*This is the assignment’s prompt on our syllabus provided by my teacher: Course project: Much of the material for this course deals with global and/or general
topics, although we will be examining particular places in particular contexts, as well as doing
an extended unit that relates to Chicago. In addition, you will conduct a course project on a
relevant topic of your choice; my suggested topic is an energy transition in a particular
place of interest to you. (Geographers love to think about places, and we will be doing a lot
of that at the beginning of the semester, including theorizing the term “place” itself.) You
may choose to think about a current transition or a past one, or possibly both, since past
processes sometimes provide insights into current or future ones. You may also choose
another topic, albeit with my approval. Your project should entail research into an energy-
related topic that interests you, and it should end up in the range of 1500–2000 words. It can
be a paper or equivalent format like a scientific poster, blog entry, StoryMap or annotated
series of images.
*What I have updated him with in terms of my project proposal: For context, I have since refined the topic of my project since the initial project proposal. My
project is going to compare the susceptibility of the energy systems in Chicago and Los Angeles
to various climate-related events (ex: heat waves, tornados, droughts, rising temperatures/sea-
levels, hurricane, etc). I picked these two cities for multiple reasons:
– They are two of the biggest and most important American cities.
– I am from Chicago and have visited Los Angeles, so I have familiarity with and interest
in these cities.
– They differ in a lot of keyways (geography, coast, access to water/wind, climate,
common types of natural storms and events that occur there) so I think this pairing will
make for an interesting project.
Throughout the project, I will explore things like:
– All about how these cities produce, disperse, and consume energy
– The true susceptibility of these energy systems to climate
– If these energy systems were constructed / are maintained with these climate and climate
change in mind
– What it might look like if these energy systems were to have their vulnerabilities exposed
to natural disasters or climate disruptions
– If these cities have any current plans to change things / renovate things with their energy
systems
– And more