One Size Fits Most: Fitting in a Multi-Purpose Climate Change Course at a Women’s Focused College

Ursuline College is a small private liberal arts college that emphasizes women-centered learning. As a minority serving institution for undergraduates, 27% of the students represent a variety of minority groups and 91% are female. As a Biologist teaching an undergraduate population underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), the AMS Climate Studies Diversity Project provided a rich experience that has benefited the college community and me, both personally and professionally. The course implementation workshop, yielded not only up to date, relevant information regarding climate change and climate change research, but also provided an opportunity to network with other faculty at similar undergraduate institutions. I was also able to exchange ideas regarding course implementation with seasoned faculty who have already implemented AMS Climate Studies and other AMS curricula. During the workshop, I also learned of many new educational resources and programs available from NASA and NOAA.

The workshop was not only helpful for developing a new Climate Change course at Ursuline College, but has also benefited my existing college courses. I am currently teaching Ecology, an upper division course for Biology majors, and Human Environment, a general science elective course. In both of these courses, I have already used resources from NASA Goddard Scientific Visualization Studio and AMS Climate Studies, as well as climate data provided from the implementation course presenters. As such, I have become more familiar with the AMS Climate Studies products, which has been beneficial for my current students and for creating a new Climate Change course.

Bringing AMS Climate Studies to Ursuline College couldn't have come at a better time, as we are currently developing a new interdisciplinary Sustainability and Social Justice program. As such, the development and approval of the new Climate Change course will be coupled with the Sustainability and Social Justice program approval process. As a small college with enrollment of only 1500, Climate Change must be a multi-purpose course. It will serve as an elective for Sustainability and Social Justice majors and Biology majors. Although, AMS Climate Studies was intended to be an introductory general education course, I believe that the AMS Climate Studies course materials allow the flexibility to create and add more rigorous course content that is consistent with my specific program needs.

Overall, participating in the AMS Climate Studies Diversity Project has been a fruitful experience, and has enriched the diverse Ursuline College community. The resources and contacts I have made have improved my natural science courses, empowered my students, and have assisted with the development of a new interdisciplinary Sustainability and Social Justice program on campus.