Global Disaster Politics
Abstract
This course, “Global Disaster Politics,” is a graduate seminar, taught online every Fall semester since 2012. The course typically has 9-15 students, the majority of whom are part of the Department of Political Science’s Masters in Public Administration (MPA) program. This program is delivered entirely online, and students have the option to choose a 4-course concentration in a particular subfield. One of their subfield choices is a concentration in “Disasters and Emergency Management.” This course is one of the 4 courses in this concentration.
The course is divided into weeklong units. At the start of each unit I post a very short video that (depending on the topic for the week) might include some lecturing but almost always includes some opening thoughts on the readings and case studies for the week. The bulk of course interaction occurs through ongoing discussion on a Google+ community page. Once per week, we conduct a live videoconference via Google Hangouts, and students are required to participate in at least 3 of these during the semester. Finally, the students write a series of shorter (5-6 pages) analytical essays on specific prompts and must complete a major project on a topic of their own choosing.
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