Topics in STEP: Natural Hazards and Disaster Policy

This course explores the impacts of & societal responses to climate hazards. Drawing on case studies, students interrogate relationships among extreme events, human behavior, disaster management, public policy, technology, and social inequality to deconstruct what makes people and places vulnerable to hazards. By the end of the course, students should be able to identify the leading environmental and policy drivers of societal vulnerability to hazards and understand how natural & societal processes interact to create disasters. They also learn about public data sources & applying analytical tools used in disaster risk reduction.