GEOG 395 A: Special Topics in Geography

GEOG 395: Climate Justice and Social Action

Instructor

Dr. Gretchen Sneegas

Office: SMI 424

Email: gsneegas@uw.edu

Office Hours: By appointment

Course Description

In this course, we will ask: what does action on climate change look like when we place social and environmental justice at its foundation?

Our class takes seriously the idea that learning is far more effective when you actually do the things you are learning, rather than just talk about it. Our work together will center on an immersive, team-based social action project: your team will work with a Seattle or UW campus-based organization to co-develop and enact a social action campaign that addresses an existing climate injustice. Your team’s campaign will seek to change a policy, whether on campus or in the broader municipal/regional community, to address this injustice.

We will hit the ground running in this class! In order to be prepared to launch your campaign this quarter, we will start reviewing and developing your campaigns and associated actions immediately. On the first day of class, representatives of different local organizations pitch the class and give overviews about their existing campaigns; you will pick one of these organizations to work with on our first day!

While this class will still incorporate academic readings and discussion, by mid-quarter our focus will shift to researching, designing, and implementing your team’s social action campaign in conversation with a local community organization. The first three weeks of class will bring you up to speed with the basics of climate justice, scalar community organizing tactics, and theories of collective change.

By Week 4, you will have begun working in earnest in your teams to organize your campaigns. We will continue to incorporate readings, videos, and guest lectures examining case studies of prior and existing environmental campaigns (including what worked and what didn’t), while building your skills and troubleshooting issues that come up in real time while completing campaign actions. You will apply and integrate foundational concepts from class to foreground climate justice as part of your team’s social action campaign.

Learning Outcomes

In this course, you will:

• Acquire and apply foundational knowledge of climate justice theory and collective action
• Develop and implement the community organization knowledge, skills, strategies and tactics to create and conduct grassroots social action campaigns in a U.S. political context
• Co-design and enact a social action campaign on a climate justice issue in collaboration with a local organization as a student wing of that organization
• Understand and implement strategies for working effectively with community organizations
• Develop skills for working effectively in teams on collaborative projects

Social Action Campaign

Your team will operate as a student ‘wing’ of an existing campus, city, or regional organization’s existing campaign. There are three requirements for your social action campaign:

1. You have a minimum of 3 students on your team.
2. Your campaign tries to change some type of policy relating to climate justice.
3. You have passion for the issue/organization!

All students in this class will be involved in social action! You should expect to spend a minimum of 1.5-2 hours per week on campaign work, in addition to the time spent on readings/assignments[1] and in class. This works out to 15-20 hours minimum over 10 weeks. You should aim for roughly half of this time to be spent in organizational and preparation labor (e.g. meetings, developing campaign materials), with the other half spent on campaign activities (e.g. tabling, flyering, giving organizational raps to classes, etc.) and/or campaign actions (e.g. marches, rallies, meeting with decision-makers, etc.). If you want to do more campaign work, that is great! Anyone interested in continuing work on their campaigns in the future is welcome to talk to me about options such as Independent Study.

Political affiliation

Your climate justice campaign can come from a liberal, conservative, social democrat, or libertarian perspective – or it may have no ideology. No matter what campaign you choose to work on, we will work together to learn about democracy, power, climate justice, and change. My role is to offer guidance about strategy and tactics, to help you consider the variety of options available, and support student campaigns in deciding how to best move forward. My role is not to tell you what ideological position to take on your climate justice campaigns.

Changing campaigns

You will be choosing your campaign on the first day of class. If for some reason you want to change campaigns, you need to contact me. We will discuss what campaign you would like to join, and why. I will then contact that campaign to discuss the possibility of a new addition. Campaign groups have the right to refuse new additions if they feel there would be too great a disruption due to potential lack of trust, transparency issues, negative behavior, etc. If that student still wishes to join the campaign, I will make the final decision.

In the event that a student wants to leave a team that only has three members, we will make such determinations on a case-by-case basis, as that choice would leave the team with fewer than the minimum number of students.

If a student wishes to leave their current team but is unable to join another campaign, I will work with that student to develop an independent study with no repercussions to their grade.

