From Hazard to Catastrophe: Case Studies in Environmental Disasters

3 units

From earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, drought, to climate change all areas in the United States are at risk from at least one hazardous earth process. In the class we will study the social aspects of environmental management, policy, and disaster response that cause environmental hazards to become catastrophes. Each week we will cover a different natural hazard and use case studies from archaeological and historical sources to evaluate which aspects of management and response discourage or encourage the hazard to become a catastrophe.