Foundations in Disaster and Crisis Management ((3 Credits))

Catalog description

This course is a requirement for students in the new MPA Disaster Crisis and Emergency Management track. In this course, students will examine the socially constructed relationship between disasters, emergencies and crisis and the complexities of how we prepare, respond, recover, and mitigate against these events. This course is an integrative approach that will consider the history of disaster and crisis management; contemporary principles, policies, and legal frameworks guiding the field of practice; and the local, national, and international implications of disasters and crises. An all hazards approach will be taken including understanding the effects of climate change, conflict, natural, and human made disasters. Social inclusion and vulnerability within populations will also be explored. Students will analyze different paradigms for conceptualizing the practice of disaster and crisis management, understand who the key stakeholders are, consider humanitarian factors in all phases of emergency management, and explore key policies and practices in the field.