The New School News

Disrupt Climate Injustice

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The New School Community Disrupts Climate Injustice

Typically, the lobby of the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center (SJDC) is a busy thoroughfare of students and teachers going to and from class.

But on Tuesday, traffic was brought to a halt as students in the collab course Science + Design on Climate Change invited passers-by to play-test projects raising awareness on the impact of global climate change. They included Countries Against Humanity, a take on the Cards Against Humanity card game in which players act as countries competing to limit their carbon emissions; a game show-style activity that gives players two minutes to list as many emissions-reducing actions as they could in order to balance out a scale representing the constant addition of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; and an interactive mural in which participants shared their vision of a world without climate change.

The effort to interrupt business as usual in one of Parsons’ most active spaces was part of Disrupt Climate Injustice, an initiative in which The New School, led by the Tishman Environment and Design Center, encouraged faculty members and students to disrupt regularly scheduled curricula across the university and think about global climate change through the lens of their particular field of study. Disrupt Climate Injustice also features talks, workshops, and film screenings throughout the week.

“The goal is to learn about climate change and its implications, particularly the unequal and devastating impacts on the most vulnerable and least responsible communities around the globe,” according to the Tishman Center. “This disruption is an opportunity to come together to take concrete action toward fighting climate change and supporting climate justice.”

Students from the collab course Science + Design on Climate Change, which is taught by Associate Professor of Chemistry Bhawani Venkataraman and Assistant Professor of Design and Technology Jess Irish, aren’t the only ones taking action. On Tuesday, the Tishman Center hosted a DIY Seed Bomb Workshop in the Parsons Making Center in partnership with the Lower East Side Ecology Center. On Wednesday, 6-8 p.m. students in Sustainability Perspectives and Practices class taught by Ana Baptista, Assistant Professor in the Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management, will occupy the University Center Lobby to raise awareness and educate the community on climate change.

To find out how to participate in or learn more about Disrupt Climate Justice, visit the website for the initiative and view Facebook Live videos posted daily to The New School’s Facebook page. If you would like to feature project or activity in this story, contact Scott Gargan at gargans@newschool.edu.