Community Climate Adaptation

Individual investigations or studies of any phase of civil engineering as may be selected by the student and approved by the faculty member who supervises the work.

This proseminar explores the relationship between global and local contexts at different scales, with a focus on how communities can change and thrive under conditions of global environmental change. We explore the theoretical and practical understandings of, and strategies for, cultural and technological change as enacted in specific places by people whose identities, practices, and values vary widely, and who are impacted differentially by the historical, structural, and environmental conditions that they both create and encounter. Students will complete an individual depth assignment that could be a substantive research paper, project proposal, or community service activity for the degree portfolio. They will also participate in the DIGS/Global School Speaker Series, and will use that content to engage with course readings as well as their own projects. Recommended background: Admission to the CCA program, MS or BS/MS track.

This course advances student knowledge of research design and methods, emphasizing frameworks, strategies, and qualitative methods for community-engaged studies. In this course, students engage with alternative frameworks, including community based (participatory) research and citizen science, to build understandings about the continuum of the research process. Process elements include planning and design, implementation, evaluation, dissemination, and assessing policy implications, as they are applied in deeply collaborative action research settings. This course explores strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of different data gathering and analytic methods through exploration of prior studies, and considers how these research approaches intersect with social, cultural, and institutional practices and ethical standards. Students work in teams to develop proposals for a Graduate Qualifying Project that addresses the needs of an outside project partner. Recommended background: Admission to the CCA MS program, completion of social science research methods course (e.g., ID 2050 or equivalent), or permission of instructor.

This course provides the groundwork for understanding the historical, sociocultural, and political-economic impacts of climate change in the Anthropocene. Building upon a basic understanding of climate science, this course addresses how global environmental change is mediated by social, political, economic and cultural systems. Case studies are used to scrutinize how efforts to mitigate and adapt to impacts can overcome or exacerbate existing inequities. Through a focus on how responses emerge in specific places and times, students explore how they can play a role in efforts by communities around the world as these communities adapt to existing and developing environmental changes, face decisions about retreat, and plan for the future. 

Taking climate change as a starting point, this course introduces students to a wide range of climate change conditions, human responses to those conditions, and points toward the need for deeper understanding of human-environment relationships. The course will draw from Geography, Economics, Global Environmental Change, and other cross cutting disciplines for theory and case studies. Examples of climate change risks and mitigation efforts will come from the developed and developing world and will include both urban and rural examples. Assessment techniques include small group projects, case-based testing, and in class and online discussions. Recommended background: IGS 510 and CE 575 or permission of instructor.

This seminar analyzes core themes of the Community Climate Adaptation Program during the students’ third and final semester. Bridging the disciplines of geography, anthropology, and civil & environmental engineering, we draw together the insights and experiences learned by technical and social science students during the first two semesters of the program. Through a combination of readings, case studies, and an individual depth project, the course provides an opportunity for students to revisit theoretical frameworks for climate adaptation strategies in a way that is informed by their place-based applied research in diverse places internationally. We explore similarities and differences observed in different localities across scales in order to strengthen an empirically-grounded, comparative, and holistic analysis of community climate adaptation. In doing so, we investigate both positive resonances between theoretical frameworks and demonstrated outcomes in discrete places, while we also critically probe any gaps, tensions, and surprises that may emerge from the GQP fieldwork. Participation in the DIGS/GS speaker series is required for this course, as the topics and guests will provide additional content for consideration. Recommended background: Completion of 12 credits in 3 Core CCA courses and 8 credits of GQP.

(3 to 8 Credits) The eight-credit graduate qualifying project (GQP), typically done in teams, is to be carried out in cooperation with an external partner, and it is overseen by two faculty members representing both the Department of Integrated and Global Studies and Civil & Environmental Engineering. Student teams seek to answer a climate adaptation question identified and explained by the external partner. The student teams conduct applied research using goals, objectives, and methods developed in the core Methods courses for the CCA program, based on this driving question and under the joint guidance of two WPI faculty advisors and the external partner. The course is full-time and structured by two weekly meetings with the faculty advisors and external partner. Professional development skills, such as oral and written communication, teamwork, leadership, and collaborative problem-solving will be practiced as the research is completed across a full semester. Recommended background: Completion of CCA core classes (except IGS 590 and IGS 599) and permission of instructor.

(1 to 3 Credits) The graduate qualifying project (GQP), typically done in teams, is to be carried out in cooperation with a sponsor or external partner, and it is overseen by two faculty members representing both the Department of Integrated and Global Studies and Civil & Environmental Engineering. This three-credit Conference course integrates theory and practice of community climate adaptation strategies, and it should address and build upon the frameworks and tools acquired in the research phase of the program. Deliverables for this course consist of a written report and public presentation to the WPI community and external partner.