Loading Events
  • This event has passed.

Faculty Forum: Alexa Dietrich

March 4, 2015 @ 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm

Anthropology professor Alexa Dietrich's presentation is titled, "The Challenge of Overcoming Magical Thinking in Disaster Preparedness and Response: Understanding Miscalculations of Personal Risk and Institutional Response." All are welcome.

In some societies disasters, such as drought, have their place in the framework of everyday life. Indeed, they may be “a normal part of the environment within which [the people] live” (McCabe 2002: 234). In the case of Hurricane Sandy on Staten Island, the opposite circumstance prevailed: in spite of the accuracy of weather forecasting, the disaster of the storm had no place in the cultural context of Staten Island for many longstanding residents. Using ethnographic data drawn from residents and responders, this presentation proposes that cultural models leading to failure to accurately assess and accommodate the probable risks associated with the storm very likely exacerbated the severity of the storm’s impact for many, both during and after the storm. I will also propose an analytic framework for how responding agencies can better use a revised model of culture to more quickly assess such potential cultural resources and barriers in disaster preparedness and response.

Details

Date:
March 4, 2015
Time:
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Event Categories:
,

Venue

Campus Hall

Organizer

Provost’s Office