Where Spanish meets social activism

In the spring of 2021, the Spanish Department offered a class entitled Environmental Humanities in the Ibero-American World under the direction of Professor Barbas-Rhoden. Combining Spanish proficiency, climate justice education and social action, the class collectively created WOCO Climate Action. According to Eliza Cox ‘21 “WOCO Climate Action’s mission is to spread awareness about the social injustices surrounding climate change and ways in which humans are causing unnatural patterns in climate change.”

In order to raise awareness about climate justice, the class organized an instagram campaign, petition, and the Painting a Greener Future event. Zoe Mullins ‘22 shared, “As a class, we brainstormed and created the idea for the instagram page, @wococlimateaction, and we discussed what themes and issues we found to be most prevalent in our community. Our class chose to focus on climate resilience and “rights to the city”, and the ultimate goal of our group was to spark imaginations to see a more equitable and sustainable future, as well as to elevate conversations on campus and perhaps also among local audiences regarding climate resilience.”

The class organized a petition with the purpose of sparking and continuing conversation among Wofford’s administration about moving towards a more sustainable campus by divesting from fossil fuels and rather using more renewable and clean energy sources.

Cox, said “The petition asks the college to freeze new investments in fossil-fuel companies, and in the next 5 years to divest with any direct ownership from funds that include fossil-fuel public equities and corporate bonds. We want future classes to graduate with climate change education, the idea that is a pressing issue and needs to be given attention as well as to ensure futures less determined by climate chaos.”

The petition currently has 146/200 signatures. It can be found in the Woco Climate Action’s Instagram bio.

On Tuesday, Mar. 30, the group held the Painting a Greener Future event so that the class and the Wofford community could interact and share what they have learned. Jay Stevens ‘22 said, “Walker Antonio helped create the mural for us, and we set up on the seal of Old Main with additional art supplies to add to the mural and to create posters and small signs. We had fast fact cards printed and members of our team engaged with friends and classmates to help educate them about climate change and Wofford-specific issues. The event went so well and we were so proud of what we accomplished!”

Overall, Mullins ‘22 shares, “I want Wofford students to realize that climate change is not just impacting our physical planet; it affects us all in our lifestyles, our access to resources, the longevity of our lives, etc.; and it doesn’t equally impact all of us either.

Cox ‘21 added, “ Having people from all different departments, not just biology and environmental studies is extremely helpful in creating a discussion across the campus and hopefully across the Spartanburg community as a whole! Your perspective is important, what you think about climate change is important, and your support is always needed!”

Lastly, Stevens ‘22 said “ Combating climate change includes recycling and picking up litter, but it extends so much further – fighting for policy change, enacting institutional reform and education, and acting collectively to put pressure on the higher powers that be to make changes.”