Syllabus: Writing for Social Sciences (Climate Change and Sustainability Theme)

This course teaches students to conduct large-scale research projects in the social sciences and is usually focused on a particular theme. For this version, students read various non-fiction sources and articles from social science journals related to climate and sustainability issues, demonstrating how, for instance, political scientists and sociologists approach the problem of changing polarized attitudes toward climate science and/or organize people and groups to take action. The objective is for the students to form a scholarly community focused on a particular issue, while representing the disciplinary perspectives of their individual majors. In addition, students address multiple audiences with presentations of their research in different social science genres, including policy papers, literature reviews, and other academic and advocacy documents. UCSB Professor James Donelan offered this course during Winter 2017.