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University of Pittsburgh    
2016-2017 Graduate & Professional Studies Catalog 
    
 
  Jan 30, 2025
 
2016-2017 Graduate & Professional Studies Catalog [Archived Catalog]

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PIA 2101 - MGNG EMERGENCIES & DISASTERS


Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
Emergencies and disasters create an extraordinarily difficult set of challenges for public managers. In disaster, public managers are legally responsible for the protection of life, property and continuity of operations in their respective communities. Yet, they are suddenly confronted with situations they have never encountered before. How do they assess the situation? What resources are available to them? How do they formulate a strategy of action to bring the situation under control? What information do citizens need to protect their own lives and property? How do they make informed decisions under the urgent stress of disaster, when lives and property are at risk? What is the most effective means of reducing the damage, destruction and disruption to lives and communities that unmitigated disasters bring? Do short term policy goals limit or facilitate long term strategies for disaster reduction in urban environments exposed to risk? As the population of the world increases, the incidence of disasters, both natural and man-made, also increases as people move into vulnerable coastal regions and amass in megacities. In this course, we will take up Mr. Annan’s challenge, cast more than a decade ago, but add to it a set of analytical and policy skills that can be used to frame the issues of risk so that other participants in local, national and international policy processes will understand the global need for disaster risk reduction, and act in constructive ways to fulfill it. First, we will review the scope of risk to human communities that is emerging on a global scale from natural and man-made disasters. As we reflect on the consequences of the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake; the March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear reactor breach in Northeast Japan, the continuing costs from October 29, 2012 superstorm Sandy as it struck the coastal communities of New York and New Jersey, the dramatic losses from the November 7, 2013 typhoon Haiyan that struck the Philippines, or the unprecedented spread of Ebola through West Africa in 2014, we will review the conditions and dynamics that contribute to disaster in metropolitan and rural regions around the world. Second, we will review the basic policies and practices that are currently in place for mitigation, response, and recovery from disaster, looking briefly at how these practices differ from local to state to national to international jurisdictions. Third, we will consider the process of decision making in emergent events, how and why it differs from routine management practices and what specific skills contribute to effective decision making in rapidly changing, urgent environments. Fourth, we will engage in a watch floor exercise, using the US matrix of emergency support functions (ESFs) that will enable students to develop skills for monitoring risk in a given region. Practice in using this matrix will enable students to develop a comprehensive view of a community exposed to known risk, recognize the interdependencies among different emergency support functions, and design strategies for action that would engage the whole community in event of a sudden, damaging hazard. Fifth, we will study the links between the vulnerability of communities to disaster and the consequences of political and economic instability that lead to civil conflict, regrettably frequent in societies exposed to recurring risk. Finally, we will engage in a simulated decision making process that illustrates the conflicting interests among multiple policy audiences in recovery from a hypothetical earthquake disaster in Pacific rim nations. The goal of the simulation will be to devise the most appropriate strategy, given conflicting interests and limited information, for citizens of a region coping with the consequences of a major disaster.
Academic Career: GRAD
Course Component: Lecture
Grade Component: Grad Letter Grade


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