For the second year, undergraduate students had the opportunity to engage in weekly structured dialogues on climate-related, interdisciplinary topics in UNIV 102: Let’s Talk About Climate Change. Emily Bernhardt, James B. Duke Professor of Biogeochemistry and Chair, Department of Biology, and Norman Wirzba, Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Christian Theology and Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute for Ethics, convened the course, in collaboration with Justin Shapiro, Postdoctoral Associate in the Nicholas School of the Environment.
The course engages students in discussions about climate change topics led by one of 10 Climate Change Faculty Fellows, instructors from across the university who strive to demonstrate the connections of their scholarship and work to the climate challenge. Each Fellow helms one weekly session of the course, which includes a conversation between the Fellow and the co-convenors, followed by dinner and small group discussions led by graduate and professional students who serve as group facilitators.
In Fall 2023, the UNIV 102 Climate Change Faculty Fellows included:
- Torry Bend, Associate Professor of the Practice of Theater Studies;
- Maurizio Forte, William and Sue Gross Distinguished Professor of Classical Studies and Art, Art History and Visual Studies;
- José María Rodríguez-García, Associate Professor of Romance Studies;
- Liz Kalies, Lead Renewable Energy Scientist at The Nature Conservancy and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Nicholas School of the Environment;
- Ryke Longest, Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic at Duke Law School;
- Valerie Sabol, Professor of Adult Acute Care & Gerontology at the School of Nursing;
- Kerilyn Schewel, Lecturing Fellow in the Duke Center for International Development in Sanford’s School of Public Policy;
- Amy Schmid, David M. Goodner Associate Professor in the Department of Biology;
- Cameron Wolfe, Professor of Medicine at the School of Medicine; and
- Daniel Vermeer, Associate Professor of the Practice of Business Administration and Director of the Center for Energy, Development and the Global Environment at the Fuqua School of Business.