The Syllabus Hub on Climate Change and Sustainability is an online hub of syllabi, reading lists, and teaching materials for educators who wish to incorporate sustainability topics into their teaching. It features high-quality syllabi from a comprehensive variety of disciplines, in topics ranging from ‘Climate Fiction’ to ‘Resource Economics’ to ‘Atmospheric Chemistry’ – many of which have a United States focus or originate from American universities. Ultimately, this project endeavours to act as an invaluable resource for students, educators, and academics; whether they seek to curate their own syllabi, or seek a quality reading list for specific sustainability topics. Since January, I have worked on the Hub under Chris Gilson as a Phelan US Centre UGRA, graciously supported by a grant from the LSE’s Sustainable Project Fund.
Methods
My experience commenced with conceptualising the Hub with Chris and Joss. From the very start, I appreciated the collaborative nature of our discussions and exchange of ideas. I began trawling the Internet for syllabi on climate change and sustainability topics, quickly discovering that Brown University’s Climate Solutions Lab hosts a ‘syllabus bank’ akin to our idea. We reached out to its creator, Jeff Colgan, who kindly agreed to meet with us to discuss his advicefor the project and how to further distinguish it from existing projects. This early advice proved to be invaluable, and inspired me to envision the potential for the project. We also collaborated with and met Martina Rotolo, who was undertaking a project to incorporate sustainability into LSE teaching. Martina generously furnished me with a list of LSE courses that relate to sustainability, which was a helpful springboard for contacting professors within LSE as the first potential contributors to the Hub.
Subsequently, I began researching for syllabi online and evaluating them for quality and applicability. This ameliorated my research skills, as I sought innovative ways to unearth new syllabi to add to my ever-growing list. My familiarity with many topics relating to sustainability continuously grew through assessing the quality of syllabi in order to ensure relevance, legibility, and usefulness. Finally, I organised the syllabi I found by their relevant features, necessitating meticulous organisation.
I then proceeded to establish contact with professors from the syllabi list. In crafting the emailsto professors, I felt I honed my rhetorical communication skills when striving to persuade some to contribute. Though I initially thought I may have to invoke emotional and ethical appeals, I was delighted to discover many educators I contacted were receptive to the project in its ownright, even lauding it as ‘vital and needed’. Envisioning a final product brimming with syllabi from all different subject matters, I strove to find as many potential syllabus donors as possible,by the end having found some 300 contacts. I felt a strong sense of responsibility towards the project and was genuinely invested in creating something I could truly be proud of.
Lastly, we initiated the process of designing and creating the website. This stage wasparticularly exciting, knowing that this mean the Hub was finally materialising and coming into form. At this juncture, I knew the donated syllabi like the back of my hand. As a result, I felt Ihad an instinctive understanding of how to make the Hub ergonomic and intuitive. I was also cognisant that the usability of the website could mean the difference between rendering it auseful resource or a redundant website. Joss had the brilliant idea for formatting the Hub by disciplines, each represented by ‘tiles’ that provide a portal for downloading its syllabi. I began searching for photos for each discipline’s thumbnail, which was a refreshingly creative task in attempting to do the fruits of our labour justice. Additionally, I drafted the text for the website's pages.
Reflections
There are many facets of this project that have made it rewarding for me. The long-term nature of the project means that the Hub will live on beyond the tenure of my assistantship, continually growing in size and comprehensiveness. I am honoured and grateful to assist in reinforcing LSE’s reputation as a convenor of knowledge on sustainability. My assistantship has significantly enhanced my grasp of many topics in sustainability, climate change, andacademia, providing invaluable knowledge for my future pursuits. This experience has also helped me secure a further research assistantship for a hub convening Australian migration data, a challenge I feel more prepared to undertake owing to my experience as an UGRA. I am immensely grateful to Chris’ impeccable guidance, and to Joss and Ade for their indispensable assistance throughout my assistantship. Finally, I am profoundly grateful to the Phelan US Centre and the LSE Sustainable Projects fund for affording me this meaningful opportunity.