"Natural disasters have been characterised [...] as non-hierarchical, egalitarian, or equal opportunity phenomena, affecting alike all communities in their path regardless of class, race, or any other social attributes" (Adeola and Picou). In short, it is the common claim that "natural hazards do not discriminate"(ibid.). On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana and Mississippi. The resultant catastrophic flooding of New Orleans, in particular, due to the failure and inadequate maintenance of the system of engineered levees and floodwalls, as well as the subsequent delayed and inefficient response and recovery efforts witnessed after Hurricane Katrina, were among the things responsible for its subsequent characterisation as an 'unnatural' disaster.
In this seminar, we will watch, listen to, and read a variety of cultural negotiations that deal with Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, e.g. the HBO original series Treme (2010-2013), Spike Lee's documentary film When the Levees Broke (2006), and Josh Neufeld's graphic novel A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge (2009) (not an exclusive list!). We will, among other things, discuss if and, if so, how these different 'life narratives' serve as counter-narratives to the dominant media images which flooded (pun intended) the news in 2005. Our investigation will be based in a discussion of different forms of media as well as critical texts from a variety of disciplines.
3 LP - a Studienleistung (and/or) grade - can be obtained by active participation and fulfillment of other activities which will be specified in the seminar.
A Lernraum will be made available.
Sources of commentary:
Adeola, Francis O. and J. Steven Picou. Hurricane Katrina-linked environmental injustice: race, class, and place differentials in attitude. Disasters. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2016. Web.
Frequency | Weekday | Time | Format / Place | Period |
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Module | Course | Requirements | |
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23-ANG-AngVM2 Vertiefungsmodul 2: The Americas/ Interamerican Studies | VM 2.2 The Americas: Culture and Literature | Study requirement
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Student information |
- | Graded examination | Student information | |
23-GP Global Perspectives | Bereich 1: International politics, law and economics | Study requirement
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Student information |
Bereich 2: World history, culture and language | Study requirement
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Student information | |
- | Ungraded examination | Student information |
The binding module descriptions contain further information, including specifications on the "types of assignments" students need to complete. In cases where a module description mentions more than one kind of assignment, the respective member of the teaching staff will decide which task(s) they assign the students.
Degree programme/academic programme | Validity | Variant | Subdivision | Status | Semester | LP | |
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Internationales in Studium und Lehre (Einschreibung bis SS 2011) | Wahl | 3 | aktive Teilnahme Global Perspectives Bereich 1, 2 GS |
A corresponding course offer for this course already exists in the e-learning system. Teaching staff can store materials relating to teaching courses there: