Assignments

Reaction Papers

Students are required to write brief (no more than one-page) reaction papers on the readings each week. These papers should include a statement of what you believe are the key argument(s) of each article followed by a reaction to each of these points. A reaction can be comments that support or critique the main points and/or questions that come to mind as you read. Note that for Weeks 10 and 11 this assignment varies. As detailed in the documents linked to these weeks, for the former, you are required to respond to specific questions; for the latter, you are required to write a short case. Examples of student reaction papers and cases are posted in the table below. All work is courtesy of the student named and used with permission.

Term Paper(s)/Project

Students have the option to submit either a single term paper or two short papers. In either case, your work should examine a topic of personal interest that is related to the social or political dynamics of disasters.

• Submit a brief statement that indicates whether you will write one or two papers and the general topic(s) you expect to examine. This is due Week 4.
  
• Submit your paper(s). If you write two short papers, the due dates are Week 7 and Week 12. If you write one paper, the due date is Week 12. Late papers will not be accepted and will be given a failing grade.