Katrina Research Projects Website

March 14, 2007 11:41 AM

On March 1, we were proud to host a panel discussion on the preliminary findings of seven research projects on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The projects, resulting from CCPR's university-wide grant competition, addressed the storm's effects using expertise from a diverse range of disciplines. We encourage you to see these presentation materials and learn more about the projects and their investigators for yourself on our website.

The effects of a major event like Hurricane Katrina are felt across all aspects of society and reach far beyond the immediate area of disaster. Our Katrina research projects take a wide range of approaches to explore this paradigm.

Judith Helfand and her team from the Tisch School of Arts, present a documentary film, Extended Stay, which follows Katrina evacuees living in a hotel in New York City. David Dent, of the School of Journalism, also focuses on the plight of evacuees, but did so in the immediate wake of the storm by conducting interviews at the Houston Astrodome, which was used as a mass shelter.

Beyond evacuation, two studies looked at the efforts of rebuilding lives. Robert Hawkins in the School of Social Work compared those who returned to New Orleans versus those who did not and their ability to socially integrate into their communities --either in devastated New Orleans, or the new places they now called home. Mary Driscoll at the Steinhardt School of Education considered how the diaspora affected students and how educational policies handled this situation.

Frances Milliken and her team from the Stern School of Management, analyzed how the events of Katrina were understood by those in positions of power. Dr. Milliken and her team consider the effects of power on sense-making and communication by analyzing television coverage in the wake of the storm and what was said by media figures versus what was actually happening on the ground.

Some projects looked to Katrina to learn how to prepare for future events. Howard Besser at Tisch asked how to save and preserve moving image and sound collections damaged by the storm. Paul Light examined community preparedness through surveys pre- and post-Katrina to uncover what are the characteristics of prepared organizations and communities.

This work speaks to the very mission of CCPR, to find the best and brightest investigators from throughout the university to undertake path leading research into the complex nature of disasters. The Katrina researchers are a select group who has risen to the challenge of drawing meaning and lessons from a unique American catastrophe, Hurricane Katrina, that continues to and will for a long time pose questions on the national agenda.

Visit the Katrina Projects Website
http://www.nyu.edu/ccpr/katrina