the world in a way that is fair and socially just?

Students should have at least 20 minutes to discuss in small groups, leading into a large-group discussion and wrap-up lecture, which covers the carbon footprint of the average American compared with the rest of the world and outlines some of the difficulties involved in simply trying to reduce carbon emissions without also considering cultural factors.

Optional Follow-Up Assignments

  • At the end of the discussion, have each group write follow-up questions that they still have about carbon footprints generally or the people/cultures portrayed on their Case Study Cards more specifically. Students will choose one of these questions, independently research it, write up a short (1-2 pg) response, and briefly present the results to class.
  • Encourage students to research and/or attending meetings/activities of local organizations that are working to reduce the impacts of climate change.
  • Encourage students to volunteer for an appropriate organization in some capacity and write up a brief summary and reflection on their experience.

Teaching Notes and Tips

In the classroom where I teach, students are sitting with 5-6 students at a table, so it works out well to just place a copy of each Case Study Card at the table and let the students choose one. Depending on your classroom set-up, you may need to experiment with the best way to form small groups and distribute these cards efficiently.

Assessment

When I have conducted this exercise in the past, the small and large group discussion served as a quick check-in to make sure students had understood the 'big ideas' of this exercise. I followed up with a short-answer question on the midterm exam.

At this time, I have not yet experimented with the ideas included as "Optional Follow-Up Assignments" above, but I will probably offer one or both of those ideas as extra credit the next time I offer the course. This will allow another opportunity to assess student learning.

References and Resources

Books Dealing With Anthropology and Climate Change

Crate, Susan. 2006. Cows, Kin, and Globalization: An Ethnography of Sustainability. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.

Crate, Susan and Mark Nuttall, eds. 2009. Anthropology and Climate Change: From Encounters to Actions. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

Davidson, Joanna. 2016. Sacred Rice: An Ethnography of Identity, Environment, and Development in Rural West Africa. New York: Oxford University Press.

Jacka, Jerry. 2015. Alchemy in the Rain Forest: Politics, Ecology, and Resistance in a New Guinea Mining Area. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Marino, Elizabeth. 2015. Fierce Climate, Sacred Ground: An Ethnography of Climate Change in Shishmaref, Alaska.Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press.

Carbon Footprint Calculators

Other Useful Webpages