ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION: Write an original academic assignment on ONE topic

ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION:

Write an original academic assignment on ONE topic (with all its subtopics) from the list shown below (minimum 1000 words not counting reference list). Your assignment should be well written and well-organized. Ideas should flow clearly from one paragraph to the next. 

THIS IS AN ACADEMIC assignment NOT AN OPINION PIECE. Support your points with class readings and examples from case studies. Do not simply list everything there is on the readings, explain your reasoning and support it with course readings/video lectures. Use a Minimum 6 readings from class, there is no maximum amount. For your core 6 sources you can only include 1 multimedia source (videos or videolectures), the remaining 5 must be class provided articles or a combination with external sources ONLY if required in the prompt. You can use external sources to supplement the mandatory 6 class readings depending on the prompt you chose below. See instructions. 

ASSIGNMENT SPECIFICATIONS (GRADED):

All of the following are part of the assignment grade:

• Create a doc or docx file. Times New RomanFont, Size 12, SINGLE SPACE. 1 Inch margins.
• Identify the Topic you chose to answer, name, date and class in a separate title page. No abstract, index, pictures or graphs allowed. The ideas should flow from paragraph to paragraph in ONE assignment. Connect the subtopics with transitions, do not divide the assignment by subtopics. 
• No lengthy introductions, you can start your assignment with a simple statement of about 50 words maximum and then go straight for the answers to the questions. 
• THIS IS NOT AN OPINION assignment so use paraphrasing of class readings and support this paraphrasing with APA in text citations, check the APA guides provided on the folder in the course modules.
  • Example: Citing in text means to paraphrase and credit your sources (Brown, 2012). 
• NO “direct quotes”, paraphrase and reference your source in APA in text citations. All your text must be ORIGINAL. 
• If the prompt requires external sources, do not cite Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica (all definitions of terms for class are provided in the readings), Atlas Obscura, Culture trip or any blogs, non-academic or non-official publications. See our academic sources policy in your syllabus.
• Include a Reference list at the end, in APA style and alphabetical order.
• Spell-check and re-read your responses, grammar and composition will be graded.  
• TOPICS: SELECT ONE TOPIC AND ANSWER ALL SUBTOPICS

Topic #1: Disasters affect all countries in the world but the effects of these events are disproportionate. Answer both 1.1 and 1.2: MINIMUM 6 CLASS READINGS from any 3 Case studies studied so far (2 readings per case study week 2 to week 7).

Subtopic 1.1: Describe with examples TWO of each: political/social (2), economic (2) and physical (2) vulnerabilities that CAUSE extreme losses during disasters. Vulnerabilities present before the disaster and that later contributed to higher effects in people, property and environment. Make sure you discuss VULNERABILITIES NOT CONSEQUENCES. Use specific examples from the readings to discuss how these vulnerabilities lead to the disaster consequences we studied in class? USE SPECIFIC EXAMPLES FROM ANY DISASTERS STUDIED SO FAR (AT LEAST 3 DIFFERENT). (700 words minimum)

Subtopic 1.2 Propose 1 solution for each type of VULNERABILITY discussed above (total 3 solutions). Base your proposed solutions on the readings from Week 2: Core Concepts of Emergency Management and other readings in class. (300 word minimum)

Topic #2: In class we have seen the situations before, during and shortly after the disaster events. But what happens many years after a major disaster event? After a disaster, emergency managers and public officials often see a “window of opportunity” for better practices. Building back better and long term policies. For this topic you will use 3 class readings + 3 external articles (independent research) to answer all of the following (2.1 and 2.2):

Subtopic 2.1: Select any 3 case studies studied in class (Week 3-7) and describe their disaster case very briefly: Maximum 400 words total for all 3 cases. 

Subtopic 2.2: Disaster events often repeat over time. Identify one recent disaster event in each country from 2.1 (same type of disaster) and compare response and recovery from that recent event compared to your discussion in 2.1 (only recent disasters in the years between 2000-2021). Have there been any improvements in Emergency Management practice for those events? (Minimum 600 words)

(Example: Comparing the Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 with the tsunami in Indonesia in 2018) 

Your independent research should be based on news articles, academic articles and books. NO BLOGS, WIKIPEDIA, QUORA, ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, ATLAS OSCURA ETC (See syllabus P.12 for academic sources policy). MINIMUM 3 CLASS READINGS + 1 EXTERNAL SOURCE PER EACH DISASTER CASE (3), TOTAL 6 SOURCES. 

Identify 1 NEW articles/sources for EACH case study. I recommend:

1. Relief Web
2. Prevention Web
3. Google Scholar (very good to find scholarly articles)
4. FSU Libraries Online (online articles like google scholar)
5. Open access Journals
6. Open Knowledge Repository
7. Open Access BASE Research Site
8. United Nations Digital Library   

GOOD LUCK!!