Course Structure

This course is student-driven! It is founded on a collaborative learning model, with the understanding that we can learn far more together than alone. You and I will be collaborators and co-creators of knowledge in this class.

Approximately 50% of the course will focus on readings and discussion. We will treat the discussion aspects of this class like a seminar: you will prepare by reading material outside of class, then review and discuss the readings in class. The goal is for you to do most of the talking, though I will provide short explanations/lectures as needed.

At least 50% of the course will focus on social action. Teamwork is a fundamental aspect of this process! Over the entire quarter, you will work in small groups of at least three (3) students on a climate justice social action campaign of your choice.

A typical class will look something like the following:

• Before class:
  • Complete the assigned readings
  • Post your discussion questions to that day’s Canvas discussion board
• During class:
  • Discussion Question voting
  • Announcements (as needed)
  • 1-2 student organizational raps[2]
  • Zoom call with local organizers (may not be every class)
  • Mini-lecture on the reading (as needed)
  • Class discussion
  • Campaign group work

Course Materials

We will read selections from the following textbooks:

• Myers-Lipton, S. (2023) Change! A Student Guide to Social Action. 2^nd Routledge.
• Rice, J. L., J. Long and A. Levenda. Eds. (2023) Urban Climate Justice: Theory, Praxis, Resistance. University of Georgia Press.
• Harvey et. al. (2018) Designing Climate Solutions.
• Ordower and Zafair (2024) Power Lines.

I will link on Canvas to e-book copies of these textbooks through UW Library where available. There are also physical copies available for purchase at the UW Bookstore or any other bookseller of your choice. E-books (e.g. Kindle, Nook) are generally cheaper than physical copies, if that is your preference. If you cannot acquire your own copy of any readings, please contact me directly – I will provide PDF copies as needed!

I will make all other readings available to view and/or download through Canvas and/or the UW Library system. All readings are listed in Canvas. You can find each day’s readings listed on that week’s course materials page, which are linked from the Canvas home page. I will also make all readings available in multiple formats for accessibility.  (e.g. PDF, e-book link, Word doc, and/or EPUB). If you need any course materials in a specific format, please contact me directly.

If you have any issues meeting the course requirements due to a lack of access to resources (e.g. computer, internet, time, etc.), please come talk to me to discuss possible solutions!

(Un)Grading System & Policies

Labor-Based Grading

Because labor is at the heart of how you can expect to be successful in this class, our class will use a Labor-Based Contract grading system. Labor-based grading reflects our focus on doing the work of social action, rather than just discussing it. Labor-based grading is a form of ‘ungrading,’ meaning a method of assigning grades that gives students (you!) control and autonomy over the assessment process. In this way, labor-based grading aligns with my own personal goal of making the classroom a more just and equitable place, by acknowledging that imposing standardized grades is a deeply inequitable and bias-laden practice.

At their core, labor-based grading contracts are a set of social agreements that we will collaboratively create to decide how much labor it will take for a student to get a certain grade in this class. The focus here is on labor (i.e. time and work) rather than the instructor’s (often very subjective) interpretations of ‘quality’. I will not be assigning letter-grades or percentages to assignments; instead, I will grade assignments as ‘complete’ or ‘incomplete’. I will provide written formative feedback on your assignments, just no grades!

We will negotiate the class labor contract together on our second full day of class, and again at mid-quarter. After that point, there will be no further edits made to the contract. The contract will apply to everyone in the class.[3]

At the end of the quarter, you will submit a write-up to me explaining what grade you believe you have accomplished based on the class contract, and justifying that choice. We will meet individually during the time scheduled for the final exam to go over everyone’s final grade.

Late Policy

Assignment deadlines help me manage my workload (i.e. grading all your stuff!) so I can turn around grades and feedback in a timely and manageable way. That said, I’m not interested in harsh late policies which can disproportionately impact more vulnerable students (e.g. those with care-taking responsibilities, full-time jobs, health concerns, etc.). With this in mind, I have tried to make my late policy balanced, ethical, and fair.

