By Anya Schiffrin

Dr. Anya Schiffrin, Director of the Technology, Media and Communications (TMaC) specialization at SIPA, recently interviewed Professors Mila Rosenthal and Adam Met about their upcoming TMaC course titled "Climate Campaigning Reimagined: Communications and Mobilization." The 1.5-credit, 7-week course, set to debut in the fall of 2023, will focus on communication and mobilization strategies within the climate movement.

Addressing one of the most urgent challenges of our era, climate change, the course aims to counter the "denial, delay" narrative perpetuated by climate deniers. Climate activists are employing innovative methods such as digital technology, film, music, and culture to engage the public, fostering support for policy reform and targeting influential stakeholders. TMaC has a history of offering advocacy communications courses, including pioneering courses on social media and messaging. This new addition to their curriculum reflects the program's commitment to addressing contemporary communication challenges.

Schiffrin sat down with Dr. Rosenthal and Dr. Met to discuss the new course:

Welcome to SIPA. Can you tell us a bit about your work experience?

Rosenthal: After spending nearly two decades working in big organizations like Amnesty International on global human rights, economic justice and climate and environmental threats, including seven years as Director of Communications and Advocacy for the United Nations Development Programme, I wanted to put into practice everything that I learned about what worked, and what didn’t. So I was fortunate to have the opportunity with a great partner, Adam, to co-found a climate justice campaigning organization called Planet Reimagined. When Adam and I first met, we knew that with our mix of talents and experiences, we could build something unique. By merging research and advocacy, we are training a new generation of climate activists to develop the tools and ambition for concrete change and action. Adam is ridiculously modest about it, but he uses his celebrity platform as a musician (he is the A in the 8x platinum indie-pop group AJR) to support the climate movement through Planet Reimagined’s partners like iHeart Radio, Rolling Stone and MTV, to educate and activate over 100 Million people per year. We both hold PhDs and have figured out creative ways to balance our love of academia and rigorous research while continuing to work on many aspects of the climate emergency: myself as the Executive Director of the International Science Reserve at the New York Academy of Sciences and teaching at SIPA and Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights, and Adam working in DC with Congress and The White House on renewable energy policy.

Can you tell us a bit about the new course?

Met: We have all seen campaigns that fall flat on their faces, and we have all seen campaigns that bring a problem to the forefront of the cultural conversation. This course will teach students how to develop the latter. In 2023, this requires new sets of tools.  First and foremost, a campaign has to define success, and again, that looks different today than it did a decade ago. We will start with the more traditional campaign necessities: defining audiences and key levers, choosing advocacy strategies and developing creative and evidence-based messaging. Later in the course, we look at particular campaigning tools including digital tactics and celebrity messengers. The course will help students consider contradictions and dilemmas in climate campaigns, including debates about pragmatic vs ambitious goals; working with like-minded allies vs defusing or engaging opponents; “inside” vs “outside” strategies; the relationship between organizations and social movements; risk and stakes in different political environments; and how to confront power. The goal is to have everyone walk out of the course with the tools and energy to develop new climate campaigns. 

What kind of assignments will there be?

Rosenthal: The assignments are all outputs that are the same as the ones we use in our campaigns. The students will choose an existing campaign on climate, the environment or biodiversity.  They’ll produce new assets such as messages and social media posts, and suggest new approaches to supplement the campaign, including speeches and spokespeople. They will leave the course with a deck and roadmap to take with them as they make use of all the concrete takeaways.  

What are you most looking forward to about teaching at SIPA?

Met: I don’t know what I don’t know. I love opening myself up to new communities, perspectives, and ideas, especially when they turn into productive and constructive debates. 

Rosenthal: Policy, policy, policy. As researchers and campaigners, it’s pretty much all we think about. So I’m looking forward to being in a classroom and a community all focused on the same thing. 

Any special Columbia or Upper West Side memories or recommendations?

Met: I did my undergraduate degree at Columbia College and then returned to do a visiting scholar fellowship (with Mila in the Institute for the Study of Human Rights) during my PhD. In 2010 I took a SIPA course with Zori Barkan called Oil, Rights, and Development. It was an interactive practicum that helped to shape the path that I am still on today. I also got a D in economics when I was a freshman. I took seven courses that semester because I got really excited. The course load was too much so I had to let one go. Anya, please don’t tell your husband. [note from Ed: I hope it wasn’t a macro econ course]

When I was in school, Wu & Nussbaum was called Nussbaum & Wu. I highly recommend the scallion pancake or sauteed rice cakes.

Rosenthal: As a student activist during my undergraduate time at Columbia, I was involved in direct action against apartheid in South Africa, demanding that the university divest from companies that did business there. It made me hopeful, because I was not only studying and talking about injustice, but also working with other people to push for change. On the other hand, since we’re revealing transcript secrets here, I got terrible grades that semester when we were occupying the administration building for three weeks instead of studying for finals. My recommendation is to study and protest at the same time.  

Anya Schiffrin is the Director of the Technology, Media and Communications (TMaC) specialization at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.