When Nature Strikes: Dealing with Natural Disasters (FNDS 3603)

Natural disasters kill on average 60,000 people per year.  

Nature can pack a powerful punch, but the vulnerability of populations to disastrous events is also influenced by hazards perception and behavior, public policy, and economic factors  

This course will draw from the physical, social, and behavioral sciences to examine the interplay between physical mechanisms and human dimensions of natural disasters.

This course covers topics in the disciplines of Geography and Environmental Studies.

Who should take this course?

Students interested in natural disasters, and how our decisions and actions can influence the scale of natural disasters. 

More about this course

Course number: FNDS 3603

Number of Credits: 4

Search UM-Dearborn Class Schedule to find out more

Dearborn Discovery Core requirements met: Social and Behavioral Analysis

Meet your faculty member: Claudia Walters, Collegiate Lecturer in Geography

One of the benefits of taking a Foundations course is gaining a faculty mentor that can support you throughout your college career. Get to know Claudia Walters, faculty member for When Nature Strikes: Dealing with Natural Disasters.

Born and raised in Germany, I came to Michigan to attend graduate school at the other Big 10 university. 

I have always been fascinated by severe events and have done research on lightning and on the circulation influencing thunderstorms.  As a geographer, I like to emphasize the relationship between people and the environment in my teaching.  This course will draw from the physical, social, and behavioral sciences to examine the interplay between natural causes and human factors that influence the outcomes in natural disasters.  This course covers topics in the disciplines of Geography and Environmental Sciences. 

Have questions about this course? Email Prof. Walters at [email protected].