HS 303F — Disaster Management and Capacity Building

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

In recent decades there has been growing attention on the need to systematically understand and manage risk, while mitigating the vulnerabilities of communities to disasters. In light of this to what extent has the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) model contributed to improving humanitarian preparedness to disaster? How have links between humanitarian and development assistance evolved? What are the professional and technical approaches needed in disaster response environments? Through readings, expert presentations, case studies, and group work, the purpose of this course is to offer graduate students legal, policy, and response frameworks for understanding and engaging in humanitarian disaster response. This course is interdisciplinary in nature, with aspects of health, law, sociology, and psychology embedded within the thematic focus areas. While this course aims to contribute to the development of students' capacity to think critically and strategically about current challenges and approaches in disaster management, it recognizes the rich experience of the students and strongly encourages peer dialogue and group sharing. Usually offered every year.
Anaide Nahikian