Dickinson College’s Global Climate Change Africa Mosaic is an intensive, interdisciplinary semester of study and research that features field research at the 17^th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the United Nations Framework Convention (UNFCCC) in Durban, South Africa. The focus of the field research is to understand reasons for agreement and disagreement among parties to the Convention on critical issues in the negotiations. The students will research these questions by interviewing conference delegates.

They have prepared for their field research by taking four courses during fall semester 2011:

• Earth Science 311, Global Climate Change
• History 373, Ecological History of Africa
• Sustainability 330, Global Environmental Challenges and Governance
• Sustainability 500, Field Research on International Climate Change Negotiations

Students in these courses engage in the study of climate science, how African peoples have shaped and been shaped by their environment, ecological and human consequences of climate change, solutions, climate policy and international cooperation. The field research course includes workshops on social science research methods, interview techniques, and video technology skills. Following the conference, students will analyze the interviews, synthesize findings, prepare research papers, and create an online video archive of the interviews. They will also give presentations to a variety of audiences to raise awareness of climate change on campus and in the community.

Development of the Global Climate Change Africa Mosaic was supported by a grant from NASA Global Climate Change Education program.