Abby Boyd

I used ‘Don’t Take Our Voices Away’: A Role Play on the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change to lead an asynchronous online discussion with my environmental science students about the effects of climate change on marginalized communities. My students are often VERY quiet and discussions are hard. Additionally, many available resources for climate change teaching is not appropriate for a college level course. This one being asynchronous and the content matter really seemed to open them up.

They shared personal stories about how their families would be affected and admitted to not even knowing some of these groups existed. We discussed the specific impacts in our area, and how as a land grant institution, we live and learn on the lands of the Cherokee people everyday. Both the students and I learned a lot about each others’ perspectives and heard voices from many other communities. I could not recommend the assignment more for anyone looking to explore teaching climate change effects on communities with their class.