Interdisciplinary Dialogues for Environmental & Sustainability Studies

3 units · Undergraduate

Spring: 3 units Environmental scholar S. Ravi Rajan describes the communication barriers between disciplines, and the dire consequences of not communicating, in scenarios where complex problems ought to be solved by "all hands on deck." Rajan explains that technical jargon and disciplinary habits are important for each group within a discipline; however, technical concepts and keywords can create barriers between disciplines, and also a barrier between researchers and the public at large. Failure of interdisciplinary communication is a common theme for researchers who ask, "Why don’t we listen to each other more, in pursuit of our common goal?" The goal of this course is to encourage practices of listening, and learning to ask questions, about diverse areas of disciplinary research addressing environmental and sustainability problems. Four CMU experts from Arts, Architecture, Design, Humanities, Science, Engineering, Business, Economics, and/or Policy will share their work and their insights. We will emphasize the importance of listening, while paying attention to skills for the interpretation of technical, professional, and disciplinary aspects of research related to environment and sustainability.