People and the Planet is a one-semester course with lecture, discussion, and engagement components primarily for second- and third-year Harvard College students seeking to understand the social side of climate change. Understanding the social side of climate change means shifting our attention from particles to people. We address such questions as: What is it about modern social life that has caused climate change? Why have societies responded so slowly to the climate crisis? What do social movements for environmental justice and climate justice contribute to climate mitigation and adaptation? How can people use social processes and organizations to adapt to life on a changing planet? Along the way, we explore new research on surprising aspects of how humans as social animals relate to our environment. For instance: the place identity of wind turbines, the racial identity of electric vehicles, the gender of energy transitions, and the morality of climate projections.

The overarching goal of the course, then, is to unveil the social causes and effects that are often hidden behind the geophysical models, climatological projections, and economic forecasts of conventional climate science. Specific goals include contributing to local community efforts to respond to climate change, understanding how climate science relates to climate politics, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative approaches to climate sociology.