New research specifies how climate change is predicted to disproportionately affect the Duluth-Superior community, but not for the same reasons many others will be affected. Work by Dr. Jesse Keenan from Harvard predicts that the Duluth/Superior area will be one of the most felicitous locations for people displaced by the negative effects of climate change, owing in part to its cooler climate, abundant fresh water, existing infrastructure, including a strong education system, and well-educated population. Communicating in advance about the implications of the dislocation and relocation of national “refugees” is critical across economic, environmental, social, and social psychological lines. An interdisciplinary and interinstitutional collaboration of scholars that has been meeting together for more than three years to study the Anthropocene seeks to consider fully this expectation. The collaboration this year spans across three colleges within the University of Minnesota Duluth and will include scholars from three institutions in our area (UMD, University of Wisconsin-Superior, and Lake Superior College). We intend to capitalize on a spring campus visit this semester to UMD by Dr. Keenan, extend previous community engagement efforts, and advance on an emerging framework for an edited volume on the climate refugee crisis.

CONVENERS:

Aaron R. Boyson, Department of Communication, CLA, Duluth
Michael Pfau, Department of Communication, CLA, Duluth