EDM 348 - Recovering from Disaster

When disaster strikes, a community can build back better than before or alternatively must adapt to a new normal because of limited resources to recover from disaster. This variation in recovery is the focus of this course. Communities with resources that allow them to anticipate, cope with, respond to, and recover from disasters are often described as being more resilient than communities that cannot. How resource availability can reduce or increase the recovery from disasters is important to understand. Resilient communities have greater access to both tangible and intangible resources, such as physical, political, economic, and social capital. How communities mobilize their resources and demonstrate their resilience, and the factors that determine the effectiveness of their responses, are varied and influenced by social, institutional, environmental, economic, and historic variables. This course will explore the factors that explain variation in recovery and resiliency. Additionally, students will analyze patterns of emergency response in the U.S. as they relate to recovering from disaster.

Prerequisites: EDM 250 or permission of instructor.
Credits: 3