Virtual Workshop: Coping With Climate Anxiety in the Classroom and for Yourself

The Worry & Hope study at the University of Hawaii revealed a pervasive emotional climate of fear, anger, sadness, shame and hope about climate change. College faculty already knew this, and are, themselves, feeling anxiety, grief, and additional stress that accompanies a sense of urgency and responsibility to teach and engage with students about climate change across all academic subject areas.

This two hour online workshop is for faculty to address their own emotions so that we can create and hold space in our classrooms for students to integrate and process hard realities about climate change impacts. If not here, where? If not us, who? A short overview of research on climate change education and pedagogies will be followed by experiential workshop going through 4 activities that you can then use in your classroom.  The activities are based on recent research as well as ecotherapy, ecopsychology, and the Active Hope work of Joanna Macy.

Krista Hiser is the Director of the University of Hawaii System Center for Sustainability Across the Curriculum (an AASHE Regional Center). She is also a longtime Professor of writing and teaches climate change communication, project-based sustainability capstone, and climate fiction.

A Zoom link, some view-ahead materials, and technology requirements will be forward to registered participants. Video connectivity is required, and participants must attend the entire 2 hour workshop to preserve the interactive online engagement.