COURSE  DESCRIPTION
Geography 135:  Climate Summit

This climate summit course is designed to be a total "immersion" into the process (presentations, discussions and negotiations) and atmosphere of an environment summit such as those of the Conference of the Parties (COPs) that are the basis for Climate Convention Framework negotiations.

The summit is the culmination of the class while the core of the class is the preparation for this summit.

Preparation takes place during class through a number of different activities including lectures, group discussions, web research and group presentations, as well as outside of the class-room where students need to plan meetings with members of their group to coordinate presentation and writing activities.

Each student plays a specific and unique role in the summit. Each student is either a representative of a country (or group of countries), or of a Non-Governmental organization (NGO), or of the media. In his/her role, each student is expected to be as authentic as possible. For instance, government representatives are expected to be partisan in favor of their particular country, while NGO representatives are expected to represent world-wide interests. Media representatives are expected to fairly and factually report events and provide analyses prior to and after the summit. Each role has particular responsibilities and obligations that are described on this website.

Attendance is required at each class meeting.


Professor Catherine Gautier, D.Sc.
6804 Ellison Hall
office hours by appointment
email: gautier@icess.ucsb.edu
telephone: (805) 893-8095

Teaching Assistant Tony Marca
6802 Ellison Hall
office hours by appointment
email: marca@geog.ucsb.edu