Focus
the Nation at Tulane was a campus-wide, interdisciplinary
discussion of global warming & global warming solutions
held January 30-31, 2008. Programs & panels featuring
Tulane faculty and students ran during class periods throughout
the day. Tulane's event was part of a national day seeking
to "Focus the Nation" on climate change; over
one thousand schools and universities across the country
held similar events. Focus the Nation at Tulane was the
culminating event of the Tulane
University 2007 Reading Project. Over 20 faculty from 15 different departments spoke; the
event's audience of over 550 people included students from
30 different courses. With this broad participation by faculty
and students, the day's presentations and discussions included
new findings, previously unconsidered perspectives, and
insights into emerging trends. This website attempts to
archive the day's wide-ranging discussions, largely through
session reports written by Tulane students.
Session Reports
These session summaries were reported by students of Rick Duque, Department of Sociology. They are freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors from Prof. Duque’s Environmental Sociology, Global Social Change and Sociology of Science classes.
1. Chris Mooney, “Science at High Speeds: Hurricanes, Politics and the Battle Over Global Warming”
2. “The 2% Solution.” The national Focus the Nation webcast
3. Opening
Plenary: Global Warming – The Physical, Biological
and Human Dimensions
View the presentation slides:
Torbjörn Törnqvist, Global
Warming -- The Physical Dimension
Tom Sherry, Global
Warming -- The Biological Dimension
William Balée, Global
Warming -- The Human Dimension
4. Biodiversity
and Climate Change
View the presentation slides:
Lee Dyer, Biodiversity
and Climate Change
5. Global
Warming Politics & Policy (and speakers from Student
Advocacy and Youth Leadership)
6. Ancient
and Modern Indigenous Responses to Climate Change and Weather
Events
View the presentation slides:
Grant McCall, Pleistocene
Climate Change and Modern Human Origins
Kit Nelson, The
Big Squeeze: Human adaptation to the desertification of
Egypt
William Balée, Modern
Indigenous Responses to Extreme Weather Events
7. Alternative and Renewable Energy
8. Public
Service and Career Opportunities in Climate Change
9. Global
&Health
View the presentation slides:
Kevin Caillouet, Global
Warming and Health
10. Rebuilding in the Face of Global Warming
View the video
on YouTube
11. Religious
& Ethical Perspectives
- Tulane Hullabaloo, "Event focuses students on climate change"
- Climate Feedback, '"Largest teach-in ever" focuses US on climate change'
- Tulane New Wave, "Focus on Climate Change"
Click here for the event's
program, which includes speaker information and resources
for getting involved.
For more information on Tulane's Focus the Nation event,
contact Liz Davey at ldavey@tulane.edu or 504-865-5145.
For more information on the national teach-in, visit
the Focus the Nation
website.