The PHS Fall 2024 Recap Newsletter highlighted Saraniya Tharmarajah, Gordis Teaching Fellow (GTF) Professor,
and her new elective PHS course, entitled “Communicating Climate Change:
Creative Approaches for Action” We asked Saraniya about the topic and her experience teaching the course:

What is your course about and how did you get interested in the topic? (For example, how does it relate to your dissertation work?)

My course focuses on climate solutions and creating communication materials to promote collective action. As a part of the Campus as a Living Lab program, the course was designed to focus on climate activism at Hopkins. Students were tasked with conducting qualitative interviews to understand campus attitudes towards climate activism and creating short film campaigns based on their research. The course culminated in a final screening on campus to promote climate action at JHU.

The course is closely tied to my dissertation work, as I am developing a film installation at a Baltimore museum to promote climate activism in Maryland. In addition to being a social and behavioral scientist, I also work as an independent theatre artist and filmmaker. It has been such a treat to teach about climate change, public health, and filmmaking all in one course!

What did you learn by teaching your class this semester?  Any other thoughts you have about your GTF experience?

For the course, we worked with the Office of Climate and Sustainability, as well as Bluewater Baltimore to promote their environmental efforts in the city. I learned extensively about relationship building, community partnerships, and practice-based learning in a campus setting. Despite all my students coming from a STEM background, I was impressed by their engagement in artistic practice, from writing scripts to directing the short films.

As an alumnus of the PHS program at Hopkins, GTF courses shaped my research trajectory tremendously. It has been a full circle experience, and I am immensely grateful for the program as a GTF student and now as a GTF professor.