Disaster & Risk
Management
Undergraduate
Certificate Program
The St. Louis metropolitan region is home to numerous research laboratories and military installations and thus it is an obligation of a land-grant university to keep its workforce and communities knowledgeable about security issues. The University of Missouri has launched The University of Missouri Homeland Security Preparedness Initiative and formed a system-wide task force to develop an academic or research program on homeland security. The Disaster and Risk Management certificate program augments a focus on the core concepts of homeland security with an accompanying emphasis on resilience in the public and private institutions operating in our communities. In other words, the certificate program emphasizes an all-hazards approach to homeland security that includes a focus on prevention as well as response and recovery to disasters and catastrophes.
The certificate program is designed to strengthen student careers by offering a fundamental social science understanding of the nature of disasters and organizational issues inherent in the management and planning for catastrophes, and the protection of health care infrastructure, and the political, legal, psychological, and social aspects of catastrophes.
The certificate program emphasizes social psychological, organizational, legal, and political relationships brought to bear on the socio-technical systems designed to prevent, prepare for, or respond to disasters and catastrophes. It provides educational and practical opportunities for students planning careers in public safety, counterterrorism, community and research planning, public policy making, emergency management, leadership in the public sector, and the mass media.
The program aims to guide students in learning to manage efforts of public and private institutions to build resilience in their own socio-technical systems and in the community. Each discipline participating in the certificate program brings a distinct perspective to bear on the key issues involved in developing resilience in homeland security. Sociology offers a framework on the relationship of socio-technical systems and community organization that will prove conducive to students gaining both theoretical and practical insights into threats posed by disaster and catastrophe.
Curriculum
Undergraduate students earn a certificate on Disaster and Risk Management by completing 18 hours with a GPA of 2.0 or better from the following courses:
BUS ADM 3798 Transportation Security, Safety, and Disaster Preparedness (3hrs)
COMM 3150 Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Communication (3 hrs)
ECON 4160 Geospatial Analysis in the Social Sciences (GIS) (3 hrs)
MEDIA 4040 Disaster and Media Management (3 hrs)
POLSCI 3200 Constitutional Law (3 hrs)
PSYCH/WGS 2232 Psychology of
Victims (3 hrs)
or SOCIOL 3250 Sociology of
Victimization (3 hrs)
SOCIOL 4414 Social Perspectives on Catastrophes and Homeland Security Policies (3hrs)
SOCIOL 4450 Disaster and the Law (3 hrs)
Special topic courses relevant to disaster and risk management may be included in the certificate program when approved in advance by the Coordinator of the Disaster and Risk Management Certificate.
For information, contact:Disaster & Risk Management Program
Department of Sociology, 707 Tower
(314) 516-6366
Participating Departments and Colleges:
College of Arts & Sciences׀Continuing Education
Sociology (Coordinating
department)
Communication
Economics
Political Science
Psychology Department (Center for
Trauma Recovery)
College of Business Administration
Center for Transportation Studies
College of Fine Arts & Communication
Theater, Dance, and Media Studies