CMC’s commitment to blurring the lines between disciplinary boundaries is actively at work this fall in a new course, “Social and Environmental Inequalities in the Inland Empire.” Merging their respective expertise in the humanities and science, Lily Geismer, Professor of History, and Branwen Williams, George R. Roberts Professor of Integrated Sciences: Environmental Science, teamed up to teach the class in the CMC spirit of “true integration—not merely trading off,” Williams explained. Below, Geismer and Williams discuss purpose, projects, and process, and share their excitement about the collaboration.
What is the focus of this course and why did you develop it?
This course brings together two people from different disciplinary backgrounds to address critical issues facing not only Southern California, but all of society. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, we are quantifying environmental issues such as air and water pollution, heat, and wildfires, and exploring their interactions with historical and contemporary social, economic, and political forces in Claremont and the Inland Empire. Through this examination, we seek to understand how those interactions impact the labor and living conditions of the people who live and work in this area.
What are the core concepts within the course, as well as any unique features or projects?
The course focuses especially on how racial and economic inequalities help explain the burdens of environmental change in one of the most diverse and polluted regions in the United States, and vice versa. We seek to help students learn qualitative and quantitative evidence-based learning and research methods, and to understand how historians and scientists establish credibility through data and evidence in our respective disciplines. The course is designed with three modules: Heat, Housing, and Labor; Land Use; and Water Security. Each unit contains a major project that encourages students to take an integrated approach and deepen their research and communication skills, including a policy report, an ArcGIS StoryMap*, and an Op-Ed. We also have several guest speakers, experiments such as creating a temperature map of the campus, and field trips to sites in the area.
*An ArcGIS StoryMap is a multimedia presentation that includes interactive maps, narrative, images, and video
Tell me about the team-teaching aspect of the course. How do your differing disciplines converge and complement each other?
It has been really fun and exciting to develop this course together. It has helped to see the ways in which scientists and historians both engage in questions of time and space—albeit very differently. We have come to understand how thinking in integrated ways can bring a much deeper understanding to the issues of social and environmental inequalities. Overall, we want to give students an integrated approach to understanding social and environmental inequality. We also want them to both gain a deeper and holistic knowledge of the area in which they are attending college and grapple with both its history and the future challenges it faces. It has also been exciting to teach in the new Robert Day Sciences Center. Its flexible classrooms are ideal for a class seeking to integrate scientific and humanistic learning.