How natural are natural disasters? Are disasters equal opportunity or do some people suffer disproportionally due to income, race, ability, age, gender or other reasons? This course, Living in a Diverse World: Disaster and Diversity (IS 201), is intended for second year students who have completed the first year course, Asking Questions, Making Choices (IS 101). The general goal of the class is to expand students’ critical inquiry and communication abilities as they recognize the challenges and opportunities of living in a diverse world and connect this “widened view of the world” to liberal learning.
Specifically we have been examining multiple facets of diversity, i.e. class, race, gender, sexual orientation, age and ability and simulataneously been studying the history and affects of Hurricane Katrina. We will travel to New Orleans Feb 25th-March 5th on a service trip to experience first hand the culture and people of the gulf. While we are there we will not only be taking in the sites and sounds of Mardis Gras and the French Quarter, but involve ourselves in the rebuilding efforts of the 9th Ward. We will be staying in the Lower 9th Ward and working with Common Ground Relief (http://www.commongroundrelief.org/), an agency that has been on the ground helping with recovery efforts since the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
This blog will help you gain a glimpse of what we are experiencing and seeing while we are gone. Feel free to check back and see what we've been up to!
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