CAT 124

CAT 124 courses bring together an interdisciplinary faculty to expound on culture, art, and technology themes, examining different topics each quarter, through distinct experiential learning opportunities. These classes fulfill the experiential learning requirement and are open to students in all departments and fields. Students must request departmental approval through the Enrollment Authorization System in order to enroll in CAT 124.

Winter 2024 Courses

Partnerships for Local Climate Action: The UCSD EarthLab Community Station

Amy Knight

Associate Instructor, CAT

Friday 1:00-3:50 p.m.

Have you ever wanted to engage in local, equity-focused climate action? The San Diego/Tijuana border region is one of extremes, both in terms of climate and social inequity. In the backdrop of California's record-setting drought, increasing days of extreme heat are paired with dangers of flash floods from more intense winter storms. Communities with fewer resources are hit harder by climate events and must recover with less. The mission of the UCSD Community Stations is to foster relationships between the university and communities to facilitate collective, equity-focused climate action. This course is born from that mission, taking a distinctly social, community-based approach to climate action. In the classroom, we will consider the complex problem of climate change alongside a wide range of solutions. We will aim to understand climate justice as both a concept and within the larger context of our region. Ultimately, we will be challenged to think differently about how we live alongside and relate to one another. In the field, we will engage local middle school students through climate education co-created with our community partner, Groundwork San Diego-Chollas Creek, based in the Southeast San Diego neighborhood of Encanto. The practicum will culminate in students designing and leading an educational activity at the UCSD EarthLab Community Station. Carpools will be set up in the beginning of the quarter. The field site is also accessible via the UC San Diego Blue Line Trolley. For more information about the UCSD Community Stations, see https://gjustice.ucsd.edu/ucsd-community-stations/.

This CAT 124 class can fulfill upper-division Sociology major and minor requirements through student petition.

View the Spring 2023 highlights of this CAT 124 course!

Engaging San Diego: Taking Local Action to Address Global Issues

Bill Robertson Geibel

Lecturer, CAT

Tuesday 11:00 a.m.-1:50 p.m.

In this hands-on, experiential learning course you will be challenged to not only learn about important global issues, but to take local action to help solve them. The course is broken down into three phases: perspectives and frameworks, problem identification and research, and action. In phase one, you will be introduced to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and core concepts of globalization, civic engagement and activism, democratic education, and social change. These concepts will form the framework through which you will begin to develop your own personal theory of change. In phase two, you will form groups to identify and research a specific global-local issue, including best practices from other countries. In phase three, you will develop and carry out an action plan aimed at addressing this issue in your local community. Each group's action plan will be unique, but may include such activities as volunteering, creating a media campaign, organizing a rally, or doing political advocacy, among other things.

This class will push you to think individually, collectively, and globally to form original ideas that build off of established knowledge and practices. As such, this class seeks to help you improve your critical thinking, perspective taking, and research skills while simultaneously giving you an opportunity to develop important professional attributes such as public communication, strategic planning, and delegation.

This CAT 124 class is approved to fulfill the International Studies Program interdisciplinary elective.

View the Spring 2023 highlights of this CAT 124 course!