Geography 260Lg: Natural Hazards
Fall 2011
Time: Tues / Thur 9:30-10:50
Location: ZHS159 / Lab AHF B57A (access through AHF B55)
Instructor: Dr. Andrew Curtis
Office: 448B Kaprielian Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday and Thursday 11:15-12:15, or by appointment
Phone: 626 429 9476
e-mail: ajcurtis@usc.edu
Course Syllabus
General Focus
Most environments contain risk. When conditions are right, or wrong as the case may be,
a disaster may occur. When events go really wrong, a catastrophe may ensue. The
Tsunami of 2004, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the earthquake and cholera epidemic
of Haiti have all been recent examples. Already 2011 has been a “year to remember” –
and this course will cover some of these recent events especially Tuscaloosa and Joplin.
The beginning of most classes will also include a round-the-world snapshot of
contemporary disasters and hazard related events.
This course will consider both hazards and disasters from multiple angles; why they exist,
their triggers, and how to mitigate, respond and recover from them. As every cohort in
society is not equally resilient, issues of social vulnerability and environmental justice
will be used to provide the human dimension to these events. Finally, as this is a
geography course, the spatial aspect of how disasters work will be emphasized in class
discussions and the geospatial based laboratory exercises.
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to
register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of
verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP, and it should be
delivered to me early in the semester. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 to 5:00
pm, Monday through Friday (740-0776; study@usc.edu).
Statement of Purpose
This course is designed to provide a sufficient background to allow students to
understand the complexity of how a disaster can occur, and the implications in terms of
mitigation, response and recovery. Current emergency management techniques, including
how an Emergency Operation Center (EOC) works, will be included in the modules.
Although each module has a theme, it should be noted that topics will be fluid, with
lessons learned from one disaster type being applied to another. This is in keeping with
the spirit of the December 17, 2003 Homeland Security Presidential Directive/Hspd-8 all-
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hazards preparedness. Students will also be taught a variety of geospatial techniques,
including exercises using a geographic information system (GIS). It is hoped this course
will create enough interest to stimulate students to further investigate classes in hazards
or GIS.
Several students from this course have either gone on to specialize in these topics at the
graduate level, or have accompanied me into post-disaster environments to collect data.
Finally, please be prepared to say hello to Jason Isaacs.
Course Outline
The course will be based around the following five modules and laboratory topics (in
parentheses are suggested readings that might help with the subject matter)
Each weeks topic covers both Tuesday and Thursday lecture
Module 1: Basic Principles – Geography and Disasters
(GIS, Human Geography and Disasters)
Week Starting
Tues, Aug 23 – Introduction to the Class, why is geography important?
Tues, Aug 30 -- Geospatial technologies / skills
Tues, Sep 6 -- Maps in the EOC
Tues, Sep 13 – Historical Disasters
Module 2: The Human Dimension
(GIS, Human Geography and Disasters)
(Bayou Farewell – Tidwell)
Tues, Sep 20 – Joplin & Tuscaloosa
Tues, Sep 27 – Hurricane Katrina / recovery
Tues, Oct 4 – Social & Health Vulnerability
Tues, Oct 11 Mid Term /
Module 3: Californian Hazards
(A Dangerous Place: California's Unsettling Fate – Reisner )
Tues, Oct 18 – Wildfires
Tues, Oct 25– Tectonic Hazards 1
Tues, Nov 1 – Tectonic Hazards 2
Module 4: Meteorological Hazards
Tues, Nov 8 – Climate Change
Tues, Nov 15 – Tornadoes / Flooding
Module 5: Diseases
(The Hot Zone – Preston)
Tues, Nov 22 – Past Pandemics 1918 Influenza
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Tues, Nov 29 – The Geography of Disease & Emerging Infections
Final Exam: Thursday Dec 8th @ 11-1pm
Laboratory Topics
Note: There will be no Monday lab on the first week– therefore the first labs will start on
Monday August 29. The Monday lab will also be cancelled on September 5th so after this
week Monday labs will be staggered into the next week, with the additional lab being
completed in Thanksgiving week.
Week Starting with Topic Covered and Location
Tuesday lecture
Week 2
Thinking spatially 1: Google Exercise
Week 3
Thinking spatially 2: Mapping Disaster Recovery pt 1
Week 4
Thinking spatially 2: Mapping Disaster Recovery pt 2
Week 5
Thinking spatially 3: Mapping Damage Assessment pt 1*
Week 6
Thinking spatially 3: Mapping Damage Assessment pt 2*
Week 7
Introduction to disaster related GIS
Week 8
GIS vulnerability exercise pt 1
Week 9
GIS vulnerability exercise pt 2
Week 10
3-D GIS mapping of recovery exercise pt 1
Week 11
3-D GIS mapping of recovery exercise pt 2
Week 12
Research questions / Poster Preparation
Week 13 & 14
Poster Preparation
Week 15
Final Poster – Viewing and Grading
*These labs will not meet in person but will be conducted through the Internet as part of a
campus emergency shutdown exercise.
Note that the space is limited in these classrooms and you should plan to attend the
section you are enrolled for. There will be no substitutions. There will be 4 twoweek lab exercises, 2 one week mini-exercises and one final research project / poster to
be handed in from the above topics. Your final research poster should be fully cited.
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Contact me by email first – I’m usually only an hour away from
responding to you, irrespective of where I am geographically.
Course Requirements
Readings
Every week I will post readings on blackboard to accompany the topic of the week.
Suggested Readings (Books)
GIS, HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, AND DISASTERS published by University Readers is
now available online at www.universityreaders.com.
