Faculty: Professor Rebecca Henderson, John and Natty McArthur University Professor, rhenderson@hbs.edu

Faculty Assistant: Fed Chavez, fchavez@hbs.edu,

Teaching Fellow: Mauro Morabito, mauromorabito@hks.harvard.edu

Introduction

What does it mean to be alive and to be human right now? To what should we devote our lives?

The world is on fire. There is war in the Ukraine, Yemen and the Middle East. Rising tension between the great powers raises the real possibility of nuclear exchange. Faltering growth, huge investments in artificial intelligence, increasing political polarization and a global move towards populist authoritarianism risk undermining economies and political systems across the planet. Meanwhile biodiversity is plummeting, potentially triggering the collapse of the ecosystems on which all of our lives depend, while global temperatures continue to increase, driving floods, droughts and fires, and threatening to make a significant fraction of the earth’s surface uninhabitable.

What will happen? At least one major European government believes it likely that we will see partial systemic breakdowns in water, transportation, energy and food within the next ten years. Global systemic collapse seems uncomfortably possible, even if not – yet – immediately likely.

How did we get here? How can bear the feelings of grief, rage and powerlessness that opening ourselves up to what is happening often entail? What can we do that might make a difference?

I do not, of course, know the answer to these questions, but this class is for you if you’re looking for a highly interdisciplinary, collective conversation about them, pulling together students from across the university and leading-edge practitioners from a wide variety of fields. My experience has been that you are likely to learn at least as much from the other students in the room as from me.

Drawing on a mix of readings, experiential practices and class visits from leading edge practitioners we will explore the idea that a loss of connection – to ourselves, to each other, and to the natural world – is at the root of our current crisis - and that doing the inner work necessary to address this disconnection could not only support us as individuals and communities but might also play a central role in driving broader transformative systemic change.

Throughout the class we will explore what all this might mean for you – for the way you experience yourself, for how you frame the meaning and purpose of your life, and for how you decide to engage with the world. My hope is that you will leave the class with a supportive personal practice, a much richer sense for the levers that might drive transformative systemic change and some ideas as to what you might do with your own life.

Course Requirements

1. Attendance at every class is mandatory except in the case of pre-approved absences or genuine emergencies. Please see the appendix for the formal implications of this policy and for policies regarding such issues as grading, plagiarism, AI and the use of technology in class.
2. Five short papers (500 words max) responding to the week’s readings, one due approximately every other week at 5 pm the Saturday before class. Prompts for these papers will be posted to Canvas a week in advance.
3. A (small) group project. Working in groups of five to six, and meeting once a week for a one hour scheduled session together with a coach you will be asked to:
4. Develop a shared model of how the current moment might be one of profoundly positive change as well as of great suffering.
5. Identify a small group or institution that you view as exemplifying how this change might happen.
6. Interview a number of people in this group or institution to explore their theory of change, and the strengths and weaknesses of their approach
7. Put together a presentation summarizing what you have learned to be shared with the class on the last day of the course.

There will be two entirely voluntary but deeply encouraged local field trips.

A Note on Experiential Practice

We will invest a significant amount of time in shared experiential practices. We will, for example, practice deep listening, holding grief and other difficult emotions, perspective-seeking and perspective-taking and exploring our reactivity when we are confronted with difficult ideas and different opinions. Participation in all the exercises will be entirely voluntary, but there will be challenging moments. I will do my best to support the creation of “good enough” container – but I will be relying on your to actively participate in holding whatever emerges in ways so that we can support a transformational process for all of us. Of course, if at any time you feel unsafe or uncomfortable please reach out to me or another remember of the teaching team so that we can find a way to support you going forward.

An Invitation to Personal Practice

For thousands of years humans have relied on some kind of personal practice to regulate their emotions and connect themselves to their deepest sense of purpose and meaning. In this class I will invite those of you who already have such a practice to go deeper, and if you don’t already have such a practice, I will invite you to spend a few minutes each day experimenting with a variety of practices in the service of finding something that you might enjoy. Participation on this front is not required and will not be graded, but it will be highly recommended.

Required Books

Please note: you won’t be asked to read these books cover to cover – just to read some selected chapters.

• Don’t even think about it: Why our Brains are wired to ignore Climate Change, George Marshall
• Reimagining Capitalism, Rebecca Henderson

Books to consider reading over the Break

• The Nutmeg’s Curse: Amitav Gosh
• Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson
• The Great Transition: Nick Fuller Googins

If you care deeply about climate, these are great books to read whether or not you end up taking this class. The Nutmeg’s Curse is a hugely well written historical account of the origins the Western world view - full of great stories and quietly terrifying. Highly recommended.

Both The Ministry of the Future and The Great Transition are sci-fi novels that attempt to paint reasonably plausible pictures of how we might respond effectively to climate change. They are very different. Ministry focuses on global geo-politics and finance as a route to survival – The Great Transition focuses on social revolution at the grass roots. Ministry is harder going but more specific – many people love it - while Great Transition is a rollicking read.