Kate Schapira Offers “Lessons From the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth” to Spartans at the Hammer Theatre

Author and activist Kate Schapira spoke at the Hammer4 Theatre on March 27. Photo by Josefina Valenzuela, ’25 BFA Photography.

Wildfires. Sea level rise. Floods. Earthquakes. How do those words make you feel?

For artist, poet and activist Kate Schapira, reading about severe climate impacts (like coral bleaching) around the globe and being unnerved by smaller changes closer to home (like unseasonal warmth) made her anxious, and she wondered if she was alone in that. While the direct impact of surviving storms, fires, intense heat or freezing cold might be punishing enough, Schapira wanted to explore how people coped with feelings of anxiety, fear, frustration, helplessness and grief in response to major climate events. She created the Climate Anxiety Counseling Booth, a space where anyone walking by could share their concerns, questions and ideas about the changing world. 

Kate Schapira (kneeling, with glasses) led a classroom activity that encouraged Spartans to envision a more sustainable world. Photo by Josefina Valenzuela, ’25 BFA Photography.

“How do you take these feelings [of anxiety and fear] and use them to connect with other people and take action?” she asks. “Those actions could be enacting laws or creating disaster preparedness policies in your community.” 

Schapira took another unique action by visiting San José State in March to collaborate with Michael Tod Edgerton, lecturer in the department of English and Comparative Literature. With the support of an Artistic Excellence Programming grant from the College of Humanities and the Arts, Schapira visited a number of classes and held an interactive public presentation of material from her book at San José State’s Hammer4 Theatre.

Imaan Siddiqui, ’26 Psychology, Creative Writing, attended the event and felt moved by Schapira’s insight and activities. As president of the SJSU Sustainability and Climate Innovation Club (SCI), she sees a direct correlation between climate anxiety and the need for a more sustainable world.

“Schapira asked everyone to imagine what their ideal world would look like,” says Siddiqui. “We shared with those sitting beside us, and we brought up issues of climate justice, but also other social justice issues like poverty, equality and world hunger. The activity reminded me of how many things are really linked to climate change. It’s not just about climate; climate change [involves] every single facet of how we live our lives. It was refreshing to hear which issues people would tackle first when it comes to imagining their perfect world.”

Edgerton says that he felt compelled to collaborate with Schapira because he sees her work as ongoing and iterative — similar to the humanities. 

“One of the things I love about the project and her book is that it approaches a very human problem [climate change] in a very humane way,” he says. “My students seemed to really enjoy her visit and find her approach to writing about and through personal anxieties and fears very helpful. I think it gave them a way to further personalize writing and its meaningful place in their lives beyond class assignments.”

Kate Schapira signed books after the event. Photo by Josefina Valenzuela, ’25 BFA Photography.

“If you can let go of the idea that art is just a thing that is made and turn your attention to what we offer as the process and practice of making art, you realize that art gives you a sense of agency,” she says. “That’s important and powerful. The ability to act, the ability to make meaning with other people — it makes the collective visible. It’s what scientists call ‘an emergent property;’ if people make things together and experience things together, something is present that was not there before.”

Vi Huynh, ’25 English, says that Schapira’s talk and suggested activities helped address some of the feelings she’s seen students feel at SJSU.

“I have seen many of my friends slip into a state of despair and anxiety because they see and learn how rapidly everything is changing and feel this inability to do anything to help prevent climate change or be more sustainable,” she reflects. 

“On the SJSU campus, it’s hard to not be aware of the ongoing climate change crisis. There are many climate change classes that can attribute to this growing anxiety about what we can do and what we can not do. Having a climate anxiety activity here is extremely important to help us examine the anxiety and the root of that anxiety. It can help reframe our mind to focus on the things we can do and the ways we can help, rather than being overwhelmed with a sense of inability to take action.” 

Learn more about the English and Comparative Literature Department at SJSU.