Geosciences

GE113H
Dangerous Earth
Prof. Kathy Cartwright

Introduction to the diverse ways in which climatic and geologic phenomena have a negative impact on human lives and activities, the root causes of disaster phenomena, and the principles which render seemingly random natural disasters comprehensible and predictable. Students will read eyewitness accounts of natural disasters such as floods, droughts, cyclones, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes and will explore the extent to which disasters are ephemeral events regulated by cyclic and/or periodic Earth processes. This will enable students to make predictions and develop scenarios to mitigate against the potentially deleterious effects of future natural disasters. It is expected that students enrolled in this course willingly accept a significantly higher degree of personal responsibility in learning than that which is the norm for courses at the introductory level. Weekly reading and writing assignments, cooperative learning, student-led class discussions and individual research will focus on the acquisition and synthesis of factual and conceptual aspects of natural disaster phenomena. Open to First Year Students and sophomores only.