For college students in California, climate change is not an abstract class topic — it’s already happening around them as wildfires, drought and extreme weather affect their communities. 

To prepare undergraduates at UC Davis to engage with the consequences of a changing climate, 13 UC Davis faculty have proposed a new Climate Crisis General Education (GE) Requirement. The requirement would apply across disciplines, reinforcing the idea that climate change is not just an environmental issue but one with economic, political and societal impacts.

"Climate change will shape the careers and lives of all our students, regardless of their major," said Tessa Hill, associate vice provost in the UC Davis Office of Public Scholarship and Engagement (PSE) and one of the proposal co-authors. "The new requirement would ensure that every UC Davis graduate has the knowledge to engage meaningfully with one of the defining challenges of their time.” 

The proposed one-course requirement would not focus solely on the causes of climate change but also on its consequences and potential responses. Courses could examine how climate change affects public policy, economies and social systems, as well as what strategies are being developed to adapt to new conditions. With around 50 existing UC Davis courses already covering these topics, the proposal would integrate climate education into a broad range of disciplines while also encouraging the development of new courses. 

“Because California is such an economic and agricultural powerhouse, what happens in this state has global impacts,” said Catherine Brinkley, associate professor in human ecology, community and regional development and a proposal co-author. “As a public serving university and the leading U.S. agricultural research institute, this GE would help focus studies and preparation — aligning knowledge with community needs.”

Unlike many universities that frame climate change courses as an environmental or sustainability requirement, the GE requirement proposal intentionally uses the term “climate crisis” to emphasize the urgency of the issue. The name also signals that faculty experts see climate change as a broad and interdisciplinary issue, not one addressed only by the sciences.

“This will help bring students into a very vibrant area of policy and research,” said Julie Sze, professor of American studies. “I also think it will help galvanize more coordinated work with communities directly impacted by climate change and unify existing research on campus.”

The proposal is still under review, with faculty slated to consider how it would fit into the broader GE structure. If approved, the GE requirement would begin with the incoming class of 2030.