Teaching 101: 1 x 1

One of the best parts of being a teacher is working with students individually. Classroom teaching is fun, of course.  I’ve enjoyed this year’s classes in human rights, comparative health law, and climate change.  Putting the syllabi and readings together, conducting class discussion (as I do my best to reorient the students from the system […]

A new international masters program in sustainable development at UCAD

Last week, the MacArthur Foundation,  Earth Institute at Columbia University, and the Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD)’s  Faculte des Sciences Economiques et de la Gestion (FASEG), announced their partnership to offer a new Global Masters in Development Practice (MDP). In a launching ceremony in the grand amphitheater of the modern UCAD II building, UCAD’s Rector […]

Rich and Poor States on the Bumpy Road to Copenhagen

In the run-up to the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen this December, developing countries have voiced concerns about climate change’s disproportionate effect on them.  The Prime Minister of Grenada, Thomas Tillman, spoke at a meeting of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) the day before the U.N. General Assembly opened its September 22nd session.  AOSIS’s […]

Two Perspectives on Food Security and Climate Change

Today’s NYT (10/23/09) reports that the Nutrition Department of the Swedish National Food Administration  has begun issuing new food guidelines that give equal weight to climate and health.  Noting this new acknowledgment of environmental health law, Ulf Bowman, head of this department, said “We’re used to thinking about safety and nutrition as one thing and […]

Up and Coming Senegalese Artists

The Institut Français Léopold Sédar Senghor has become an oasis for us. An island of calm in the middle of chaotic downtown Dakar, we retreated there during our first blackout to see the movie Home, Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s climate change documentary which features his famous aerial photos.  The mildly air conditioned salle de cinéma, combined with […]

Climate Change and Rain

Floods are the big news, within Senegal,  greater West Africa, and internationally.  It’s the rainy season, but the amount of rain is higher than usual, a recent BBC report indicates.  Here in Mermoz, one of the comfortable suburban neighborhoods just north of the university, there’s little evidence of hardship beyond muddy streets and occasional open […]

Simmering Senegal

Senegal simmers.  On the cultural front, this West African country even sizzles in terms of  music and dance.  Think Youssou N’Dour, the Orchestre Baobob, and Baba Maa. But the land of teranga or hospitality, known for its human warmth, now simmers environmentally.  Climate change impacts are already showing.  The 2008 Atlas of Our Changing Environment […]