Instructor: Prof. Robert R. Dunn, Applied Ecology
Meeting time: Tuesdays: 1:30 to 2:45 pm (with some meetings on alternate days/times)
Credits: 1
Scientists have focused their predictions on the near future. Many models of climate, the future of species and the future of cities, for example, consider what might happen in the years 2030 or 2050. Yet, much of the infrastructure we are building now, whether it is roads, apartment buildings, policy infrastructure or social and cultural infrastructure, will last far longer. Some of our constructions may well last tens of thousands of years. We are building some of the distant future even as we focus mostly on conversations about the here and now. Fortunately, we already know quite a bit about some inescapable biological realities of the near and far future thanks to our understanding of
the general rules of life. In this class, we will consider those rules. We will also consider the ways in which particular human societies have, through understanding those rules, proven resilient to the challenges of climate change and other global changes. Through a formal collaboration that will begin during this class (and extend, for those who chose, with independent projects in the spring) we will work with scholars from departments across campus to understand the traits of resilient societies and what we might learn from them. In doing so we will generate practical recommendations for the university and for society more generally that will be published both for our university community and for broader audiences.