About

“Surviving Progress” is an inquiry seminar for first-year students at Concordia College (Moorhead, MN), to be taught for the first time in fall 2013.

The course is named after a documentary film, “Surviving Progress” (2011), which was inspired by a book, A Short History of Progress (2004), written by the Canadian novelist and historian Ronald Wright. The book, in turn, is based on five lectures delivered by Ronald Wright as part of the Massey Lectures series; you can listen to the lectures here.

Through this course, Concordia freshmen will explore the phenomenon of modern climate change from a wide variety of disciplinary perspectives—including those of the physical sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. By examining the history of scientific research on the greenhouse effect and global warming, students will gain a deeper insight into the scientific method and the logic of scientific reasoning. The course will draw upon the work of sociologists, psychologists, ethicists, climatologists, political scientists, and economists to examine the various dimensions of climate change, the scope and intensity of the threat it poses to human civilization as well as to the entire biosphere, and the serious difficulties involved in addressing it. In the spirit of responsible engagement with the world, students will learn about a broad range of practical strategies for both mitigation and adaptation.