For individually-graded assignments, I will not impose any sanctions on late work, unless otherwise noted in the assignment descriptions below. However, depending on how late the assignment is turned in, I may not be able to provide much (or any) feedback. The final deadline for turning in any late/missing assignments will be Sunday, 12/10 by 11:59 p.m. Unless there are extenuating circumstances, I will not accept any work past this date to allow myself sufficient time for grading!

For assignments impacting your group, I will not accept late work. Your team will be relying on you to complete your tasks in a timely manner – they will not be able to fully function without you doing your part! These assignments will include Team Evaluations I and II.

Attendance

I do not assign or deduct points based on your attendance. However, your absences may negatively impact your team’s ability to complete tasks, which could in turn affect whether and how your team accomplishes your planned social action(s).

Each class will set aside time for group campaign work. Due to the many responsibilities students have outside of class (e.g. internships, jobs, family, extra-curricular activities, etc.), in addition to any transportation or commuting concerns, it can be very difficult to find time outside of class when everyone on your team will be able to meet in person. I strongly recommend that you commit to coming to class in person so that your team will have regular meeting time together!

If you are unable to be in class in-person, I recommend you try to join your team discussion remotely if possible. Please communicate with me and your team as early as possible if you are unable to join either in person or remotely!

Course Assignments

Participation

Because this class is heavily based in collaborative teamwork, participation is a central aspect of how your team will be successful – and how you will learn about social action and climate justice! As this is an ‘ungraded’ class, I am not imposing a grading percentage on participation (or any other assignment). However, you will reflect on the depth and quality of your participation when you complete your Individual Reflection and Assessment (see below) and meet with me at the end of the quarter.

On our second day of class, as part of our class labor contract negotiation, we will also co-create a community agreement and participation policy. I will use these artifacts to inform the final Individual Reflection and Assessment prompts, as well as Team Evaluations.

Course Intake Form

In the first week of class, you will complete a short form to answer some questions about yourself and help me get to know you! Due Sun. 9/28, 11:59 p.m.

Class Labor Contract

Using the form provided on Canvas, you will commit to a labor contract for the grade you plan to achieve for this class. You may revise your contract after we collectively revisit it as a class at mid-quarter.

• First contract: Due Sun. 10/5, 11:59 p.m.
• Revised contract (optional): Due Sun. 10/26, 11:59 p.m.

Team Evaluations

You will complete two separate team evaluations. This evaluation will focus on holistically considering how well your team is working together, and where your team performance can improve. Your team will also have time in class to review and discuss your team evaluations at mid-quarter.

• Team Evaluation 1: Due Sun. 10/22, 11:59 p.m.
• Team Evaluation 2: Due Sun. 12/3, 11:59 p.m.

Discussion Questions

To participate effectively, it is vital that you read the assigned materials before class! To help prepare for class discussion, you will submit 1-2 discussion questions about each day’s materials to that day’s Canvas discussion board. At the start of class, we will collectively choose which discussion questions from the class to discuss. Due by 11:59 p.m. the night before class

Your discussion questions should go beyond asking whether your classmates liked/disliked the readings, or having them summarize the materials. Your questions should demonstrate that you have critically engaged the materials, and lead your classmates to do the same. Critical engagement can include:

• Outlining shared themes between the readings
• Connecting how the readings apply to your/others’ social action campaigns in the class
• Connecting how the readings build upon or relate to materials and themes from earlier class materials, other classes, current events, and/or external sources
• Articulating additional questions, lines of inquiry, or curiosities the texts open up for you
• Assessing the importance or limitations of arguments made in the readings
• Critiquing the arguments made in the readings based on their assumptions and/or evidence
• Discussing background information relevant to the readings that provides additional context and enriches your understanding of the material
• Identifying and addressing gaps in your own understanding by looking up and discussing concepts that you did not fully grasp

Weekly Reading Responses

Many university classes ask you to demonstrate your understanding of course content in an exam. This class will not have any exams – instead, you will complete weekly written responses in which I ask you to integrate course texts with your campaign work. While you can talk to your teammates about your written portfolios, your work must be your own. Each week’s response prompt will be available on Canvas. Due each Sunday by 11:59 pm unless otherwise noted

Your first reading response will be a personal environmental statement that answers the prompts uploaded to Canvas, discussing what “climate action” means to you. You will also reflect on this statement as part of your end-of-class Learning Reflection & Assessment, described below. Due Sun. 10/1, 11:59 p.m.

