Talking about climate change through video
BU’s Seminar Series on Climate Change
4:00 - 5:00pm CAS 132, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA
Speaker: Alex Griswold
Research Associate and Multimedia Producer, Harvard University Center for the Environment
While the scientific facts are undisputed, in the public
arena, climate change has become extremely polarized and politicized when
it doesn’t have to be. Part of the reason is the way climate change
information is communicated, without regard to the impact of underlying
messages and values that frame the discussion. Examples of videos that
push the wrong buttons abound. Presenting solutions, being aware of
audience preconceptions, and understanding the values the audience brings
to the discussion are alternative ways to move the needle toward a
solution. While there is no one formula for talking about climate change
using the medium of video, I will discuss different approaches and show
examples that attempt to point a way toward a more inclusive understanding
of this critical topic.
Bio: Alex Griswold is a documentary producer with over 30 years experience
focused on science and social issues. For two decades, he was part of the
science education team at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
(CfA), where he contributed to the development of “A Private Universe”
– a short ground-breaking film showing how even the most touted education
can fail to address serious misconceptions in basic scientific concepts. He
was producer or executive producer of over 100 science education video
projects. Griswold is currently a research associate and multimedia
producer at the Harvard University Center for the Environment.
projects to improve environmental science education for the Harvard Center
for the Environment and on a new, multimedia exhibit on climate change for
the Harvard University Museums of Science and Culture.
This program is supported in part by a grant to Earth & Environment Professor Dave Marchant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute through the Science Education Program.
