North Dakota State UniversityDepartment of Emergency Management

Department 2351P.O. Box 6050

Fargo, ND 58108-6050(701) 231-5595

A Preview of What Emergency Management Students Study at NDSU

There has been a long history of events labeled emergency, disaster, or catastrophe throughout human

history…

These events stay in our collective memory for a variety of reasons including:

The numbers of lives lost

What people believed caused the incident;

The stories, poems, paintings, and songs that are passed down from generation to generation;

and,

The significant changes that came about after the events.

In fact, these events, in many cases, were responsible for significant social, cultural, and

political change including (among many others):

The RISE and FALL of Empires;

The Destruction of Civilizations;

Shifts in Cultural Beliefs;

Political Revolutions;

Technological Revolutions;

Scientific Advances; and,

Huge Migrations of People.

Just a few of the historical events that standout are…

The Flood and Noah’s Ark

The Biblical Plagues

Sodom and Gomorrah

The Sinking of Atlantis

Pompeii

Rome Burning

Lisbon Earthquake

Humans often perceived these events to have been

Brought on by God’s wrath;

As Inevitable;

As Unstoppable; and,

As a Chance to Start Over.

In modern times, large scale events occur seemingly every day...

The large scale events have more and more consequences and costs associated with

them…

And there are many more types of large scale events…

We have large scale events triggered by “natural” mechanisms that are similar to those experienced

in ancient times such as…

Wildfires

Volcanic Eruptions

Blizzards

Landslides

Tsunamis

Avalanches

Hurricanes

Earthquakes

Famines

Pandemics (i.e. Avian Flu)

Tornados

Floods

Ship Wrecks

In modern times, we also see events triggered by

Technology

Development Patterns

Globalization

Infrastructure

And other Mechanisms that did not Necessarily exist in Ancient Times.

Industrial Fires

Plane Crashes

Building Collapses

Traffic Accidents

Apartment Fires

Train Wrecks

Oil Spills

Terrorism

Hazardous Materials Accidents

Increasingly humans believe that large scale events

Are Caused by Humans Interaction with their Environment;

Are NOT Inevitable;

Are NOT Unstoppable;

Can be labeled variously as emergencies, disasters, catastrophes, or complex humanitarian

crises;

And, that while starting over would be ideal it is often not possible.

We now see decreasing numbers of deaths related to large scale events.

We see increasing costs and consequences of large scale events.

Emergency Management was developed as both an academic discipline and profession to help address the increasing costs and consequences of events.

The academic discipline of emergency management studies how human beings create, interact, and cope with hazards, vulnerability, and associated

events.

The academic disciplines serves the profession of emergency management.

The profession is charged with protecting "communities by coordinating and integrating all

activities necessary to build, sustain, and improve the capability to mitigate against, prepare for,

respond to, and recover from threatened or actual natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or other man-

made disasters" according to the Principles of Emergency Management (2007).

Emergency management professionals work in agencies and organizations in the private and nongovernmental sectors and government.

Think you might want to get a degree in

Emergency Management?

Here’s what you will study…

Students in emergency management learn about WHY has there been shift in beliefs,

structures, types, and impacts associated with emergencies, disasters, and catastrophes, as

well as

the beliefs, structures, types, and impacts associated with these events in the UNITED

STATES today.

Students learn about why the United States’ experience emergencies, disasters, and

catastrophes

how we do,

when we do,

and to the extent we do, and

Most importantly, students learn how we can

Decrease the frequency of emergencies, disasters and catastrophes;

Decrease the impacts and needs generated as a result of these events when they do occur;

And, Cope with these events effectively and efficiently.

Interested in learning more about the Emergency Management degree programs offered at NDSU?

Contact Us:

North Dakota State University

Department of Emergency Management

Department 2351

P.O. Box 6050

Fargo, ND 58108-6050

(701) 231-559

www.ndsu.edu/emgt