Social Action Labor/Time Log

You will keep a log of your time spent on all campaign-related labor, which you will submit three times in the course. Please use this template log to keep track of your community work throughout the quarter.

• Social Action Log 1: due Sun. 10/15, 11:59 p.m.
• Social Action Log 2: due Sun. 11/12, 11:59 p.m.
• Social Action Log 3: due Sun. 12/10, 11:59 p.m.

Virtual Campaign Binder and Presentation

Instead of a final exam, each team will give a group presentation to the class on their social action campaign. In addition, your team will complete and turn in a virtual campaign binder using Mural Board, which will be used by any students who choose to continue your campaign in future classes. Both the Virtual Campaign Binder and Presentation Slides will be due before class on Tues. 12/5.

Individual Learning Reflection & Assessment

At the end of the course, you will complete a structured individual reflection and assessment of your learning in this class. Through this process, you will reflect on your work throughout the quarter. You will use the class labor contract and other artifacts of your learning (e.g. completed assignments, assignment drafts, feedback, response to feedback, notes, team evaluations, etc.) to tell me what course grade you think you have accomplished, and justify your grade. Due Sun. 12/10 by 11:59 p.m.

Final Grade Meeting

I will conduct individual 5-minute meetings with each student during the block of time reserved for the course final exam. In these meetings, we will review your proposed grade and make a final determination. Sign-ups for these meetings will be available to the class two weeks before finals week. If you are unable to meet during that time, you will need to make alternative arrangements with me.

Please note: I do reserve the right to change student-generated grades based on my own assessment. However, in the majority of cases I revise grades upwards, not down!

Additional Course Policies & Resources

Disability Resources

Your experience in this class is important to me. It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please activate your accommodations via myDRS so we can discuss how they will be implemented in this course.

If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), contact DRS directly to set up an Access Plan. DRS facilitates the interactive process that establishes reasonable accommodations. Contact DRS at disability.uw.edu.

Labor-based grading has (rightly!) been criticized for applying a ‘one size fits all’ approach to how much time students are able to devote to classes, without taking into consideration the impacts of disabilities on student time. I will work with students on a case-by-case basis to alter the class labor contract as needed to reflect any mitigating circumstances such as disability accommodations.

Technology Policy

It is fine to use technology during class to support your learning. In fact, it’s a really good idea to bring your laptop or other device, as there will be lots of time allocated during allocated to do group work on your campaigns!

I request that you refrain from using technology to check email, do other classwork, check social media, or do anything not directly related to class during our time together to avoid distracting yourself or your classmates. If you need to do something that is not related to class, please excuse yourself and step outside the classroom to take care of what you need to do, then return to class to be fully present in our work together.

Academic Integrity

The University takes academic integrity very seriously. Behaving with integrity is part of our responsibility to our shared learning community. If you’re uncertain about if something is academic misconduct, ask me. I am willing to discuss questions you might have.

Acts of academic misconduct may include but are not limited to:

• Cheating (working collaboratively on quizzes/exams and discussion submissions, sharing answers, and previewing quizzes/exams)
• Plagiarism (representing the work of others as your own without giving appropriate credit to the original author(s))
• Unauthorized collaboration (working with each other on assignments)

Concerns about these or other behaviors prohibited by the Student Conduct Code will be referred to the UW Community Standards and Student Conduct (CSSC) office for investigation. Students found to have engaged in academic misconduct may receive a zero on the assignment.

ChatGPT and other LLM tools in the classroom

There are a lot of resources for useful ways that you can incorporate Large Language Models (LLMs) into your learning. We may even use some LLMs during certain in-class activities. However, using LLMs to ‘write’ your assignments is not an appropriate use of these tools in this class. Any time you are copy-pasting work from an LLM into your assignment and passing off this work as your own is a red flag – in such cases you should strongly reconsider how you are using these tools.

