Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change

The goal of the Tulane Reading Project is to provide new students with a shared intellectual experience through the reading and discussion of a common book and a campus-wide intellectual dialogue that begins during Orientation and continues throughout the fall semester. This year's book, selected by a committee of faculty, staff and students, is Elizabeth Kolbert’s Field Notes from a Catastrophe:  Man, Nature, and Climate Change.

Based on a series of articles written for The New Yorker, Field Notes  tackles what is undoubtedly one of the most significant – and controversial – issues facing the world: global warming. Since the 1970s we have been warned that the buildup of carbon dioxide inour atmosphere will melt the polar ice sheets faster and cause irreversible climate changes.  Acclaimed journalist Elizabeth Kolbert traveled all over the globe, from Alaska and Greenland to Oregon and New Orleans, to talk to researchers and environmentalists and to people who are already experiencing the effects of global warming in their everyday lives. She documents a breathtaking array of manifested effects of climate change that are already impacting human life, ranging from the migration of butterflies, the melting of glaciers in Iceland, and the Netherlands’ decision to let rising oceans reclaim some of its land. She also writes wryly and incisively about the politics and rhetoric of environmental policy making.  Above all, she asks us to consider what, if anything, we can do to save our planet.  Field Notes is a measured, albeit sobering book that, much like Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring fifty years ago, forces us to see the world through different eyes.

Entering first-year students will meet with members of the Tulane community to discuss Field Notes during Orientation and begin a conversation that will continue throughout the fall semester. The orientation events will include a keynote lecture by a Tulane University professor and small-group discussion sessions le by members of the Tulane community to discuss the book.  Other follow-ups to the Orientation events will be scheduled throughout the fall semester and announced on this website. Among those already in place are a student essay contest, special lectures, and a visit by to campus by Elizabeth Kolbert, the book’s author.

First-year students will receive a copy of Field Notes from a Catastrophein July. Please read the book, check the Reading Project website for issues to consider, and come to campus ready to participate in the Reading Project.

Tulane University :: New Orleans, Louisiana :: (504) 862 - 8000