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Emergency And Disaster Management Requires Complex Systems Thinking And Practices, Larry M. Starr, Phd

School of Business Faculty Papers

There are two broad classes of challenges (problems and opportunities) that may be addressed by educators in the academic and practice domain of Emergency and Disaster Management (EDM). Graduate education programs should acknowledge both kinds when formulating and presenting curricula and courses. However, the conventional approach is to treat all problems as part of a single type as if there is a one-size-fits-all premise underpinning how to think about, frame, decide, respond, and follow-up to EDM problems. I argue that a second conceptualization of EDM challenges should be formally acknowledged and added. I also argue that to adequately appreciate the …