Essentially, LLMs are not a replacement for your own intellect! Consider whether you would ask a friend who is majoring in a completely different area and has no knowledge of this class or discipline to do a task. If you do trust such a friend to do this task (e.g. proofread a paper draft), that is likely a task an LLM can do! If you do not trust such a friend to do this task (e.g. draft an assignment, identify useful resources, etc.), then that is NOT a task an LLM can accomplish.

If I find you have used an LLM to generate all or part of your assignment and are passing it off as your own work, I will consider this as plagiarism. I will refer such cases to the UW Community Standards and Student Conduct (CSSC) office for investigation.

UW Counseling Center

Students are often at high risk of mental health concerns. This has been, and continues to be, greatly exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The UW Counseling Center offers multiple options for students seeking help coping with stress and mental health concerns:

• Short-term individual counseling
• Group counseling options, including the Umoja Interpersonal Processing and Support group for Brown and Black women (undergrads considered if space permits), Act for Anxiety - Unstuck, Between Cultures (for bi-/multi-cultural and bi-/multi-racial students), Procrastination and Perfectionism Group, Queer TTRPG (Table-top Role Playing Game) Group, Getting through Grief, and Understanding Self and More.
• Workshops on various topics, including a BIPOC grief group, a drop-in space for break ups, pet therapy, self-compassion, mindfulness, yoga, and meditation.

More information can be found online at https://www.washington.edu/counseling/

Title IX

UW, through numerous policies, prohibits sex- and gender-based violence and harassment, and we expect students, faculty, and staff to act professionally and respectfully in all work, learning, and research environments.

For support, resources, and reporting options related to sex- and gender-based violence or harassment, visit UW Title IX’s webpage, specifically the Know Your Rights & Resources guide. 

Please know that if you choose to disclose information to me about sex- or gender-based violence or harassment, I will connect you (or the person who experienced the conduct) with resources and individuals who can best provide support and options. You can also access those resources directly:

• Confidential: Confidential advocates will not share information with others unless given express permission by the person who has experienced the harm or when required by law.
• Private and/or anonymous: SafeCampus provides consultation and support and can connect you with additional resources if you want them.You can contact SafeCampus anonymously or share limited information when you call.

Please note that some senior leaders and other specified employees have been identified as “Officials Required to Report.” If an Official Required to Report learns of possible sex- or gender-based violence or harassment, they are required to call SafeCampus and report all the details they have in order to ensure that the person who experienced harm is offered support and reporting options.  

Title IX website: uw.edu/titleix/

Survivor resources page: uw.edu/titleix/survivor-resources/

Confidential advocates: uw.edu/sexualassault/support/advocacy/

SafeCampus: uw.edu/safecampus/

Officials Required to Report: uw.edu/titleix/employee-reporting-expectations/

Related policies: uw.edu/titleix/policies/

Face Coverings in the Classroom

UW recommends face coverings indoors and in the classroom when COVID-19 community levels, and strongly recommends face coverings when community levels are medium. Face coverings are strongly recommended for:

• Individuals not up to date on COVID-19 vaccines and boosters
• Immuno-compromised individuals or those at high risk for severe illness
• Crowded settings

UW requires face coverings for anyone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or been in close contact with someone who tested positive: wear a mask until 10 days after start of symptoms, 10 days after positive test with no symptoms, or 10 days after their last contact with the COVID-19 positive person.

The health and safety of the University of Washington community are the institution’s priorities. Please review and adhere to the UW COVID Face Covering Policy [pdf].

I will be wearing a mask indoors when within six feet of other individuals. I will mic myself and/or remove my mask as necessary when speaking to the class to reduce any accessibility concerns (e.g. difficulty hearing or reading lips).

[1] I have reduced the course reading load significantly to offset your time spent on campaign work.

[2] A short 1-2 minute summary of the who, what, why, where, and when of a campaign.

[3] Labor-based grading has (rightly!) been criticized for applying a ‘one size fits all’ approach to how much time students are able to devote to classes, without taking into consideration the impacts of, say, disabilities on student time. I will work with students on a case-by-case basis to alter the class labor contract as needed to reflect any mitigating circumstances.