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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
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There has been a long history of events labeled emergency, disaster, or catastrophe throughout human
history…
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These events stay in our collective memory for a variety of reasons including:
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The numbers of lives lost
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What people believed caused the incident;
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The stories, poems, paintings, and songs that are passed down from generation to generation;
and,
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The significant changes that came about after the events.
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In fact, these events, in many cases, were responsible for significant social, cultural, and
political change including (among many others):
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The RISE and FALL of Empires;
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The Destruction of Civilizations;
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Shifts in Cultural Beliefs;
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Political Revolutions;
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Technological Revolutions;
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Scientific Advances; and,
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Huge Migrations of People.
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Just a few of the historical events that standout are…
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The Flood and Noah’s Ark
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The Biblical Plagues
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Sodom and Gomorrah
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The Sinking of Atlantis
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Lisbon Earthquake
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Humans often perceived these events to have been
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Brought on by God’s wrath;
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As Unstoppable; and,
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As a Chance to Start Over.
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In modern times, large scale events occur seemingly every day...
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The large scale events have more and more consequences and costs associated with
them…
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And there are many more types of large scale events…
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We have large scale events triggered by “natural” mechanisms that are similar to those experienced
in ancient times such as…
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Volcanic Eruptions
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Pandemics (i.e. Avian Flu)
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In modern times, we also see events triggered by
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Development Patterns
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And other Mechanisms that did not Necessarily exist in Ancient Times.
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Building Collapses
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Traffic Accidents
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Hazardous Materials Accidents
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Increasingly humans believe that large scale events
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Are Caused by Humans Interaction with their Environment;
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Are NOT Inevitable;
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Are NOT Unstoppable;
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Can be labeled variously as emergencies, disasters, catastrophes, or complex humanitarian
crises;
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And, that while starting over would be ideal it is often not possible.
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We now see decreasing numbers of deaths related to large scale events.
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We see increasing costs and consequences of large scale events.
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Emergency Management was developed as both an academic discipline and profession to help address the increasing costs and consequences of events.
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The academic discipline of emergency management studies how human beings create, interact, and cope with hazards, vulnerability, and associated
events.
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The academic disciplines serves the profession of emergency management.
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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).
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Emergency management professionals work in agencies and organizations in the private and nongovernmental sectors and government.
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Think you might want to get a degree in
Emergency Management?
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Here’s what you will study…
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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.
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Students learn about why the United States’ experience emergencies, disasters, and
catastrophes
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and to the extent we do, and
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Most importantly, students learn how we can
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Decrease the frequency of emergencies, disasters and catastrophes;
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Decrease the impacts and needs generated as a result of these events when they do occur;
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And, Cope with these events effectively and efficiently.
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Interested in learning more about the Emergency Management degree programs offered at NDSU?
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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