Fit with the Institutional Mission / Institutional Learning Outcomes (ILO)

This certificate supports all four ILOs:

Transformation: Integrative learning - climate change is one of the most complex, if not the most complex, issue facing humanity in the 21st century.  This certificate integrates the research surrounding climate change with its very real, concrete impacts on communities, regions, and the world at large.  Students will be expected to participate in projects that integrate the abstract with the concrete in ethical, humane ways.

Place and Community: Urban and global mission - The impact of society and the environment is at its most extreme when looking at climate change as an umbrella for the anthropomorphic impacts on the global climatological systems.  This certificate will focus on the diversity of research, ideas, impacts, and potential solutions in Los Angeles, in the US, but especially in other areas of the world that are bearing the consequences of the actions of others (such as the progressive loss of Kiribati).  This program will focus on the multiple voices that need to be at this table - while also looking at what this means for us, here, in LA.  The program will also emphasize the role cities play in both causing and potentially solving climate change issues - the majority of the world’s population now lives in urban areas, and climate change cannot be disconnected from this reality.

Proficiency: intellectual skills - The program will apply qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques within the context of climate science, climate impacts, and climate action.  Based on these findings, students will critically interpret the results.  Students will be expected to communicate with diverse audiences about climate change and what it means across multiple dimensions in written, oral, and other multimedia formats (such as maps, etc.).

Knowledge: Mastery of content and processes of inquiry -  This certificate will provide a foundational framework for the physical science behind climate change, as well as the social science and humanities dimensions when looking at anthropogenic impacts of these physical dynamics.  Emphasis will also be placed on developing the questions we still need to ask in order to develop additional resilience, mitigation, and adaptation approaches to these impacts.

Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs)

• PLO1.  Explain the scientific basis for climate change, including the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions and other human activities on global temperatures, sea level rise, and extreme weather events.
• PLO2.  Analyze the social, economic, political, and physical/environmental dimensions of climate change, including its impacts on vulnerable populations, adaptation strategies, and mitigation policies at local, national, and global levels.
• PLO3.  Communicate effectively about climate change to diverse audiences using various media, including written reports, oral presentations, and the use of other media.