Bayou Farewell: The Rich Life and Tragic Death of Louisiana's Cajun Coast
(Paperback)
by Mike Tidwell (Author) ISBN-10: 0375725172
Publisher: Vintage (March 9, 2004)
The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story
by Richard Preston (Author) ISBN-10: 0385495226
Publisher: Anchor (June 15, 1999)
A Dangerous Place: California's Unsettling Fate
by Marc Reisner ISBN-10: 0679420118
Publisher: Pantheon (February 11, 2003)
Other Readings (Books)
Disaster Response: GIS for Public Safety (Paperback)
by Gary Amdah ISBN-10: 1879102889
Publisher: ESRI Press;
Cartographies of Danger: Mapping Hazards in America (Paperback)
by Mark Monmonier ISBN-10: 0226534197
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; New Ed edition (October 1, 1998)
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History (Paperback)
by Erik Larson ISBN-10: 0375708278
Publisher: Vintage (July 11, 2000)
America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918 (Paperback)
by Alfred W. Crosby ISBN-10: 0521833949
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (July 28, 2003)
Sixty Seconds That Will Change the World: The Coming Tokyo Earthquake
(Paperback)
by Peter Hadfield ISBN-10: 0804830657
Publisher: Tuttle Pub (July 1995)
Blackboard
When you log into Blackboard (https://blackboard.usc.edu/), you will notice that
Geography 260-Natural Hazards appears twice in your list of courses. One listing is the
Geography Classroom, and is shared by all of the students in the course. The other listing
is your Geography Lab Section, and is only used by the 20 students in your lab. They
serve different purposes.
Use the Geography Classroom to get information and subject matter content. Here is
where you will find the readings and other resources as well as a place to get answers to
your questions about the course.
Use the Geography Lab Section for anything that you will be turning in for a grade.
Here is where you will find the mastery check quizzes, class exercises, lab assignments,
and projects.
For the most part, the Geography Classroom is where you receive material and the
Geography Lab Section is where you will submit materials for review and/or grading.
Grading
There will be a mid-term and final exam. Both will consist of multiple choice questions.
The mid-term will contain material from both lectures and the assigned readings, up until
that point. The final exam will contain material and readings from the period after the
mid-term only. Each exam will consist of 40 questions and be worth 20% of the final
grade (40% of the entire grade will be on these exams). Therefore each point gained on
an exam will be 0.5% to your final grade. Throughout the course I will present a series of
example exam questions based on the previous course content. 75% of the actual exam
questions will be extremely similar to these examples.
There will be major 4 graded laboratory exercises. Each will be worth 8% of your final
grade. Be aware that these exercises cover two week periods, if you miss a week, you
will probably only get half the available grade for that exercise. Therefore these exercises
account for 40% of your final grade. There will also be two one week exercises worth 3%
of your final grade. IF YOU ARE LATE FOR A LAB, I AM INSTRUCTING EACH
LAB TA TO ONLY ATTEND TO YOU AFTER ALL OTHER STUDENTS HAVE
BEEN CARED FOR AND THE EXERCISE EXPLAINED. IF YOU ARE LATE FOR A
SECOND TIME YOU WILL BE ASKED TO COME AND SEE ME.
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Lab exercises will consist of the real-world application of mitigation / response / recovery
generally associated with the concurrent module in class. You will work in groups of two
for these exercises. Your lab TA will explain what is required for each lab exercise. In
addition, there will be a more extensive research project resulting in a group poster
(groups may be as large as four individuals). This poster will be presented to the rest of
your group during the last week of class. The topic for these projects is flexible, but
students should be thinking about interesting research questions throughout the course.
Each poster will be worth 20% of the final grade.
Finally, the remaining 5% of the grade will be assessed by 10 randomly selected
attendance lists scattered throughout the semester. Simply put, if you are there, you will
receive 0.5 point towards your course total.
There will be no “extra credit” – if you don’t come to class early in the semester, or
if you don’t hand in satisfactory work, be prepared to live with those consequences.
If you have a particular problem during the semester, I will always work with you at
that time, not later in retrospect.
Therefore :
Mid-Term
Final
4 labs
1 short lab (Google exercise)
1 short lab (Intro to GIS)
20%
20%
32%
1.5%
1.5%
1 research project
10 in-class attendances
20%
5%
Grade Distribution:
A = > 94
A- = 91-93.9 B+ = 88-90.9 B = 84-87.9
B- = 81-83.9 C+ = 78-80.9
C = 74-77.9
C- = 71-73.9 D+ = 68-70.9 D = 64-67.9
D- = 61-63.9 F = < 61
Please note that you: (1) are strongly encouraged to keep a copy of all materials
submitted for grading; and (2) you must obtain at least a D grade (≥ 61%) on the final
exam in order to pass the course as a whole.
Deadlines
Deadlines will be set in lecture / lab. These will be non-negotiable. For every day an
exercise is handed in late, it will be graded down by 20%. After 5 days – you have lost all
possible points. Obviously emergencies are handled on a case-by-case basis. Please
contact me with any problems you may encounter as soon as you are aware of them. If
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you have to miss an exam (by prior agreement with me) the multiple choice exam will be
replaced by an essay exam covering similar material.
Copying lab results from other students will result in the assessment of penalties for all
concerned. For more information on academic integrity please refer to the following:
The Trojan Integrity Guide can be found at http://www.usc.edu/studentaffairs/SJACS/forms/tio.pdf. The Undergraduate Guide for Avoiding Plagiarism can be
found at http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/forms/tig.pdf.
This class covers an important topic but I also believe the topic should be interesting and
fun for a lot of people. If you put in the time and work hard, I will do my best to make it a
valuable experience for you.
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